Following our mapping of Newbury Street discussion, Shaun presented a great lecture on reclaiming the public realm. I especially enjoyed the discussion of ecotones and patches. I had only been introduced to these terms and concepts in a Living Systems studio and how they relate to animal habitats. What an interesting transference into human behavior. What struck me most was the image of where the edges of two ecotones meet and what happens along that edge, lots of gathering. The idea of scale was also of interest to me and the perspective of grain vs. extent.
As I ponder my research paper and question what specifically I want to know about my site (Front Street in Scituate, Mass). I began to piece together all we have been presented with and read. I then re-read my initial observation of front street and began to think about what was most important to me about this site not only as a citizen of the town but as someone who never takes for granted the beauty and natural space that surrounds us everywhere here. There was one element of my observation I kept coming back to: all of the walkers, dog walkers and cyclists in town who use Front Street as part of their routine walks or journeys everyday. Completely surrounding Front street is a beautiful marsh area and a lovely harbor complete with lighthouse and ocean views. Along the perimeter of the waterway is a paved walkway and in at certain points a gazebo and a grassy overlook. The walkway follows the same path as Front Street so it is not a detour or doesn't take the user out of the way. Yet, it is underutilized. My observations and recollections for this course and from the past make me so curious about this. Is there something in the design of that path that repels users? What happens in that edge space where animal habitats meet peopled habitats? Of course I could be wrong and the walk is used a lot more than I think.... That is what I would like to find out. I would like to use Zeisel"s outline for trace evidence, direct observation, at differing times and questionnaires. I will most definitely be looking for both what is there and what is missing.
I have presented my ideas to Nora and with her guidance and beginning to get more focused, she gave me a lot to think about! I will have a skeleton questionnaire and a more focused approach tomorrow!
By the way, I forgot to post my new favorite term:
Shadow Citizen: A person who is physically present in a site but mentally detached from it, perhaps because they are listening to an iPod, texting etc. (From Class Notes)
Also:
Light Trespass: The infiltration or interruption of light where it is not desired. (From Class Notes) Thanks, Ted!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Thoughts on Mapping and Shaun's Newbury Street Excercise
Environmental Transactionalism: The impact humans have on a place and the impact a place has on humans on a microsecond by microsecond basis. (From Class Notes)
From Shaun O'Rourke's Presentation on the 21st Century Public Realm: How do we see the Public Realm? As a series of elements and/or a collection of details? Or perhaps as a network of a diverse biotic and abiotic interactions that continually change along the temporal scale?
I enjoyed the readings on Mapping Through the Senses. I am not sure if there was a hard copy of this to read, but I found and listened to the podcast. It was a unique and fun way to take in the information and allowed me to use a different sense to interpret the information. As in the segment of mapping sound, I felt a sense of "hyper awareness" that I think sometimes isn't as acute through straight text reading.I am amazed at how many things in our surrounding environment go unnoticed and what we can interpret about a space by mapping abstract elements. In particular, I thought the mapping of leaf light to be such an interesting way to draw conclusions about a neighborhood.
The MacFarlane and Haggett piece on Mapping Tranquility was also interesting. I appreciate the author's explanation that to measure tranquility one must form a definition first and rely on quantitative data. They write, " While tranquility may be a personal experience, there are places where it is more likely to be experienced. The concept merits a mention in documents, policies... unless the experiential or felt aspects of landscapes are considered alongside more easily quantified and indicated characteristics, landscape, countryside and environment quality can only be partially safe guarded into the future." How hard it is to formulate a working definition to a "concept" word! I thought the use of Participatory Appraisal as a research method worked well in this instance. Through expressive interpretation participants painted a clear picture of what tranquility as a concept meant to them. I felt it was a great way to gather data on a personal meaning. There was segment however, where I paused to wonder about data collection and interpretation. Participants were asked to rate their top three reasons for visiting a park (in this case, it was Northumberland Park in England). It was reported that one of the top three reasons given was for "tranquility". While the rest of the reading was very precise in explaining how research was conducted, I found this one particular questionnaire was not explained. The reason I questioned it is because of the very use of the word "tranquility". I wanted to know if the participants were given a list of reasons and asked to rate them on a scale of let's say 1-5 or 10 or if most of the participants came up with the word tranquility on their own. I think of the responses i would use to answer an open ended question and I am not sure the word "tranquility" specifically would come to mind. I was just curious about the manner in which the question was asked.....
