Local-to-global phenonenon

The local-to-global phenomenon is the dynamics of architectural and urban systems in which the elementary generators, which express the human ability to cognise and structure an immediate spatial reality, unfold into the ramified complexities of large scale systems.

Sources

Hillier, B. (1996, 2007), Space is the Machine: A Configurational Theory of Architecture. Space Syntax: London, UK. pp.69,226