Emerging from the depths of history, the 17th-century Zhi Garden is being meticulously resurrected through cutting-edge spatial analysis techniques that unveil its architectural marvels and experiential essence. The recent application of Isovist Space Analysis (ISA) within a visibility modeling framework has shed unprecedented light on the garden’s intricate spatial dynamics, revealing how its design masterfully orchestrates sightlines and visitor movement. This insightful exploration not only deciphers the garden’s structural blueprint but also amplifies our understanding of how historical landscapes evoke emotional and cognitive responses, reconnecting us with the ingenuity of classical garden design.
At the core of this research lies the concept of Isovist Space Analysis — a powerful analytical tool used in spatial studies to measure the visible area from a vantage point, characterizing openness, enclosure, and visual connectivity. By applying ISA to Zhi Garden’s principal buildings, scholars have mapped out parameters such as compactness, field of view, occlusivity, drift magnitude, and maximum radial distance, each contributing a nuanced understanding of how visitors perceive and engage with their surroundings. These parameters function as quantitative proxies for the garden’s ability to choreograph views, evoke mystery, and highlight key focal points, thereby illustrating the symbiotic relationship between architecture and human experience within the garden’s spatial fabric.
The South Garden Gate, labeled as C1 in the spatial model, emerges as a deliberate architectural statement that challenges conventional garden entrances. Unlike traditional designs which typically present a rockery or mountain immediately upon entry, this entrance prioritizes water elements, offering visitors an expansive and unmediated view. This choice underscores the garden designer’s intent to evoke a sense of grandeur and openness at the initial encounter. Intriguingly, the presence of the towering Feiyun Peak (C17) rockery to the north introduces a calculated visual block, injecting an element of suspense and anticipation that subtly guides visitors deeper into the garden’s unfolding narrative.
Within the east zone, Shuizhou Hall (C5) plays a pivotal role as a spatial connector rather than a dominant feature. Here, ISA metrics like field of view and drift magnitude stabilize in median ranges, indicating a balanced visual presence that neither overwhelms nor recedes within the garden’s hierarchy. From this vantage point, visitors perceive distant glimpses of iconic features such as the Emerald Wave Pavilion (B5) and Peach Blossom Harbour (B8). Through calculated framing and pathway design, Shuizhou Hall acts as a visual conduit that fosters a seamless and intentional flow of attention and movement across the garden’s landscape, embodying a subtle yet sophisticated approach to spatial orchestration.
Perhaps the most striking revelation from the study centers on Pear Mist Hall (B1), positioned at the heart of the garden’s central water scene. Marked by its lowest compactness alongside the highest values of field of view area, perimeter, occlusivity, drift magnitude, and maximum radial distance, Pear Mist Hall is revealed as the garden’s visual and experiential focal point. The vastness of its visual spread creates an encompassing panorama, affording visitors sweeping views across the interconnected Guichi Pond (B10) to the north and Juchi Pond (B9) to the south. This expansive visual domain not only enhances feelings of openness and tranquility but reinforces the hall’s function as a sensory anchor within the garden.
This openness at Pear Mist Hall is not merely an aesthetic choice but a strategic spatial decision rooted in the garden’s design philosophy. The hall’s panoramic views and reflective water surfaces combine to create an immersive environment that blends architectural form with natural elements. High occlusivity values indicate long visual edges that capture both the water’s placid contours and surrounding vegetation, amplifying sensory depth. Meanwhile, the magnitude of drift suggests a compelling visual pull toward the water bodies, fostering a sense of wonder and engagement that invites visitors to pause, absorb, and reflect in this carefully curated environment.
Contrasting sharply with this openness, Huazi Lodge (A1), situated in a densely built western zone, exhibits the smallest field of view area, drift magnitude, and maximum radial distance. Its spatial experience is characterized by blocked sightlines caused by close proximity to walls, doors, and windows. Despite this visual confinement, Huazi Lodge represents the culmination of the garden’s journey—a spatial climax where visitors encounter a profound sensory concentration. This lodge’s restrictive visibility paradoxically enhances its experiential significance as the terminal point of exploration, inviting a sense of repose, introspection, and completion after traversing the garden’s diverse spaces.
