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CAPITOLO I1 - La percezione del Paesaggio
Abstract
The aim of this contribution is to approach the definition of landscapes using cognitive
paradigms.
Cognition is recognized as an essential component of the living strategies of organisms
and the use of cognitive approaches based on an organismic-centered-view has been
discussed as a sound approach to define the landscape perception. The incorporation
of the theory of information, the theory of meaning and the Umwelt, and the
biosemiotic models into the landscape ecology framework can be the necessary step
to create a common paradigmatic background and operational tools to develop basis
for a cognitive landscape ecology. Three cognitive landscapes: Neutral-based landscape
(NbL), individual-based landscape (IbL) and observed-based landscape (ObL)
have been proposed in order to explore the cognitive mechanisms. NbL represents
the undecoded component of the cognitive matrix. The IbL is the portion of landscape
perceived by the biological sensors. ObL is the part of the cognitive matrix perceived
using the cultural background of the observer. The perceived landscape is composed
by the sum of these three approaches of landscape perception. Moreover, the ecofield
hypothesis has been presented as a new possibility to describe landscape processes
according to an organismic-centered-view. The eco-field is defined as a spatial
configuration carrier of a specific meaning perceived when a specific living function is
activated. A species-specific cognitive landscape is composed of all the spatial configurations
involved for all the living functions for a particular organism (human beings
included). Eco-field hypothesis offers a detailed vision of (habitat) environmental requirements
and creates a novel conceptual bridge between niche, habitat, Umwelt
and the methodological approaches of spatial ecology. Finally, this approach promises
a new testing ground for experimental investigations in landscape studies and in related
disciplines including environmental psychology, cognitive ethology, cultural ecology,
landscape aesthetics, design, conservation and planning even for health purposes.
The latter is the case of “therapeutic landscapes”: places, settings, situations, locales,
and milieus that encompass both the physical and psychological environments associated
with treatment or healing, and the maintenance of health and well-being.
1. Introduzione
La parola paesaggio è entrata in maniera definitiva all’interno della letteratura scientifica migrando
dal dominio delle arti estetiche e della letteratura a quelle dell’ecologia e della scienza
della progettazione territoriale (Naveh & Liebermann 1984, Forman & Godron 1986, Farina
2005), fino ad interessare la giurisprudenza (Convenzione Europea del Paesaggio, Firenze 2000).
In particolare l’adozione di questo termine nel campo teorico ed applicato delle scienze ecologiche
emerge dalla stessa evoluzione culturale che ha visto a partire dalla seconda metà del
secolo appena trascorso l’espandersi sia delle conoscenze naturalistico-ambientali sia la formulazione
di nuovi paradigmi quali la teoria della comunicazione (Shannon & Weaver 1949), la
complessità ecologica (Merry 1995, Cillier 1998), la teoria dell’autopoiesi (Maturana & Varela