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Complexity and surprise

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Coming through a small corridor into the main hall of the National Building Museum: structural surprise

A complex place does not need to be always surprising us. In fact, if it were, we would find it difficult, since we live in places most of the time without directly concentrating on their structures or rules.

Complexities still provide room for reflection, though. When you re-read a detective novel you already know the ending, but the structures in the novel still have their effects of indirection and build-up. A familiar building or place may still contain trajectories of movement or action that lead to structural surprises even though you already know what is coming.