Advisor: Prof. Nabil Abu-Dayyeh
Co-advisor: Prof. Ali Al-Ghul

Abstract:
This study was conducted to shed light upon the importance of visual representation as an active production of visible signs, which can be utilized for the purpose of human communication. This research takes as its main focus of interest the use of a language of art in the investigation of categories of thinking about the visual world. It is the aim of this study to investigate some aspects of the relationship between children and their architectural environments through the interpretation of children¹s graphics representation as an important tool of communication.

Data was collected by means of a survey which included questionnaires supplemented by interviews. The subjects of study were chosen from the same neighborhood, located in west Amman, totaling (40). The children were all 7-12 years old. Each child provided seven drawings of different architectural settings. Three different types of analysis were undertaken (a) typology analysis, aimed at identifying patterns or varieties of representations; (b) gender analysis, aimed at examining gender differences; (c) statistical analysis, to complement the previous two.

The thesis concluded that, for children, objects are more tangible than areas, and areas are more tangible than spaces. It also concluded that the child has an incomplete image of its contemporary house and it has a labyrinthine image of the city, Amman. Gender analysis indicated that male children are more capable of representing the three dimensional world.