The question this thesis explores is what could the relationship be between subject, the participant, and object, architectural form, other than fixed. This question arises from a consideration of the relative value of the perceptual field within aesthetic events. Alternative methods of interpreting the figure-ground relationship can cause a break in the definition of observer and object as static entities. Twentieth century painting and sculpture have challenged the conception of a stable figure-ground relationship in favor of a dynamic view. Increasingly within this view the subject has been called upon to become a part of the composition, through the involvement of perception as an integral part of the aesthetic event and/or by the subject becoming part of the event. Underlying this question is the notion that when the cognitive is actively engaged with the physical, the possibility exists of creating an autonomy for subject and object. Autonomy is coincident with a freedom, an enablement, based not solely on an emotional connection through metaphor but one based on the virtual.