Site Observation 0.004_annotate
Observing and annotating the Marigny was a very interesting exercise that helped me to much better understand the neighborhood, its surroundings, and how people interact with the environment. The micro-scale observation helps to understand how each small, individual piece of the environment leads to the overall interaction within the environment. During my study at the Press St. industrial corridor, I was surprised by the limited number of temporal changes that involved the infrastructure of the highly industrialized area. Although I was almost completed surrounded by warehouses, railroads, etc. I saw very little in regards to flourishing business in the area. The observation of the site could have gone differently if I was there during a weekday. The Saturday industrial traffic was very minimal. There was some action with the rail but I saw little to no trucks moving in or out of the warehouses. Again this could have been different on a different day but I don’t believe the duration of the observation could have changed the findings. All of the groundwork is definitely laid in the area for a flourishing industrial area but I saw little action. I see both macro and micro temporal changes as being a very influential way to better understand a site. You can observe a site in many different ways but sitting and observing what actually happens within a site for a given amount of time gives you lots of information about how the actual landscape is used. The exercise taught me that the area operates much more as a neighborhood district than the industry corridor that I thought it was.
March 5 2010, 2:09pm | Original Link »