Doors of Perception to Space-Time-Meaning. Ideology, Religion, and Aesthetics in Balinese Development

Abstract This article develops a conceptual framework to examine the ancestry and evolution of urban forms within the context of cultural space and its social meaning. The framework is intended as a means for organizing and interpreting information, as was Rapoport’s schema, but differs in its perspective. Rapoport begins with design elements and links them to culture; we begin with culture as a process and connect it with contextual settings through which images and configurations are generated and positioned. The framework is applied to the cultural process in Bali by focusing on ideology, religion, and aesthetics, which are treated as the main “doors of perception.” This allows a connection with the concept of a social construction of space and highlights the importance of remediating social conflict with shared values. Examples are used to illustrate the relevance of the doors of perception to urban planning and design in completing the nexus to space–time meaning. Keywords urban form, culture and ideology, social conflict, Balinese Hinduism, adat