WayMaker paper review

The author describes here WayMaker, a tool for forming two–dimensional diagrams of spaces remembered or imagined. The basic assumptions of this work are stimulated by Kevin Lynch’s work on the image of the city (\cite{Lynch60}). Essentially the author assumes that a finite number of elements can be used to describe a mental representation of the space; that elements preserve a topological relation also if they are placed in a malleable environment; that a possible way to support the understanding of the space is to support the construction of the knowledge about the place, helping the user to learn how to take reference points, separating different parts of the space, customising the space. The premises of this work are that: (1) conceptual elements of the city can be used as building blocks; (2) participants are part of the design of the virtual environment; (3) that learning happens through the design.