We forget, sometimes, that we are intimately tied to the earth. We came from the earth, we live on its surface, and we eventually will return to the earth. We derive our lives from the earth - literally and metaphorically. As such, it behooves us to consider the impact of our existence on the earth, particularly when it comes to long-term impacts of current behavior. Some of those impacts are irreversible.
I had a couple of classes from Maged Senbel when I was at the University of Utah. He was a dynamic instructor and a worthy mentor. Lacing all of his conversations was a passion for planning and a realization that it is the interconnectedness of people and places, of the earth and environment and those who live on it, that create meaning and life.
I recently watched this video - not the best quality, but you can look past that, I think, because the content is very good. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Maged Senbel Interview - Eco-Pavilion, Vancouver, BC from The Global ARC on Vimeo.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
The Mind
I've been going over the Comprehensive Plan for the City of Grants Pass. It's a very interesting document, one that could use some updating. The statistics that are included in the Plan are all dated, the majority of which project out from 1980 (when it was initially adopted) through 2000, which of course was around 14 years ago. I was struck by how accurate the projections ended up being. Looking back from the perspective of the present, the historical projections for the future growth of the City were within a couple of thousand people of being right on - certainly within 10%.
The numbers of course are gleaned and extrapolated from Census data, which is itself a kind of interpolation based on average household sizes, actual counts, and even a degree of guesswork. It's an interesting intellectual exercise - trying to peer into a crystal ball and determine how people will move in and around both the City and in the region - all of which can be strongly influenced by national and even global trends. The fact that the estimate was even in the ball park is a testament to the overall effort that went into the projections, and it makes the document a stronger, more reliable thing.
People like to have control. We like to think that our mental efforts have real-world ramifications and we can achieve a modicum of control over things. There are so many things that feel out of our direct control, and it makes us uncomfortable. So we like to take control of the things we CAN actually control. Some of this has to do with our arrogance and pride as humans - something the ancient Greeks would have called hubris.
I recently drove around downtown San Francisco with my family. Looking at the city from space or in a plan/map view, the topography is not immediately visible. It appears to be a series of grids, streets intersecting at right angles to form blocks and districts. There are a couple of weird intersections where disparate grids do not meet as they should. But the various grids do not acknowledge the natural surroundings. A man-made rigid order superimposed on the natural environment.
The result is interesting. The roads crest at strange places, with intersections becoming blind to oncoming traffic and awkward cross-traffic. Adding large buildings into the mix is both a help and a hindrance - they add visual interest and cues, while at the same time giving even more blind corners. It was disorienting and unsettling. I'm sure that eventually one would become accustomed to it, but for an outsider it was a little... foreign.
And maybe that's a good thing.
Getting people out of their comfort zone, causing them to stretch, or introducing new and interesting variety - even if it's unsettling - can be a very good thing. The thing about San Francisco is that you can easily understand how the grid is supposed to work, but the actual experience is very different. I was reminded of the Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. Designed by Michelangleo, the piazza has a very strong suggested axis. Yet, at the center of the axis is a statue, causing the path to vary from the strict, direct path that one would assume was correct. Further there is a series of lines set into the paving which visually disorient the viewer and create a tension, an energy that pushes one off the main axis. The overall effect is very interesting - and not a little disconcerting. Which, of course, was the intention.
As a community grows, these kinds of things become important. Things outside of one's control become important. They have an effect on how things shape up, and are in turn shaped by decisions made before, during, and as a result of time's passing. Careful planning, the kind of planning which takes the long view, adapts to these effects and inputs and grows with them.
The numbers of course are gleaned and extrapolated from Census data, which is itself a kind of interpolation based on average household sizes, actual counts, and even a degree of guesswork. It's an interesting intellectual exercise - trying to peer into a crystal ball and determine how people will move in and around both the City and in the region - all of which can be strongly influenced by national and even global trends. The fact that the estimate was even in the ball park is a testament to the overall effort that went into the projections, and it makes the document a stronger, more reliable thing.
People like to have control. We like to think that our mental efforts have real-world ramifications and we can achieve a modicum of control over things. There are so many things that feel out of our direct control, and it makes us uncomfortable. So we like to take control of the things we CAN actually control. Some of this has to do with our arrogance and pride as humans - something the ancient Greeks would have called hubris.
I recently drove around downtown San Francisco with my family. Looking at the city from space or in a plan/map view, the topography is not immediately visible. It appears to be a series of grids, streets intersecting at right angles to form blocks and districts. There are a couple of weird intersections where disparate grids do not meet as they should. But the various grids do not acknowledge the natural surroundings. A man-made rigid order superimposed on the natural environment.
The result is interesting. The roads crest at strange places, with intersections becoming blind to oncoming traffic and awkward cross-traffic. Adding large buildings into the mix is both a help and a hindrance - they add visual interest and cues, while at the same time giving even more blind corners. It was disorienting and unsettling. I'm sure that eventually one would become accustomed to it, but for an outsider it was a little... foreign.
And maybe that's a good thing.
Getting people out of their comfort zone, causing them to stretch, or introducing new and interesting variety - even if it's unsettling - can be a very good thing. The thing about San Francisco is that you can easily understand how the grid is supposed to work, but the actual experience is very different. I was reminded of the Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. Designed by Michelangleo, the piazza has a very strong suggested axis. Yet, at the center of the axis is a statue, causing the path to vary from the strict, direct path that one would assume was correct. Further there is a series of lines set into the paving which visually disorient the viewer and create a tension, an energy that pushes one off the main axis. The overall effect is very interesting - and not a little disconcerting. Which, of course, was the intention.
As a community grows, these kinds of things become important. Things outside of one's control become important. They have an effect on how things shape up, and are in turn shaped by decisions made before, during, and as a result of time's passing. Careful planning, the kind of planning which takes the long view, adapts to these effects and inputs and grows with them.
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