City as Text
Choose a place that provokes questions for you and that is interesting enough that you will want to keep studying it for the rest of the semester. As noted above, pick a place that a. you find interesting; b. you can access multiple times throughout the term; and b. provides the right amount of material for the descriptive and analytical that provides enough material for the analysis this project requires.
Do not choose an establishment like a restaurant or a school, as this will provide too little material for you to work with over the next several weeks. On the other hand, do not select an entire city as this will be too large a text to evaluate, and with too much information for you to assess. Instead, focus on neighborhoods, sections of a city, recreational areas, commercial zones, etc.
Deliverable: To present your site selection, create a visual representation that includes a map that delineates the area, a few photos that provide a good sense of the ‘text’ you’ll be evaluating, and any other visuals that will be helpful in reflecting the site you have chosen.
The easiest format in which to do this is PowerPoint, but feel free to be creative. Keep in mind that your site selection, as well as the narrative description (Step 2) and key questions (Step 3) should be integrated into a coherent whole (i.e. not individual documents).
Step 2: Site Description
Visit and observe the site as many times as necessary to collect the data you need. As you observe and study the place, evaluate how it exists on its own, or if it connects to other spaces.
Consider the following questions in your description. While you do not need to answer every question, your description should be detailed enough to address most of the ideas they address. Use subheadings, and for the sake of clarity, stick to one idea per paragraph.
Where is the site?
How do you define the boundaries of where your site begins and ends?
What elements make it an interesting site to study? Is it the geography? Is it the people who occupy, work, or spend time in or around it? The built forms or systems?
How is your site used, and by whom?
What kinds of natural or human built features are located on the site?
How would you describe the vegetation, the buildings, the street systems where it is located, the way sun or shade moves across it?
Are the blocks made up of buildings or parking lots? Are the buildings four stories high or twenty? How far are they set back from the street or what kind of space is in-between?
Does it feel like this space is densely built or open? Do certain businesses or institutions dominate or define the street?
Is there much activity on the street? What kind—pedestrians, animals, cars?
Deliverable: A written narrative description of the site organized into paragraphs that consider the physical, physical, cultural/social, historical elements of that place based on the questions outlined above. Keep in mind that this narrative site description, as well as the visual representation of the site selection (Step1) and key questions (Step 3) should be integrated into a coherent whole (i.e. not individual documents). PowerPoint will be your best bet, but you might also consider embedding a Word document.
Step 3: Key Questions
Once you’ve selected your site and provided a detailed description of its physical, cultural/social, and historical features, consider what questions this site might provoke. By ‘questions,’ I am referring to the ethical, social, environmental, economic and political issues the existence (i.e. construction, revitalization, gentrification, preservation) of your selected site brings to mind. Develop three questions that include the physical space you’ve chosen, and some type of social, political, or cultural issue. To develop your question, you might consider:
Transportation systems: What are the primary modes of transportation in and around your selected site? Can people rely on public transportation to get there, or must they rely on private vehicles or other modes of transportation?
Revitalization projects: Is your site a place that has been ‘revitalized’ or gentrified? Who has benefitted from these initiatives? Who has been displaced? What are the cultural, social, or economic benefits? And the costs?
History and Change: How does the current iteration of the site you’ve selected reflect its history, and how does it diverge?
Commercialization and Economic Activities: What kinds of economic activity take place at your site? Who participates in these activities? Who benefits from them? Who is left out?
Accessibility: Who can access your site? Are there people who are excluded, either overtly or subtlety?
Deliverable: Three detailed questions that the selected site raises. Be sure to help contextualize your questions through some background information that will help explain why your site raises those specific questions.
Keep in mind that these key questions, as well as the visual representation of the site selection (Step1) and the narrative description (Step 2) should be integrated into a coherent whole (i.e. not individual documents). PowerPoint will be your best bet, but you might also consider embedding a Word document.