Skype Thoughts...

Skype is special to me, as I relate it to my nieces who I adore and get to see more often through Skyping! (They live all the way in Louisiana.) 

It was really interesting to do it during class, and if you think about it, SO AMAZING  that we have this technology to help us pull off such a feat of communication!  So I appreciate it.
I also will not lie...I love not traveling into the city on a Skype night.  It is a great break for me.

That said, I think video would help.  You miss that in-persona interaction and ability to read and connect with people visually.  I would like to see us try a conversation with each other using the video component and see if it works.  This seems like a natural progression for us.

The technical glitches were less bothersome to me.  It was not as easy to engage, though.

Thanks for the opportunity to mention my thoughts...Shan

Thoughts on 9.19.11 Class

Nora wanted to to "synthesize" our thoughts on our 3rd Session, so here it goes:

The idea of "play" is important in the development of a child both socially, physically, and emotionally, but with this must come the attention of a parent or guardian not just in terms of physical presence, but to help the child see what is available to them and what should be considered in terms of values.  Children need encouragement to act, and the opportunity to eventually choose what they see is the best fit as an activity and in their beliefs.

 

My Earliest Sustainability Memories...

Nora gave us something to think about.  What exactly are out earliest experiences with Sustainability.  How did we, in fact, get here in this program, in this part of our lives?

For me, the first thing that came into my head was my very good friend Kristen.

Kristen and I went to high school together and have been friends since.  We were both Catholic grade school ex-pats that met in our public high school.  We had similar upbringings in our small-ish towns, and grew up with the same values, similar family life.

Anyway, after college, Kristen was living in DC and working for a few non-profits, and I was working in NY as a designer.  On paper, we are polar opposites.  I remember visiting her one long weekend, and I remember us walking around one evening in DC ( I forget exactly what part of town) and I was carrying a bottle of water.  I went to throw away the top and Kristen practically leaped into the garbage can to retrieve it!  In fact, she did pull it out of there and scolded me about recycling!  I told her I would save the bottle, but the caps are not recyclable.  She said that she would take care of it.

Now Kristen became our most socially conscious friend by far after high school.  I suppose it was always in her, and just manifested itself in different ways, but it is truly who she is.  She is the one to keep us all in line.  But to me, this little episode with the bottle cap seemed out of line.  I did not like being called out and got my back up about it thinking she was making a mountain out of a mole hill.  I reported the occurrence back to our mutual pals and became the story to laugh about going forward, the one I always teased her about.  I just did not understand how one bottle cap made a difference.  It was her neurosis not mine, and I immaturely reacted negatively about it for years to come.

Kristen and I have traveled on very different journeys yet have remained friends.  We are very different, but I know that I have learned so much from her and from her example.  And here I am in the new SIE program at FIT, open to learn, ready to hear, excited to teach what I have taken in! I remember that day in DC vividly and it is always what I have gone back to on my own journey around the bend.  I feel silly when I think about how I reacted to her, but I cannot lie that I think it is what most people would do or say.

It is funny how now I have caught up to Kristen and how I understand the impact of a plastic bottle cap, or better yet, the impact of myself through a bottle cap.

Thanks...
Shannon:)

Photo Research - "Fit"

I invite you to view my first set of photos on "Fit" by looking under my "Photo Research" Tab here on the blog.

I am not sure I got this right.

To be honest, I figured that this would be a breeze for me, as I feel like I see examples of people in space that work or do not work all of the time.  This is what I do, this is what I teach.
But here I was, camera in hand, as it always is (I carry one everywhere) and I came up empty.

I feel especially in touch with body in space myself, as I have a rather large body physically.  I have always been overweight (alot of people are to some extent), but recently it has gotten worse.  I am constantly thinking about my own comfort or discomfort and I think it has made me more attuned to that of others.

I think that it is important that we as designers remember that it is not "all about us" when we approach our work, but being self aware is still an important component to being a good designer, just as knowing what it is like being a patient is important to being a good doctor.  We may not all have the same experiences, but the same muscles get worked.

Anyway...let me know what you think of these pictures if you have a moment, and I am going to keep working at it!

Shan  :)

Here is a fun pic that I think approaches FIT from an anthropometric or erganomic point of view...
The folks at Emeco are pretty clever!

Notes on my ABs and my Blog Availability...

Well, as Nora said tonight, my ABs are a bit on the "narrative" side.  I published them anyway and plan on trying them again.  I am still a bit unsure about the whole concept, but that is what being in school is all about so...

I enjoyed tonight's class very much, as Environmental Psych has always fascinated me! I promise I will catch up with all of your blogs ASAP.

Can you all comment on something of mine so that I know you are connected to me on here? I also seem to be missing a Few followers even though I sent invitations to all...Thanks much, and goodnight!  :)

Module One - Annotated Bibliographies-Part II

Cooper, Clare. "The House as a Symbol of the Self."  In Designing for Human Behavior:  Architecture and the Behavioral Sciences, edited by Jon Lang, Charles Burnette, Walter Moleski, and David Vachon, 130-146.  Stroudsburg:  Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., 1974.

