Getting out of a Deadend in Final Palatial Crete: Applying Space Syntax Analysis to the Casa dei Vani Aggiunti Progressivamente at Haghia Triada

the present paper intends to supplement the available description of both structures and finds from the LM III Villaggio by focusing on the most monumental building located within its borders, the Casa dei Vani Aggiunti Progressivamente (Privitera 2015a, 35-83), in the light of data deriving from the application of space syntax analysis (Hillier 1996; 2014). The idea of selecting such a building as a case-study essentially draws on Letesson’s researches concerning Neopalatial architecture (Letesson 2009, 2014), which conclusively showed how the arrangement and inner organization of about seventy Minoan buildings betray the existence of a subjacent architectural set of principles or a ‘genotype’. It is our contention that employing such a methodology makes it possible to raise several interpretative questions, such as to what extent Casa VAP shows formal links with the Neopalatial building tradition and whether the cultural code/s that inspired its layout evolved over its long period of life (ca. 150-175 years, from early LM IIIA2 through late LM IIIB).