repurposed

Window Watchers

Recently, while reading the New York Times online I came across Julie Scelfo’s  Window Watchers in a City of Strangers, and was reminded of just how different life even in an urban Midwestern setting can be from that of an East or West Coast city. Scelfo discusses the nature of window watching one’s high rise neighbors and seems to be commenting ultimately that window watching in New York City is a manifestation of urban planning, architecture, and city culture through human agency: the act of watching, or choosing not to watch.

Included in the article is a project, Out my Window NYC composed by Gail Albert Halaban, a window watcher.

 My attention was drawn to this article because my time living in the residence halls at Ball State, in the La Follette Complex provided me with a similar experience which pails in comparison to those instances Scelfo and Halaban have shared, but none the less have changed how I lived and acted as governed by my space. La Follete, unlike other residence halls on campus is composed of four adjacent halls— each towering over the buildings on campus at nine stories high. The four halls are interconnected by dining and offices in the center of the complex, but in a sense stand alone. Each hall is an “L”; and so, much like city dwellers did, I myself had many experiences peering into windows and being peered upon. My roommate and I not only had neighbors to the left and right, but around the entire side of the hall out our window. We knew some of these neighbors, but as the year progressed we became more and more intrigued by our upstairs and downstairs neighbors’ lives as framed by their windows. This is what Karen L. Fingerman according to Scelfo’s article would deem a “vital anonymous connection” and “a sense of emotional stability.” And too think, it was the ghastly “L” 1960s architecture which provided my roommate and me with these experiences of togetherness with our neighbors. At one point, we watched as our downstairs across the way neighbors assembled their loft in front of a window, clearly a fire code violation. Just three days later, before a break when the Resident Assistant made rounds they were reported. And so my roommate and I happened to catch them disassembling the same loft. We were entertained. We laughed and they waved to us… ok they actually made a derogatory gesture. Clearly, we were communicating.

 According to Scelfo, this practice of silent communication is extremely common in urban settings. In fact it is a trend which is discursive I contest may even redefine or add a new layer to my peer’s working definition of discourse: language in use. These silent exchanges, according to Dr. Calvin Morril, editor of Together Alone: Personal Relationships in Public Places, “ Simply looking our your apartment window and seeing other humans doing an activity in a consistent way and at a similar time can provide stability and support” he deems our daily lives “. . . a kind of reassurance” for our neighbors. Scelfo compares window watching to the entertainment reality TV crazed US citizens crave.

Naturally, human agency surfaces with regard to nudity which comes up in this discussion. Surprisingly, a variety of cultural norms dictate window watchers actions. While some follow the Friends “Ugly Naked Guy” sitcom mentality of watching, this is not consistent across the board. One  woman comments in Scelfo’s article “The woman who lives there [across from her apartment] often wears nothing but underwear. So I try not to look.” Despite isolation from the rest of society, these window watchers face dilemmas. Another comments on strangers in the heat of the moment who according to Scelfo one man chooses to ignore: this has become mundane.

 Because my roommate and I cought an eye full more than once, we closed our curtains to maintain our own privacy. While this seems like common sense, I sensed that for many residents who were not used to living in such close and intimate quarters it took an embarrassing moment to alter their agency in their rooms. What is most interesting to me then is the manner in which the “L” shape of the dorm served as means for us to seek privacy, and to say to our neighbors when our curtains were open, “Here go ahead and watch. Be a part of our lives.” 

Repurposing in Philadelphia

This past weekend I, along with 13 of my fellow English Education majors, attended the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Besides Washington D.C., Philadelphia is one of the few very historic cities I have visited. However, this does not mean the "city of brotherly love" is stuck in the past. I saw many instances of repurposing, mash-ups, and old mixing with new. Take a look at the pictures below to see what I mean.

     

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Spaces of Affluence: The World's Largest Cruise Ship

This is a special guest contribution to :: repurposed :: by Matthew W. Wilson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, Ball State University.

Urban geographers have long examined the role of postmodern forms of capitalistic development in the city.  Urban, utopian spaces like Disney's planned community, Celebration, as well as the (dystopian) phenomena that are Las Vegas and Los Angeles, demonstrate the quasi-randomness of city planning as it meets transnational corporate investment and an increasingly hybrid aesthetic of the hyper-bourgeoisie (Dear and Flusty 1998, Harvey 1989, Davis 1990; see also Deutsche 1996).

The Royal Caribbean's new Oasis of the Seas, at five-times the size of the Titanic and with a price of $1.5 billion, is perhaps a fitting figure of urban exceptionalism becoming the norm. The Oasis boasts seven 'neighborhoods,' accommodating a total of 6,300 passengers, including a re-imagining of Coney Island and Central Park.

"It's part cruise ship, part theme park. For many cruisers, it's the ship, not the Caribbean ports it visits, that will be the destination." [NPR]

These themed spaces allow consumers to experience multiple simulacra of urban-natural destinations (see also). For $34,000/week, passengers can stay in a two-story loft-like cabin. Broadway shows play just off 'the boardwalk,' while a zip-line, nine stories overhead, sends adventure-seeking passengers flying across 'Coney Island.'  Entry-level tickets start at $1,200/week.

