Plant-Space Relationship: An Example of Mosque Courtyard

Abstract

The most important spatial element which helps understanding and defining a place are the type ofplants which give a certain character or symbol. Although it is difficult to reveal the perception ofspace and plant interactions by humans, it can be achieved through experimental studies. In thisstudy, visual impressions of the users in evaluating the perception of plants with spaces weredetermined by experimental study and the survey technique was used. The study was conducted inIstanbul, and over 500 people including 100 primary school students, 100 secondary school students,100 high school students, 100 university students and 100 university graduates participated in thesurvey. In this study, 28 plants, which are frequently seen and familiar with outdoor areas, wereused. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the opinions about which of these plants were associatedwith the mosque courtyard and which characteristic of the plants were emphasized. Gender andeducational level differences were investigated and results revealed that gender and educationallevels effected participants’ preferences. According to the results, flower bushes were preferredprimarily for the mosque courtyard, and rose, pine, tulip, violet and buxus plants were preferred asthe first choices respectively.