what is negative space to you?  anti-matter or dark matter sort of negative space?  the space between atoms?  the part of a building where you don't put a wall?  does it exist in 3-dimensions, or can it be described with only 2-dimensions?  can you enclose negative space with an opening?  are you referring to a negative "feeling" a space might encourage?

"Negative" space has a few different meanings, depending on context. Technically, a space is negative if it is convex and positive if it is concave; concavity/convexity defined according to topological rules (a line drawn through the space that can extend infinitely on either end outside the space without intersecting a spatial boundary object indicates convexity, for instance). This technical definition becomes important in urban design, where the distinction between positive and negative space is significant for the perception of urban environments.

Informally, we often hear reference to the space created by the interposition of objects as "negative," but that's really a redundant use of terms. It's a space, created by the relationships of objects, boundary conditions, and our perceptual awareness of their interrelationships. Adding "negative" to the description clouds meaning rather than clarifying it: i.e. it's a way for people to increase syllable count to sound intellectual when talking about something straightforward and intuitive. Adding the adjective should distinguish in a meaningful way, as with the topological definition above. Negative = Convex.

the curmudgeons are thick in this town.

I cant imagine anyone but a dope has ever said 'negative space' to increase syllable count. do people actually do that? while there are a lot of dopes, space gets called negative simply because most folky folk have never considered it as a thing and calling it negative space is usually their first introduction to the idea - as opposed to the positive objects and things which bound it.

if you need someplace to start, go read some josef albers.

Negative space: Washington DC

all around you, that space you occupy is negative.. unless you're buried in a block of concrete, you cannot dwell in positive space xP

So are there any source anyone can suggest to support these ideas. I am focusing mainly on negative space in architecture. 

thanks for your post so far, they have helped!

Go take a look at Arthur E. Stamps' work in empirical aesthetics. He's done some very interesting research on human spatial and object perception. In "Psychology and Aesthetics of the Built Environment", he uses topological convexity/concavity as a measure of design articulation (specifically, convex deficiency of form). That same method is equally applicable to spatial configuration (a space is convex, and thus "positive", if a line between any pair of boundary points remains entirely within the space). He also wrote a paper "On Shape and Spaciousness" taking an empirical look at the perception of space in hypothetical urban street environments with more and less spatial complexity. Fascinating stuff.

A quick summary of concavity and convexity in urban space can be found here: http://books.google.com/books?id=GTQqshLjwCoC&lpg=PA177&ots=isNYHpUHyj&dq=negative%20positive%20urban%20space%20convexity&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q&f=false

In the words of a great poet i once heard "space, the final frontier......to boldly go were no man/ woman has gone before!

breaker breaker,

over & out

thank you for your help! especially gwharton! 

positive space represents space that we want( space designed for a purpose), while negative space is what's left over.

No matter which way you look at it one defines the other.

hi guys 

I'm doing undergraduate in architecture 

I took "redefining negative space" as my dissertation topic 

I'm struggling in finding a reference in this topic 

Can you people suggest any of the reference books or links related to negative space !!!!

Thanks in advance

hie guys

I am an undergraduate student of architecture.

I am thinking of taking positive & negative spaces in architecture as my dissertation topic.

I feel both negative & positive spaces go hand in hand. Any structure or space would be interesting if it has balanced positive and negative spaces .

i look to it as:

POSITIVE: foreground, built, solid, light

NEGATIVE: background, surroundings, void, dark respectively.

I'm struggling in finding a references in this topic 

Can you people suggest me any of the reference books or links related to positive & negative spaces in architecture & its impacts on the perceiver. 

And also if any suggestions how i can take this topic further as my dissertation topic.

thanking in advance!!!

What undergrad program requires a dissertation? 

and

How did you pick this topic? What research did you conduct in order to select it? What's your interest in it, and what specific aspects of negative space are you investigating? 

I'm asking sincerely, as the initial post is surprising in its vagueness, and in the statement that you're an undergrad writing a dissertation, and in the apparent fact that this topic got approved by your advisors or professors or whoever without requiring a lot more specificity.

I came up with the topic where I wanted to understand how spaces interact with humans & how they perceive it.

I have just started with research & at very initial stage abt the topic so asking for references.

N yes it is not yet approved...it's just the beginning for reasearch

Have you ever read or heard about "smooth space" and "striated space"?

According to the authors of the book 'a thousand plateaus' (Deleuze & Guattari): "...Striated space is gridded, linear, metric, optic, state space; smooth space is open-ended, nonlinear, intensive, haptic, nomad space...".

“Smooth space is filled by events of haecceities, far more than by formed and perceived things. It is a space of affects, more than one of properties…it is an intensive rather than an extensive space, one of distances, not of measures and properties.”

“The striated is that which intertwines fixed and variable elements, produces an order and succession of distinct forms, organizes horizontal lines with vertical planes”.

Hope you can find some inspiration here. Stay on track!