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Field Assignment #2: In the Pre-War Landscape/Grand Avenue

During this assignment you are encouraged to look for landscape evidence of the concepts developed in our institute and the book Grand Avenue: Renaissance of an Urban Street.

READING ASSIGNMENT

The Modern Urban Landscape by Edward Relph pp. 1-10; chs. 5,7, 6; pp. 178-189, 211-229, 238-267. This is an urban geography book, but it is written in a way the presumes no formal training in geography. The book contains a wealth of information that pertains both directly and indirectly to Grand Ave. You will not be able to work all his material into your field report, but do not worry about that. The book will give you a frame of reference for your observations.

Grand Avenue skim the entire book and be sure to at least read the last chapter before you start out on this adventure. I have also placed on reserve two other monographs on Grand Avenue that were done by geography field seminars. The will also give you an idea of change.

Ways of Seeing pp. 7-33 & 129-154. This is not a geography book but I think you will find it quite interesting. The generalizations from art criticism will provide points of departure for your observations. Be sure to study the wordless chapters.

The task is to read the landscape, or at least begin to read the landscape. Do not become frustrated if this is your first attempt at this sort of thing. Like all kinds of thinking it requires practice before it becomes second nature. My goal is to change the way to move through the city. I want you to become a person who is always aware of the landscape AND I want you to be able to understand the processes of change that are at work around you.

Landscapes are visual contexts of every daily life. we manipulate landscapes in gardens, enjoy gazing at them, especially at sunset, we consume them as tourists and photograph them extensively. Although landscapes are obvious work-a-day things they are difficult to analyze. They are so familiar and all encompassing they are hard to get into a clear perspective. If we disassemble them into their component parts we lose the sense of the whole and we also lose the significance of the location of the parts and their connections with one another.

Despite the difficulty we must plunge into the field and do our best to figure out what we can see.

Because this assignment asks you to look at a street, there will be some duplication in your trip. Your speed determines what you will see. Do not rush this trip. Smile at people along the way and when the opportunity presents itself stop and chat. Be on the look out for unexpected features as well as common themes. Above all enjoy yourself!

Directions: ALLOW YOURSELF ABOUT TWO HOURS TO MAKE THE TRIP

Slowly walk From Grand and Dale to the Grandview Theater, just west of the intersection of Grand and Fairview. Look for the following elements in the landscape and record your observations of them as individual elements and as parts of a whole:

· the number of commercial and residential units per block
· the type of structures - building size, shape, construction materials color the difference, if any, between the present use and the use for which the building was originally intended.
· street furniture - benches, wastebaskets, street light poles
· signs - pay careful attention to signs because they are overt messages to us.

Keep track of the sorts of people you see on the street and the uses they make of Grand Avenue. You do not need to do a great deal of interviewing, but pay attention to things such as age, gender, mode of transportation, shoppers or people being entertained. Enter the buildings at Grand and Victoria. Analyze these places.

1. describe the mall taking into consideration the number of buildings involved, the ratio of parking space to shopping space and the overall size and design of the buildings.
2. the arrangement of space within the buildings
3. the pattern of shops and stores within the buildings
4. the kind of functions that are the primary anchors for the development
5. the kinds of people in the mall and their activities
6. the use of color
7. the nature of the signage
8. the arrangement of space within the stores
9. the nature of window displays
10. activities in the "public space"
11. public facilities
12. places to sit
13. any and all other points you find interesting

What is the physical condition of the street? Are the buildings well maintained, are sidewalks in good repair, etc.? See if there is any variation in physical conditions.

Make simple sketch maps of blocks you find interesting or different.

What are the various ways Grand Avenue has been used in naming functions?

To what extent do you feel the street has been commodifed. What are the potentials and limitations on commodification?

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

Take notes on each of the following and when you return to campus write an analytical essay of no more than three pages on how this landscape was shaped by cultural values. Be sure to connect your observations to what you have read. You might find it efficient to take your notes on empirical observations on one page and record your thoughts or interpretations on the opposite page. If you do this you will have an abundance of material on which to base your essay. Both the journal and essay will be turned in.