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the space around us, we must move our bodies. A glance,
however, is able to take in only segments measuring 25 to
30° with any clarity, by means of which we scan space bit by
bit. The consequence of this constraint is, for example, that
the > closure of squares or the downward-pressing impact of
the ceiling is dependent upon whether the upper edge of the
square or wall of the room lies within or outside of the angle
of vision. The estimation of the > size of buildings or rooms
is conditioned by their surveyability, and hence by the rela-
tionship between the angle of vision to our distance from the
object. The articulation of the facade of a large building can
only be surveyed in its entirety from a sufficient distance, and
cannot be adequately grasped close up.
Because of the interdependency of viewing distance and
architectural articulation on various levels of scale, a distant
view of a building contrasts with a more proximate one. Cer-
tain architectural members may seem delicate and elegant
from a distance, while appearing massive close up, for ex-
ample, the pylons of the tent roof of the Olympic Stadium
in Munich. From a distance, buildings make the impression
of planar images, and landscapes and cities appear as pic-
turesque views (panoramas). Close up, in contrast, the gaze
gropes its way along the structure’s palpably physical surface
relief, even approaching haptic forms of perception, and en-
riching these impressions via physical grasping, for example
of a door handle. In a sense, vision is already able to grasp ob-
jects. According to Helmut Plessner, ‘The line of sight rushes,
so to speak, towards the object, enfolding it like a human
hand,’ thereby anticipating potential action (1923, 247). In
this way, the gaze also anticipates the > extension of our en-
tire > personal space.
Through constriction and framing, > filtering and re-
flection, the gaze and that which it perceives are truncated,
fragmented, or concealed. This dynamic is decelerated by
richly informative, so to speak roughened > surfaces and
fields of stimuli. Like the other senses, vision tends to produce