Author Archives: mjs5262

DOA

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So, after reading “The Timeless Way of Building” I wanted to find the ultimate design of both dead and alive space. For the dead space I had to go back in time, figuratively speaking, to East Germany. I tried to post the picture in this entry but its not working so the link is below. 

I liked this picture the best because it brings out the utter blandness that was created. Notice how each car is exactly the same and only comes in one color (Yes, the picture is black and white but the cars only came in that one color). The buildings are very simplistic and seem to be built with military fashion in mind. The lack of creativity is evident in that the building is a complete box with no differences from side to side, except for some windows that seem to enhance the repetitiveness of the building. Also, there is not a single soul on the streets, which only adds to the feeling of it being dead. Even aside from there being no people it seems like there is literally nothing in the actual street. Not even a piece of trash or a crumpled up old newspaper, just 5 identical cars pulling out onto a street that looks like every other street. I really knew this place was dead space when I stared at the picture for a few minutes. Try it for yourself and see for yourself. Our towns and cities are patterns of relationships that join together and create the town itself but in East Germany it seems that these patterns of relationships are ones of unimaginative structures designed to squash rebellion and forward thinking before it gets started.

For a place that is not nearly as depressing and one I found to be quite alive is the city of Paris, specifically its parks. 
Comparing the two pictures is night and day. Looking at this photo makes me feel relaxed and at ease. The relationship between the natural objects such as the flowers and grass seem to intertwine with the people sitting at the tables. Neither seems out of place rather they seem like they fit together perfectly. 
Even though a park is a quite, slow-paced environment it is full of life. Life seems to slow down in a park but at the same time become enhanced. When you slow down to look at things you notice the beauty in something that you may have glanced over if you were hurrying by. I think spaces that are alive have a certain way of drawing people in without them knowing. Well-designed, alive spaces attract people to them because people fit perfectly into the space. What I mean is that the space is considered alive because it was designed to fit attract and fit people into it. The picture of East Germany does little to attract your attention or increase your desire to be there. However, the second place draws you in and you might not even like French people. 

Ch. 5 Patterns of Space

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In chapter 5 of The Timeless Way of Building, Christopher Alexander explains the relationship of different elements that make up the structure of buildings, towns, etc. He explains on a simple geometric level there are physical elements that repeat themselves. For example, a town is made up of houses, stores, buildings, factories, streets, gardens, etc. Each of these elements have a specific pattern of events that go along with it. People living in houses, flowers growing in gardens, and cars driving on streets. However, each building, town, and store is not exactly identical, although they share similar qualities. What defines the structure of a town is the patterns of relationships among these elements. But Alexander sees this as too simplistic and notices that if we look deeper we realize that these elements are patterns of relationships in themselves, which are constantly repeating. A highway does not repeat but it does have on and off ramps at certain intervals that do repeat. These patterns of relationships repeat themselves to form a city. However, the patterns that form are a result of culture, location, and the people who live there.

I found this to be a rather interesting argument. I agree with the author in the fact that our cities are made up of repeating patterns. In a city small streets link up with other small streets with stop signs. Bigger roads in a city meet up with other roads with a street light.By looking past the physical elements that make up the structure of city and to see these elements as repeating patterns of relationships as really eye-opening and a very unique way to think about how we build.

The Open Road

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Roads might not seem like a very political technology at first. However, there are many issues and effects of roads that make it a complex political issue. First, I will discuss the history of roads then how roads can be political. Also, I will go into some effects of the building of roads, both economical and environmental.

I won’t bore you with a definition of a road but they are used mainly for the transportation of goods, services, and people. Roads were first built in the Middle East around 4000 BC. These roads were made of paved stone, which is not too unlike the roads we see today. The U.S. has the most roads of any country in the world with 4 million miles.

So how does a road become political? Roads are almost always financed by the public sector. This means its done by our governments, both state and local, with our taxpayer dollars. Like death, taxes are certain and everyone pays them. However, the problem arises in the fact that the implementation of roadways are only decided by a select few. One of the most widely used public good is controlled by a very small percentage of its users.

