Abstract
In this paper we present a survey conducted in order to understand how simple 3D objects, named geometaphors, can be composed for building a model that permits to represent topological relationships in a 3D space. The research was conducted on twenty participants who were familiar with geographical information systems (GIS) and the notion of topological relationship. The subjects participating to the survey were asked to put in relation textual labels related to topological relationships with visual compositions of geometaphors pairs. The result is an interpretation model of the visual compositions that represents an important component for the building of visual query environments compliant with the users' mental model, contributing therefore to augment significantly the usability of such systems.