Zeisel's reading on observing physical traces was my favorite of the group. The use of trace evidence to me is something I could see myself easily doing. I especially like the notion of not only documenting what is in evidence, but, perhaps more importantly what is missing. Definitely something to think about. I felt that the topics he discussed were followed up nicely with relateable examples. The case study of the healing garden was so good for me to read as it gave me a better understanding of how all that we have been studying relates back to landscape architecture.
Shaun's exercise on mapping elements along Newbury Street gave us a wide range of elements to cover and a lot to talk about in class. My particular element was to look at municipal infrastructure that is visible at street level. Not the most photo appealing topic, so I decided to map out where these elements lie on the street scape and/or sidewalks (Map to follow as soon as I can get to the BAC to grab it off my H drive). A few things were discovered along the way. All of the gas and water access ports are grouped in threes on the sidewalks. All of the fire hydrants on that particular segment of Newbury Street are on the north side sidewalk, nothing on the south side. My assumption is that the street is small and narrow enough to access any building in the event of a fire. Luckily, this leaves more parking opportunities on the southern sidewalks! The one thing that I was most curious about was the adjacency of storm water drains to crosswalks. Thinking about storm water management and the issues of pollutants entering, and at times blocking storm grates, it seems to me, crosswalks, where many people gather in large groups and drop paper, cigarette butts and other pollutant, and storm drains siting is completely incompatible. Can this ever be changed? Most likely not. But what can change is the responsibility of the people in the crosswalks or better yet, placement of trash receptacles at either end of the cross walk, an observation that was not noted anywhere....
From Shaun O'Rourke's Presentation on the 21st Century Public Realm: How do we see the Public Realm? As a series of elements and/or a collection of details? Or perhaps as a network of a diverse biotic and abiotic interactions that continually change along the temporal scale?
I enjoyed the readings on Mapping Through the Senses. I am not sure if there was a hard copy of this to read, but I found and listened to the podcast. It was a unique and fun way to take in the information and allowed me to use a different sense to interpret the information. As in the segment of mapping sound, I felt a sense of "hyper awareness" that I think sometimes isn't as acute through straight text reading.I am amazed at how many things in our surrounding environment go unnoticed and what we can interpret about a space by mapping abstract elements. In particular, I thought the mapping of leaf light to be such an interesting way to draw conclusions about a neighborhood.
The MacFarlane and Haggett piece on Mapping Tranquility was also interesting. I appreciate the author's explanation that to measure tranquility one must form a definition first and rely on quantitative data. They write, " While tranquility may be a personal experience, there are places where it is more likely to be experienced. The concept merits a mention in documents, policies... unless the experiential or felt aspects of landscapes are considered alongside more easily quantified and indicated characteristics, landscape, countryside and environment quality can only be partially safe guarded into the future." How hard it is to formulate a working definition to a "concept" word! I thought the use of Participatory Appraisal as a research method worked well in this instance. Through expressive interpretation participants painted a clear picture of what tranquility as a concept meant to them. I felt it was a great way to gather data on a personal meaning. There was segment however, where I paused to wonder about data collection and interpretation. Participants were asked to rate their top three reasons for visiting a park (in this case, it was Northumberland Park in England). It was reported that one of the top three reasons given was for "tranquility". While the rest of the reading was very precise in explaining how research was conducted, I found this one particular questionnaire was not explained. The reason I questioned it is because of the very use of the word "tranquility". I wanted to know if the participants were given a list of reasons and asked to rate them on a scale of let's say 1-5 or 10 or if most of the participants came up with the word tranquility on their own. I think of the responses i would use to answer an open ended question and I am not sure the word "tranquility" specifically would come to mind. I was just curious about the manner in which the question was asked.....
Zeisel's reading on observing physical traces was my favorite of the group. The use of trace evidence to me is something I could see myself easily doing. I especially like the notion of not only documenting what is in evidence, but, perhaps more importantly what is missing. Definitely something to think about. I felt that the topics he discussed were followed up nicely with relateable examples. The case study of the healing garden was so good for me to read as it gave me a better understanding of how all that we have been studying relates back to landscape architecture.