You might look at road or highway being built and not think much of it, but the effect that road has on a community, an area, and a region can be far-reaching. A road can bring people and business to a community or town. However, if a town is not part of the road or highway, it can be overlooked. This can cause people to move away, businesses to close down, and generally hurt the community. Roadways can also bring new services and goods to a town that was once cut off from other areas. This can result in different kinds of food being trucked in from all over the country. Large highways and turnpikes might seem to help diversify local culture by being able to allow access for different ideas and attitudes. However, these types of roads bring out a degree of standardization. The different types of restaurants on any major highway is a good example. You will see McDonald’s, Burger King, and other fast-food corporations. This type of standardization cuts off local restaurants and diners that once would have been the place to stop before that 4 lane highway was put in. Another effect of roads can be environmental. Roads can cause water, air, and noise pollution. Roads are impervious surfaces that do not allow water to seep into the ground easily. This causes more runoff and less water in our soils. Also, automobiles create pollution by the liquids they leak (oil, anti-freeze, etc.) as well as the gases they emit (CO,CO2). Also, spraying ice to help thaw ice can have a negative effect on the local watershed if environmentally unfriendly products are used. 

Beijing Smog.png

So how do we still build more roads when the land is already owned? Eminent Domain allows for a state to seize a citizen’s private property without their consent as long as the state pays due compensation. This is often done to build widen roads as towns become more populated. I saw evidence of this first hand when my own lawn was shortened because of the local township widening a road beside my property. Eminent domain is used for more than just roads. Many public goods such as water treatment facilities, electrical power-lines, and powerplants rely on eminent domain to acquire the land to build on.

Roads can affect towns, economies, regions, and cultures. They are one if the most shared and widely used public goods. However, even though they affect everyone and anyone, they are only controlled by a select few.

References

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/real_estate/eminent_domain.html

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200707/r157257_569758.jpg

http://unix.eng.ua.edu/~rpitt/Publications/BooksandReports/Stormwater%20Effects%20Handbook%20by%20%20Burton%20and%20Pitt%20book/MainEDFS_Book.html

http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0813526914&id=flvS-nJga8QC&pg=PR3&lpg=PR3&ots=DvEHtwROGm&dq=%22Ways+of+the+world%22+Rutgers+University+Press,+New+Brunswick&sig=tK2dgY-CJ8S2DSeTaMJKKi82Uew#v=onepage&q=%22Ways%20of%20the%20world%22%20Rutgers%20University%20Press%2C%20New%20Brunswick&f=false

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Designing for the Long Haul

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I found the movie “Objectified” to be rather interesting. I thought the idea of how good design should be unobtrusive to be really true. If a product is designed really well you don’t even notice its design. The product will just fit into wherever its placed and you don’t even think about another way it could be made.

I don’t know if it was just me but it seemed like a lot of focus was on the design of chairs. This is where I was thrown off by all of the different designers. I feel like chairs are pretty well designed for the most part. Maybe we should move on to designing more important products instead of creating thousands upon thousands of new chairs that do the same job as the old chairs. This takes up resources, both physical and monetary. Also, I ddidn’t agree with the idea of creating new things just so we can buy them. A lot of products are designed differently to give the appearance of being new and improved when in reality you could probably do without it. I also think this played a role in why the products they designed are used by only 10% of the population. I think an emphasis should be placed on designing affordable and biodegradable products for the majority of the population.

I thought an interesting part was when the French designer was showing off different materials he would like to use in a product. He didn’t seem to care whether the material was expensive or bad for the environment, he just wanted to use it because he liked it.

Overall, I thought the video really explained why a lot of our products (and I mean A LOT) are not built being biodegradable and with an emphasis on sustainability. It seemed like a lot of our products are designed to work for a limited time so people will have to buy new ones. This is not how our technology should be designed. Hopefully in the near future products will be designed and manufactured to work for the long whole and to have a limited impact on our environment.