Axial lines demonstrate the way

Axial lines demonstrate the way by which people move on foot in lines through space (Tuner et al., 2005). In syntactical terms, an axial map is drawn by identifying the longest line (line of sight/movement) that can be drawn through a random point in the studied spatial configuration and then the shortest ones until all permeable spaces in the layout are covered Fig. 2c. The resulting pattern of the intersecting lines and their relationships are then analyzed, and the spatial values of pramiracetam are assigned to these lines. Depthmap software can automatically generate an axial map, calculate several indicative measures to each line, and graphically represent the variations in their axial analysis with the use of different colors. Integration, which represents the potential destinations in the layout, is highlighted in red for the shallowest locations in the graph and blue for the most segregated spaces. Integrated lines usually represent the active locations in the system. The society’s cultural message could be recalled by focusing on how the resultant permeability patterns of the axial map can motivate varied spatial navigational experiences. Visual graph analysis is also important in developing an understanding of the visual properties of spaces, where movement is exploratory (Lu and Peponis, 2014; Peponis and Bellal, 2010; Psarra, 2009). A single-point visual field (an isovist) represents the panoptical view from a given vantage point in a space and captures the spatial visible property from that point, whereas the visibility structure considers the whole composition (Fig. 2d and e). The visibility structure differs from isovists in its ability to describe each position in the layout not only with respect to its own visibility polygon but also according to how it relates to the visibility polygons of all the positions of the layout as a whole (Wineman et al., 2006). It is based on creating a uniform grid that can be as fine as points. By drawing the visual fields from each point within the grid and then carrying out certain syntactical analysis, the visibility patterns of the studied areas become clear. Depthmap automatically constructs the overlapping isovists from every space to every other space in a connected, spatially linked layout and calculates several indicative measures. Visual integration analysis, in particular, shows how much one can see from each point (Fig. 2e). The integration value of a certain space is given a mathematical value and consequently one can make “the pattern formed by these mathematical values intuitively clear by assigning colors to numbers, usually from red for most integrated to blue for least [integrated or highly segregated]” (Hillier, 2014; Zhang et al., 2013). Intelligibility is another measure that invokes aspects of spatial cognition that relate to navigation and indicates “the degree to which what we can see from the spaces that make up the system” (Hillier, 1996). According to Hillier, the high correlation between connectivity and global integration guarantees an understandable spatial configuration. These tools can help in investigating the visibility characteristics of Mamluk buildings and consequently in understanding how the spatial properties of these buildings were utilized at the experiential visual levels.
Historical framework of the sample As the historical framework of the Mamluk sultanate is fairly established and its chronological unfolding is well documented, the sample consists of few representative examples that can describe and examine the morphological development of madrassas within the sultanate. The literature has shown that Mamluk sultanate was marked by great political changes, which led the philosopher Ibn Khaldun to say, “When the universe is being turned upside-down, we must ask ourselves whether it is changing its nature, whether there is to be a new creation and a new order in the world” (Alsayyad, 2011). His words in fact guided the research framework and sampling. Thus, this research aimed at documenting the critical points that can capture the nature of the historical–architectural production, whether in its stabilities or its divergences and included examples of distinguished political leaders whose reigns ushered in either stability or an end, as well as those of regular and regional representative reigns.