These spaces of affluence that increasingly extenuate the social-spatial segregation within cities are on one hand logical extensions of a capitalistic system that seeks to concentrate great wealth.  These endeavors should continue to draw our attention to the incredible inequalities within our cities -- a kind of splintering urbanism (Graham and Martin 2001) -- as these tourist/recreational spaces proliferate.

However, might this form of critique also examine these re-presentations of urban space -- the 'Coney Island' and the 'Central Park' (as well as New York, NY or Paris in Las Vegas, etc.)? How do these representations enable certain (docile, commodified, captured) subjectivities?  Where might the potential counter re-presentations enter in? What kinds of resistive practices dis-enable these spaces of affluence?

Communal Living

In Peterborough, New Hampshire there’s a new housing development where twenty-nine new dwellings are grouped near the banks of the Nubanusit River here, just one mile - a reasonable walk - from downtown. The dwellings form a small village of cedar shingles and pitched roofs and big New England boulders. This is a place as traditional in its appearance as it is futuristic in its ambitions. It’s a kind of Shaker colony with computers.

The new housing development is called Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm. It was designed by architects David O’Neil and Sheldon Pennoyer of Groton, Mass. It’s a rare US example of the international movement called cohousing, which originated in Denmark some years ago.

Within the communal living every family has its own house or apartment, but also share in common facilities. In this development the shared places are the Common House, a building that contains dining and kitchen facilities, guest bedrooms, meeting rooms, a children’s play area. and a mailbox wall. The community eats together only two evenings a week, but expects the number to grow over time. Farming is barely started, too, with a few cows, pigs, and chickens. Eventually, the colony hopes to grow half its food supply. The colony is a work in progress. Nine of the 29 units have yet to be sold, at prices from $350,000 to $625,000.

So the question I now have is do you think this type of housing or communal living will ever full catch on or will this development fail like those that came before it?

Sources: The Boston Globe and Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm

1 public housing building, many ways to design

Michael Wolf went to Hong Kong's oldest public housing estate and took pictures of 100 of the flats that are each 100 square feet. Some may seem small and cluttered while others seem spacious by the choices people made in the layout of their flat. The only thing all the flats have in common is the metal bunk, TV, electric fan and rice cooker.

This is probably one of the more cluttered flats with items and bags covering every empty space. Even the floor has piles of stuff and it appears that there is a small path through the flat.

This flat definitely wins awards for the oddest not because of the layout but the lack of lighting he has chosen in his flat. It's dark and makes the room look smaller than its 100 square feet. 

This is probably the most homely flat looking like a small house instead of an apartment. Though it may be close quarters it is very inviting.

It is the tidiest flat with everything lined neatly along the walls and one of the few flats where the top bunk is also totally visible. 

This is the emptiest flats of any of the 100 pictures.

This was my favorite flat because of the patterns on the fabric on the sheets and the traditional calendar and decorations on the wall. The color also made the flat unique. The makeshift cabinets along the wall to store all her belongings was also something that made the flat stand out. 

All pictures retrieved from Michael Wolf's photos

Buildings that Speak

Architecture can do many things; it can inspire, it can awe, it and repulse and annoy, architecture, like people, can be multi-faceted. From a simple one-story home to a sky scraper, architecture is anything and everything that we can make of it. Whether it is your own house, your office building, or a public library, we all interact differently with different buildings. A recent project by Bottega Studio Architetti and Giocosa Palitto Architetti has allowed for a new level of interaction.

This architecture slash art project has come into being in Italy, in areas that are less privileged in order to re-imagine the space and to step up interaction between people and their environment.

Not quite the same as some conventional art, but still with a similar focus. While graffiti serves the purpose of catching attention in a picturesque fashion, this is more of a medium for delivering a message. This particular project, Parma #33, broadcasts via balconies the words, “Uno Odo, Due Sento, Tre Ascolto” or One I Hear, Two I Heed, Three I Listen, I Got It.

It is an interesting way to get the people out on the street and the people who live in the area more involved in the building, more invested. Some people write or paint to get their message out there, but this in-between method works just as well and reaches people personally because it is their neighborhood or home that is the focus of this idea. This transformation of the everyday into something more allows for greater interaction with the area, a dialogue between the people and the structure.

Pictures and story from here.

Dull Tree Farm

How many times have you been in a barn?  I mean a real barn with wood siding, a hip roof, and a hay mow that smells like alfalfa and pigeon poop.  A barn with a door that opens its wide mouth so the track and sling can feed it every fall.  A barn with timbers, all hewn with hand tools, held together by wooden pegs and the laws of physics.  Sadly, most have to say no.

The complexity of a modern combine shows that farming has gone from a simple way of living to a technology advanced industry.  Consequently the pace of rural life has increased to keep the pace. The image of ma and pa sitting on their front porch, or going over to visit the neighbors on a cool summer evening is no longer a reality.

