Territoriality as appropriation of space. How «engaging with space» frames sociality

The essay deals with the notion of territoriality. The esaay shows what are the dominant modalities of human relation to space. Space is a) a set of affordances); b) an opportunity for dealing with signs (by encoding and decoding); c) an opportunity for aesthetic experience, (i.e. exercising taste as a structure of preferences). The chapter offers a framework for the empirical investigation of the relationship between people and space. A set of observable indicators is proposed: traces (non intentional effects of behaviors), alterations (self-designed semi-permanent modifications to the environment), adaptations (actualization of non-designed affordances) and signs (reference to content).