Meanwhile, the North Garden Gate (A10) serves the private owner’s entry point, distinguished by its enclosed and intimate atmosphere. Unlike the openness embraced at the south entrance, this northern gateway anchors the most secluded area of the garden, marked by the lowest visible perimeter and obstructed sightlines. The architectural layout here crafts a serene, almost secretive ambiance, with views confined mainly to Deer Pastures (A12) and surrounding boundary walls. This spatial privacy reflects a deliberate design ethos, setting tonal contrasts with the more public and expansive spaces encountered elsewhere in the garden—a nuanced articulation of accessibility, control, and seclusion within the overall composition.
The integration of space syntax with historical reconstruction in this research is a pioneering endeavor that transcends mere architectural analysis. By quantifying visibility metrics and spatial relationships, the study reconstructs not only a physical environment but also the sensory and psychological experiences historically embedded within Zhi Garden. The use of advanced spatial modeling provides a bridge between past and present, enabling a richer appreciation of how traditional garden layouts were crafted to engage visitors in multifaceted narratives of nature, architecture, and movement.
By dissecting the interplay of visibility and enclosure across various nodes, the research illuminates how Zhi Garden’s designers harnessed topography and built form to engineer deliberate emotional journeys. Dramatic visual interruptions, framed vistas, expansive panoramas, and intimate enclosures all serve as choreographed stages that manipulate anticipation, surprise, and reflection. This spatial dramaturgy reflects a profound understanding of human perception and movement, highlighting how architectural interventions in garden design become experiential instruments shaping visitor engagement.
Moreover, this study pushes the frontiers of interdisciplinary research by demonstrating how computational methods and theoretical constructs from spatial syntax can be adeptly applied in heritage conservation and landscape archaeology. As centuries-old gardens continue to face the threat of physical loss, such analytical frameworks offer robust tools for digital reconstruction, providing not only aesthetic representations but foundational insights into spatial usage, social functions, and environmental interactions—vital information for informed restoration and educational dissemination.
The findings also underscore the role of visual complexity and openness as central components in crafting memorable garden experiences. Pear Mist Hall’s uniquely high visual field metrics underscore the power of expansive views and water elements in fostering a sense of awe and immersion—a principle that contemporary landscape architects and urban planners might integrate to enrich modern public spaces. Likewise, the intentional interplay of openness and enclosure, exemplified by contrasting entrances and varying building densities, reveals how graded spatial experiences can modulate emotions ranging from curiosity to tranquility and reflection.
In sum, the application of Isovist Space Analysis to the Zhi Garden contextualizes centuries-old design strategies in a modern interpretive framework that bridges spatial theory, psychological experience, and architectural heritage. By emphasizing the deliberate manipulation of visibility fields and sightlines, the study exposes the garden as an orchestrated landscape where every view, gate, and building plays an essential role in crafting an immersive, narrative-rich environment. This fusion of technology with historical inquiry opens exciting avenues for rediscovering and conserving lost cultural treasures through a scientific lens.
As the field of cultural heritage increasingly embraces digital technologies, studies like this pave the way for deeper explorations into the multi-dimensional qualities of historic sites. By unraveling the spatial syntax inherent in garden design, researchers, conservationists, and architects are empowered to recreate not only structures but the intangible atmospheres and experiential textures that define human interaction with space. In doing so, the Zhi Garden’s resurrection becomes a testament to the enduring power of thoughtful design married with innovative analysis, promising new dialogues between past traditions and future possibilities.
Ultimately, this research exemplifies how the confluence of architecture, landscape, and spatial cognition can generate compelling narratives that transcend physical decay. It demonstrates that through the lens of spatial syntax, vanished gardens like Zhi emerge once again — not as static relics, but as living environments whose design continues to inspire awe and curiosity. This dynamic intersection of science and humanities promises to transform how we perceive, preserve, and experience heritage landscapes in an ever-evolving world.
Subject of Research:
Spatial analysis and reconstruction of 17th-century Zhi Garden using Isovist Space Analysis within visibility models.
Article Title:
Roaming through perished gardens: the application of space syntax in the reconstruction of the 17th-century Zhi Garden.
Article References:
Shi, Y., Liu, S., Huang, X. et al. Roaming through perished gardens: the application of space syntax in the reconstruction of the 17th-century Zhi Garden. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1508 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05789-6
Image Credits: AI Generated
