Spatial configurations
function as structural models -- or interfaces-- which allow a networked
representation of different media: maps, the imagined plan of a city
or a house are classical places of information
storage.The classical Greek mnemonics used a house with several rooms
to represent a subject of a prepared discourse or the encyclopedia of Diderot
and d'Alembert projects knowledge on a map to demonstrate the connections
between the different sciences. The new digital environments use and
develop these concepts further. Their encyclopedic
character and their spatial embedding is comparable to their classical
precursors. The
metaphorical schemata construct
the digital city in analogy to a traditional city. This reflects the categorizing
of
our perceptions, the way we find access to
the world we live in. Imagination and the organization of our memory defines
the concepts we choose and how we compose possible
worlds. Metaphors, which are derived from cultural artifacts such as
buildings or maps, show that culture provides spatial models for metaphoric
schemata.