This research is a comparative study of the cognitive patterns of complexity in the context of streetscape visual composition in Algeria and Japan. 80 visual arrays of streetscapes in Algeria and Japan have been collected and then presented to 20 subjects from different cultural backgrounds in order to be categorized according to their typology and degrees of complexity. The analysis has been structured according to 3 phases: 1) the typological clustering phase using cluster analysis; 2) the lexicon-based clustering phase using Hayashi quantification method type III as well as cluster analysis, which represents analyses oriented mainly towards the visual arrays as physical data. Finally, 3) the cognitive patterns clustering phase using factor analysis and cluster analysis, which is oriented towards subjects as Human data. The results showed that complexity, disorder, irregularity and disorganization are often conflicting concepts in the urban context. Algerian daytime streetscapes seem to be balanced, ordered and regular, and Japanese daytime streetscapes seem to be unbalanced, regular and vivid. Variety, richness and irregularity seem to characterize Algerian night streetscapes. Japanese night streetscapes seem to be more related to balance, regularity, order and organization. The research could figure out 3 basic factors, which are: 1) actors (man-made forms, human, etc.); 2) style; and 3) the combination of materials/activity/actors. The number of actors in each visual array reflects its degree of complexity. The higher the amount of actors the higher the degree of complexity.
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