A Landscape Potential Characterization: Spatial Template of Pedestrian Ambient Fields within the Urban Fabric

Through interacting with urban and architectural spaces, pedestrian pathway‟s ambient fingerprints delineate ambiences with identifiable characteristics, thus characterizing landscape perception potentialities. Based on a measure of the surrounding open spaces using isovists, our proposal consists in building a sensory Digital Terrain models (DTM) in which the entropy of the function of radial distances is used as a third dimension. As a case study, the distribution of entropy of the Place Royale square in Nantes (France), presented in a dedicated DTM, helps us characterizing the space « intimacy quality » for each observation point. This measure constitutes a relevant indicator of spatial wealth, revealing several perspectives occurrences for a given point of view during an urban walk. This way, this geotopical process establishes a spatial potential, so as to provide to a pedestrian the ability to reach specified townscapes to be contemplated. This sensorial investigation aims to constitute a tool basis for multi-sensorial planning and design process.