In this chapter, Clare Cooper breaks down the studies of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and definitions of his concepts of "the collective unconscious, the archetype, and the symbol" and how we can relate them to the connections we make between our house and our idea of self, specifically that the "house is a symbol of the self."  Evidence, both conscious and unconscious, to prove this strong link is presented based on various researchers' comparisons between people of different economic profiles and social status, via a look at how a house is presented in the media or in the written word, and through analysis of Jung's own dreams, where he realizes the parts of himself not yet discovered with the house as a mind model.

Studies are presented, such as those where people relate their idea of a "home" to be a house, versus that of an apartment, versus that of a mobile home, concluding that this could.  We also are alerted to the idea of the house as a means of protection from the outside world, a protection of self, a sacred place, often with the "hearth" as the central symbol.  Another example is the evidence that we look at our homes, and how we present our homes physically and decoratively, to the world publically, as a representation of what we perceive our attitude and social status to be.  Even in 1974, when this work was written, the increase in popularity of interior design and decorating was noted.  A similar trend has continued today, so one would surmise the idea that there is still this connection.  It seems these studies are as relevant today, as they were nearly 40 years ago.

In the end, Cooper underscores the importance and relevance of this theory and offers a programmatic solution for the design of homes for low economic profiles through encouraging architects and designers to strive to understand how individuals see themselves currently with their house as a model.  Once that is done, means to improve such feelings about self can be explored and devised through design.  There is alot of power that comes with this knowledge and understanding. 

Proshansky, Harold M., Abbe K.Fabian and Robert Kaminoff.  "Place-Identity:  Physical World Socialization of the Self."  Journal of Environmental Psychology (1983):  57-83.

In this journal piece, the authors define the term “place-identity” as “a sub-structure of the self-identity of the person consisting of…cognitions about the physical world in which the individual lives.”  This represents how what we know about our environment, (often times a subconscious perception) and where we come from influences who we are as people, and the means by which this occurs.

The authors take us back to our early development and childhood and relay how we came to realize who we were, and what belonged to us through how this was described to us by others (our parents) both verbally and non-verbally.  We got a distinct sense of ourselves through this relationship with our physical setting, but also by our relationships with others within those settings.

They present the ideas that it is  not just the place itself in the present, but what has happened to us in our past, and our expectations of the future that affect this place-identity.  It is also what we know and bring with us in terms of our memories, our social and moral values, and the roles (which can change over one's life cycle) in which we perceive ourselves as having that influence this.  It can indeed be our varied roles and “cultures” that also come into play.  To understand all of this best, the role of our place and how well it functions for and supports us must be clear. 

Our ability to manipulate our environment (cognitively at first) in terms of territoriality, personalization, and in response to proxemics and how we would like to see others who share our environment to behave are analyzed in the piece, as well as this idea that we have the need to protect our space if we see that it will be threatened in any way.  By extension, we are protecting ourselves, our self-identity.  There is a relationship between this piece and the chapter by Clare Cooper, “The House as Symbol of the Self,” in the book Designing for Human Behavior:  Architecture and the Behavioral Sciences, where Cooper also discusses the design and presentation of our homes and how they reflect who we are socially and culturally.

Our place identity directly relates to our self identity, as is defined in the beginning of the piece, but the most interesting part is how it really shows us that this is a reflection of the degree in which we value ourselves as human beings.  

U2 - Trailer From The Sky Down

Module One - Annotated Bibliographies-Part I

Aciman, Andre.  "Shadow Cities."  In Letters of Transit, edited by Andre Aciman, 15-34.  New York:  The New York Press, 1999.

Aciman's essay that he has contributed to this book tells the story of Straus Park, a landmark in his Upper West Side neighborhood.  One day he was shocked to find out that it may be destroyed.  The possibility of that moved Andre think about what this small island between the streets of New York City represented to him.  "Going to Straus Park was like traveling elsewhere in time," he says.  The journey takes us through the different chapters of his life and is a real reflection of what a place, or an environment can potentially represent for us.  For Andre, that can take us back to Olde World New York City, across oceans, landing us in Paris along the Seine or in an Italian piazza, or back at the home we know, love and carry with us.  It can link all of those places together though we may have experienced them at quite different times in our lives, but it is these places that bookmark the journey and frame the memory. 

New York City and this little microcosm of New York, Straus Park, brought up the memories and also made New York not his home, but the catalyst for his realization that all of these places represented the best of his own hometown, a place that he cannot shake.  He discovers himself and that where he comes from is very much a part of who he is.

This essay touches on the theme of change and passage of time and its affect on not just the New York City itself but its people, much like we see in Colson Whitehead's article in the New York Times from November 11, 2001 entitled "The Way We Live Now:  11-11-01: Lost and Found."  It shows us that New York, or any place for that matter, can be or be seen as whatever we want it to be for ourselves, and that places help define our history.

I wish Aciman was not so hard on New York in some ways and I wish he touched more on the cause and effect of the renovation of this park, and recognized that it was not taken care of in its initial lifetime, yet look at what it can represent aside from being a place to sit at a point during the day.