Shaun's exercise on mapping elements along Newbury Street gave us a wide range of elements to cover and a lot to talk about in class. My particular element was to look at municipal infrastructure that is visible at street level. Not the most photo appealing topic, so I decided to map out where these elements lie on the street scape and/or sidewalks (Map to follow as soon as I can get to the BAC to grab it off my H drive). A few things were discovered along the way. All of the gas and water access ports are grouped in threes on the sidewalks. All of the fire hydrants on that particular segment of Newbury Street are on the north side sidewalk, nothing on the south side. My assumption is that the street is small and narrow enough to access any building in the event of a fire. Luckily, this leaves more parking opportunities on the southern sidewalks! The one thing that I was most curious about was the adjacency of storm water drains to crosswalks. Thinking about storm water management and the issues of pollutants entering, and at times blocking storm grates, it seems to me, crosswalks, where many people gather in large groups and drop paper, cigarette butts and other pollutant, and storm drains siting is completely incompatible. Can this ever be changed? Most likely not. But what can change is the responsibility of the people in the crosswalks or better yet, placement of trash receptacles at either end of the cross walk, an observation that was not noted anywhere....
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Survey Question as Data for Research
The Question: Where do you see Landscape Architecture going over the next several years and do you think the downward turn we are experiencing in the job market turning around for us?
Exploration and Review: My question was answered in several different ways and all of the answers were narrative in form. The question was framed in an open ended manner, literally asking for the respondent's opinion. The answers I received were linked to the responders experiences in the field and perhaps, maybe a little bit biased based on where their personal interests/work experiences lie. To be fair, knowing the responders and what their backgrounds are has maybe made my evaluation and interpretation a little biased too. After reviewing the question, I still wonder if it could have been framed differently, but in order to do that I had to evaluate what it was that I wanted a specific answer to. I have concluded that I truly did want just an opinion. Except for the the last part of the question, ("do you think the downward turn..." ) I didn't expect a "yes" or "no" answer. I don't think I would re frame the question but rather, turn into two questions.
The responses I received were interesting and there were several categories that emerged. Two of the responders, saw the field of LA becoming increasingly more collaborative with other disciplines. Two of the responders felt that success in the field was entirely up to the individual and shouldn't be dependent on industry trends. Two others were a bit unsure of the future of the field and its trends. The common ground for all of the responders was that the future success and sustainability of the field lies on being open and flexible to a changing market whether it be in a large firm or individual practice. Overall, five of respondents were optimistic about the future and one unsure but seemingly hopeful.
In general, the responses I received were expected given the nature of the question. There were two outliers however. One of the answers was quite philosophical in nature and after reading it several times, I realized that only one sentence in the paragraph attempted to answer the question but did so very indirectly. The other responses were quite definite in their opinions and answers. The other answer that didn't quite fit with the others addressed why the role of the landscape architect was important but did not address the future trends of the field.
Exploration and Review: My question was answered in several different ways and all of the answers were narrative in form. The question was framed in an open ended manner, literally asking for the respondent's opinion. The answers I received were linked to the responders experiences in the field and perhaps, maybe a little bit biased based on where their personal interests/work experiences lie. To be fair, knowing the responders and what their backgrounds are has maybe made my evaluation and interpretation a little biased too. After reviewing the question, I still wonder if it could have been framed differently, but in order to do that I had to evaluate what it was that I wanted a specific answer to. I have concluded that I truly did want just an opinion. Except for the the last part of the question, ("do you think the downward turn..." ) I didn't expect a "yes" or "no" answer. I don't think I would re frame the question but rather, turn into two questions.
The responses I received were interesting and there were several categories that emerged. Two of the responders, saw the field of LA becoming increasingly more collaborative with other disciplines. Two of the responders felt that success in the field was entirely up to the individual and shouldn't be dependent on industry trends. Two others were a bit unsure of the future of the field and its trends. The common ground for all of the responders was that the future success and sustainability of the field lies on being open and flexible to a changing market whether it be in a large firm or individual practice. Overall, five of respondents were optimistic about the future and one unsure but seemingly hopeful.
In general, the responses I received were expected given the nature of the question. There were two outliers however. One of the answers was quite philosophical in nature and after reading it several times, I realized that only one sentence in the paragraph attempted to answer the question but did so very indirectly. The other responses were quite definite in their opinions and answers. The other answer that didn't quite fit with the others addressed why the role of the landscape architect was important but did not address the future trends of the field.
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