ABSTRACT
Mapping is a fundamental act in any process of abstraction or pattern recognition. Mapping is not necessarily a means of visual representation. It is a way of structuring information. Mappings are topologically equivalent. Useful mapping occurs when we measure lengths between points. So much for the fundamental importance of mapping in our thought processes and creative activities in general. In architectural and planning studies, this chapter discusses three distinct ways of mapping buildings and urban space. In the first mapping, the chapter is concerned with the geometry of the plane. In the second mapping, the author needs lines in two or three dimensions. The third mapping usually takes the form of reducing activities to sets of points. The activities may be seen to be subject to random processes and stochastic theory may be relevant. For small groups and the micro-analysis of activities, set and graph theories have been employed by sociologists and anthropologists with some success.
