Assignment 3: Great Urban Design Thinking

Our first solo project was a visual presentation, aligned with our identified track (mine was creative). My presentation explored perspectives of prominent urban designers and design critics, starting with Camillo Sitte in 1800s Europe through Jan Gehl, a practicing consultant around the globe.
My initial concept was to illustrate the core philosophies and ideals of these thinkers in the form of a conceptual map. something illustrative and hopefully humorous.

The map will explore spatial and temporal relationships, historic urban design theory and observation, scale, relationship, and boundaries. Maps and personal geographies are a big inspiration. They are prominent in the urban planning practice, however, pop culture has given rise to the creative, inspired map – a somewhat loose term, such as Saul Steinberg’s satirical View of the World from 9^th Avenue (1976). Two favorite artists, no relation to the planning world, are Maira Kalman and Paula Scher, both of whom have developed artistic, editorial maps of places and concepts.

Saul Steinberg's 1976 New Yorker cover

The ability to create and interpret maps is critical to a successful planner. They visually convey spatial or technical information, regulatory boundaries (a zoning map, for example), systems, inter-related elements, and natural and built features of a place. 

Jane Jacobs' eyes on the street, as illustrated by Matte Stephens.

 Based on my professor's feedback on my proposal, I scaled back ambitions. For example, I'd originally intended to present the fundamentals of six people's philosophies, then evaluate good and bad examples of urban design in my hometown through a visual preference survey (where folks weigh in on a range of photos). The evaluation component turned out to be way too lofty (and not entirely useful), so I abandoned it before I even stepped outside with a camera. Instead, I focused efforts on the artwork. This project needed to be a standalone, not a personal presentation per se; the visual preference survey wouldn't exactly work, as that tool is best used as a conversation starter.

An edge, as defined by Kevin Lynch, can be a cliff or other geologic divide (credit: David Fleck).

Intend in my creative track to explore new media, I tried my hand at Prezi. Prezi is an online alternative to PowerPoint, and it allows for scaling, zooming, panning, sound, and motion, which provide a vibrant quality. I needed to explore this media first; my husband had warned me that using too many bells and whistles or technical bugs could derail my project. I wanted to use the software judiciously while exploring what it could do that the ubiquitous PowerPoint can't.

Notoriously optimistic about time, I'd also intended to gather the philosophies and sketch out a fictional town built from these philosophies, which would serve as my artwork for Prezi: Sitte Square, White Plaza, Jacobs Village, Gehlpenhagen (those familiar with their thinking will understand my neighborhood naming). Again, after reading, taking notes, and deciding on the main points to illustrate, I realized that drawing this mini-world would be time-intensive in a way that I couldn't afford. So I decided to scan some of my my own drawings and find the rest online.

I narrowed down the subjects to Camillo Sitte, Kevin Lynch, Jane Jacobs, William Whyte, and Jan Gehl. I'd wanted to include Ann Whiston Spirn, but again, realized I'd bitten off more than I could chew (sorry, Ann!).

The high points of my reading, as illustrated in a web that helped organize my thoughts. 

A sketch of mine, to illustrate Sitte's proclivity for haphazard development over time.

My Prezi can be viewed below or here. It ended up being quite different from my original vision, but I was happy with the medium and the artwork used. At UMass, I projected on the wall in a communal room and looped it continuously. Peer indicated they'd like to know the presentation's clear beginning and ending. Although there is no defined narrative, I agree that when approaching a loop, it's helpful to orient and know what you're looking at, how long the sequence is, and what you might've missed. A handful of peers inquired about where I found the artwork, and were inspired that I didn't simply type in phrases in Google Images. I use a few favorite resources, including Etsy, Society 6, Poster Cabaret, and of course, Google.