I haven’t been to a real farm in a while.  As Tom Dull showed me around his farm, I thought about my grandparent's farm and making straw mazes in the hay mow, scooping manure out of the gutters, watching cows give birth.  Tom had the same sense of pride my Grandpa has about his old farm.  Each building has a significance and purpose.  Each reminds him of a different story, person, or even favorite milking cow.  When the family farm died, it broke the possibility for younger generations to make similar memories.

With the help of Campbell’s Soup, Tom Dull and his family are working to preserve their old barn.  Campbell’s Soup has teamed up with the FFA with a “Help Grow Your Food” initiative. Campbell’s goal is to help people become aware of where their food comes from.  This year, the top five vote getters will be given money to help restore their barn.  Tom said if they win, the money will be used to make necessary frame and structural repairs.  Tom’s hope is that they will win and be able to make improvements to help make sure young children will be able to experience a piece of what farm life has to offer for years to come.  Help save the Dull Family barn by taking a second to vote here.  

Bones Repurposed

As part of the London Centre program through Ball State, I was given the opportunity to take a lengthy vacation in Paris. This vacation was spent primarily wandering the streets, visiting museums, and eating delicious food, but there was one thing on my list that I found more interesting than anything else we had done during our time there. I managed to talk my friends into taking a small trip down a spiral staircase into a morbid piece of Parisian history. We wandered into a city of the dead and explored what was left for us to find.

The entrance to the catacombs doesn’t really leave a warning to those entering, but it does state “Stop. This is the empire of the dead.” This is the door you are greeted with when taking your first steps into the catacombs beneath the city of Paris.

Many people seem to be reminded of ides of the gates of hell or something similar when they see the way the bones have been arranged. These tunnels were created by the removal of stone for structures above ground and left usable empty space beneath the city once construction was completed and the removal of stone was ceased due to fears that the city would collapse. This meant that the empty space could be used for something else.

The bones within the catacombs are arranged into ornate patterns. These are walls that hide an even larger number of bones behind them.

Behind the ornate walls, there are rooms with even more bones. The bones in the walls tend to shift because of the incredible weight they are holding back. Occasionally these bones must be restructured into a different ornate wall in order to hold back the rest of the remains. Still, this place is open to the public as a silent reminder of the impact the Plague had on Europe. After all, that is where the bulk of these bodies came from.

For more information on the catacombs, click here.

The Berg

A German architect by the name of Jakob Tigges has designed a man-made mountain that would be located in Berlin, called The Berg. He plans to build the mountain 1,000 meters high. The project has its own website and has gained much support. The website does not give any specific details on how it would be built, but it would be used as a natural environment for wildlife and a place for skiing, hiking, etc.

Image from ArchDaily. 

This mountain would be built where an unused airport is currently located. I found this idea fasinating. In this situation, people would not be building a building, but creating what we would call a "natural" environment. In his article "The Power of Place and Space" Robert Sack says that "place depends on people, who construct and organize it." With this project someone would be constructing not only a new place, but a new land form.

I think this would really change how people viewed Berlin. Berlin would no longer just provide what an urban space usually provides, it would also provide types of recreation and an environment that are normally experienced and seen only outside of cities.

The Natural Space Savers and Social Communicators

Society defines the value of space. This includes personal space, storage space, recreational space, ect. In the US space not hard to find, even in large, suposidly crowded cities, there are spaces which afford citizens luxuries other nations lack. When space becomes an issue the discourse around how it is used and whether luxury is valued as much.

Image by Lacrymosa

The Japanese are renown for their conservation and innovative use of space. When there are roughly 5847 people per square kilometer living in one country the function and use of space becomes essential. The Japanese seem to be the world leaders in utilizing the little space they have. From their pod hotels to automated vehicle storage the Japanese have shrunk spaces to fit their esential needs.

These sort of space storage techniques aren't just found in highly populated cities. They are also found in nature. The most common example is probably the honeycomb. Bees use a simply designed array of hexagonal tubes to store honey as well as larva and pupa, ultimately maximizing their usage of space within a hive.

Image by BotheredByBees

It seems though that we as humans have even more to learn about than space-saving from insects though; their ability to function as effective individuals within a group is also astounding in terms of social development and discursive interaction. Even the most basic of insects which live in colonies, such as ants, have the ability to convey information about the fastest routes to different locations as well as deciding on structural organization. Steven Johnson discusses this in his book Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brians, Cities, and Software which is essentially inspired by the ant's ability to function and communicate within a colony.

Image by McKillaboy

So as our societies are expanding and cities developing how else can we learn from the innovations which surround us in the natural world? It seems that nature has already produced many answers that we are developing discussions for in our ever day lives. When you tell a friend the quickest way to get to a new store or someone passes information to you about a great new restaurant, an ant has done that. When a new kind of car garage or hotel emerges in a nearby city, a bee has already built something like it. I think we should begin to be more aware of natural spaces and incorporate them into our discussions on how to use our space effectively.