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tions. The complexity of an architectural layout, for exam-
ple, depends significantly on > scale and angle of vision. A
structure that may appear highly complex when seen up close
may seem quite simple as a totality. If the elaboration of indi-
vidual details is not consistently maintained, then conversely,
the complexity of the total composition may be lost when it is
approached. Up close, complexity must be visible in > detail.
Concerning the relationship between contents and external ap-
pearance, Rudolf Arnheim wrote: ‘Complex structure can be
housed but not expressed by simple shape.’ (1977/2009, 165)
On the other hand, tension is generated when a plain exterior
gives way to an interior that displays an unexpected spatial
and formal elaborateness. Many examples of such contrast-
ing polarities are discussed by Robert Venturi, who recom-
mended ‘complexity and contradiction’ as architectural quali-
ties: an > interior may coincide with the external space, > clo-
sure with openness, > body with space, duality with unity, and
> centring with > directionality.
A special source of complexity in architecture lies in the
diverse ways in which the design of the space is legible; a spa-
tial complex is never perceived from a single viewpoint. Even
a simple space may present us with a complex image if shifts
of perspective yield contrasting perceptual results. This can
occur, for example, when unexpected view axes present them-
selves suddenly at various locations, or when we discover that
a location is integrated into a number of different overlapping
spatial systems of reference (> transparency), which in turn
appear differently depending on one’s location. Taking place
within perception is a complex interplay that cannot be re-
placed by simulations. Individual perceptual components elic-
ited from varying viewpoints are synthesized by short-term
> memory to produce an imagined sense of the spatial totality.
Every now and then, this complexity of possible perspectives
of an architectural order must be brought under control, for
example by an overview; otherwise, it will seem not complex,
but instead merely complicated, and will produce an impres-