Historic Center

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Historical Center, Historic District, Historic City Center, Historic Cityscape, Old Town, Historic Ensemble, Monumental Urban Site

Category

Travel, Tourism, Attractions, Heritage Attractions, Cultural Attractions, History, Historical Attractions

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate a high concentration of heritage buildings and landmarks of cultural significance

	Source	Description
	Extremadura	Silhouette of building complex with two massive steeples and many small spires
	Aragón	Silhouette of building complex with steeple and two other buildings
	Aicher OAP	Steeple with door and several buildings with gable roofs, all in outline
	Bolivia	Building complex with steeple and four other buildings, several windows indicated
	Castilla y León	Crenellated tower with window next to church with steeple and arched door, part of arc inbetween
	Peru 2016	Steeple with door and window next to building with three arched doorways
	Avanti PUM	Building complex with steeple and two other buildings, several arched doorways and windows indicated
	CNIS	Building with arched doorway and double eaves hip-and-gable roof
	Ecuador	Plan view of square with circle in the center and diagonal and orthogonal symmetric structures ending in semicircles or quadrants
	Peru 2016	Plan view of square divided into nine squares, each of them again made up from four squares; the central square shows also diagonal lines

Discussion

As the sparse collection of pictograms above already indicates, the visual representations signifying a historic center, district, or ensemble are highly dependent on the distinct architectural features found in the individual regions they are from. Often local structures or building complexes that are seen as the main attractions of that city or region were taken as example represented in the rendering. While most pictograms rely on displaying a silhouette, a few variants focus on plan views of a typical area. It seems that no single visual stereotype exists to indicate a high concentration of heritage buildings and landmarks of cultural significance.

In our research we did not discover any test data on comprehensibility of pictograms used to indicate Historic Center or Historic District.

Recommendations

Regarding the small number of pictograms available it would make sense to develop further improved variants and then to examine all concepts on basis of tests: due to the fact that data from research is non-existent, we recommend to start testing using the Comprehensibility Estimation procedure for eliminating poor variants and identifying the best of the set available, followed by a Comprehension Test. These studies should deliver useful data for recommending the best pictogram. Detailed information about the most frequent responses given in each of the response categories of the Comprehension Test should be provided to correctly judge comprehensibility and improve designs. Also information regarding travelling experience should be collected at the end of the test, as the degree of familiarity with the referent examined has a significant impact on the validity of the data collected.

Tests of pictograms of referent Historic Center

No data from research or tests is available in our database.