Michael Chabon, "Manhood for Amateurs:  The Wilderness of Childhood," The New York Review of Books Volume 56, Number 12, July 16, 2009.

 In this essay, Michael Chabon reminisces about a time gone by and the audacious spirit of childhood that seems to have waned. 

He speaks of the vast outdoor space in his own backyard in Maryland, and how the history of the land enriched and influenced the adventures he had there.  He dubs this the "Wilderness of Childhood," and uses popular children's stories like C.S. Lewis's the Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and the Peanuts cartoons to underscore his thoughts that such adventurous spirit is born of things like the absence of adult supervision in a child's life, or the thought that these are fantasies that they will never ACTUALLY experience in real life. 

The journeys become points on the map of their loves, and what Chabon calls "the story of landscape, the interrelationship between human beings and topography."  Our history, or our experiences, are told via the places we were in and what we did there.  Like what we read in "Place Identity:  Physical World Socialization of the Self," by Proshansky, Fabian, and Kaminoff which was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology in 1983, we are defined "not simply by one's relationship to other people, but also by one's relationships to the various physical settings that define and structure day-to-day life."  For Chabon, playing in his "Wilderness of Childhood," was his life as a young person.

And what Chabon sadly reminds us, is that things have changed and for many reasons, children no longer venture out on their own, into their woods, or neighborhoods.  Beyond the reasons offered of a parent's fear of child abduction, and possible guilt over our history of land expansion in this country, Chabon missed the opportunity to also mention that technology has significantly contributed to children not being outside anymore.  Certainly, outside is where I sent most of my childhood growing up. 

He then asks if this will end up stifling a child's imagination.  I say yes.

Cooper, Clare. "The House as a Symbol of the Self."  In Designing for Human Behavior:  Architecture and the Behavioral Sciences, edited by Jon Lang, Charles Burnette, Walter Moleski, and David Vachon, 130-146.  Stroudsburg:  Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., 1974.

In this chapter, Clare Cooper breaks down the studies of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and definitions of his concepts of "the collective unconscious, the archetype, and the symbol" and how we can relate them to the connections we make between our house and our idea of self, specifically that the "house is a symbol of the self."  Evidence, both conscious and unconscious, to prove this strong link is presented based on various researchers' comparisons between people of different economic profiles and social status, via a look at how a house is presented in the media or in the written word, and through analysis of Jung's own dreams, where he realizes the parts of himself not yet discovered with the house as a mind model.

Studies are presented, such as those where people relate their idea of a "home" to be a house, versus that of an apartment, versus that of a mobile home, concluding that this could.  We also are alerted to the idea of the house as a means of protection from the outside world, a protection of self, a sacred place, often with the "hearth" as the central symbol.  Another example is the evidence that we look at our homes, and how we present our homes physically and decoratively, to the world publically, as a representation of what we perceive our attitude and social status to be.  Even in 1974, when this work was written, the increase in popularity of interior design and decorating was noted.  A similar trend has continued today, so one would surmise the idea that there is still this connection.  It seems these studies are as relevant today, as they were nearly 40 years ago.

In the end, Cooper underscores the importance and relevance of this theory and offers a programmatic solution for the design of homes for low economic profiles through encouraging architects and designers to strive to understand how individuals see themselves currently with their house as a model.  Once that is done, means to improve such feelings about self can be explored and devised through design.  There is alot of power that comes with this knowledge and understanding.

Remembering...a favorite place.

I was asking for something specific and perfect for my city,
Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name.
Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane, unruly,
musical, self-sufficient,
I see that the word of my city is that word from of old,
Because I see that word nested in nests of water-bays, superb,
Rich, hemm'd thick all around with sailships and steamships, an
island sixteen miles long, solid-founded,
Numberless crowded streets, high growths of iron, slender, strong,
light, splendidly uprising toward clear skies,
Tides swift and ample, well-loved by me, toward sundown,
The flowing sea-currents, the little islands, larger adjoining
islands, the heights, the villas,
The countless masts, the white shore-steamers, the lighters, the
ferry-boats, the black sea-steamers well-model'd,
The down-town streets, the jobbers' houses of business, the houses
of business of the ship-merchants and money-brokers, the
river-streets,
Immigrants arriving, fifteen or twenty thousand in a week,
The carts hauling goods, the manly race of drivers of horses, the
brown-faced sailors,
The summer air, the bright sun shining, and the sailing clouds aloft,
The winter snows, the sleigh-bells, the broken ice in the river,
passing along up or down with the flood-tide or ebb-tide,
The mechanics of the city, the masters, well-form'd,
beautiful-faced, looking you straight in the eyes,
Trottoirs throng'd, vehicles, Broadway, the women, the shops and shows,
A million people--manners free and superb--open voices--hospitality--
the most courageous and friendly young men,
City of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires and masts!
City nested in bays! my city!

-Mannahatta
by Walt Whitman

My favorite place to visit when I first moved to Manhattan...

 The Lobby-it looked so pretty decorated for Fall.

A view from A Building 5th Floor...my view each time I went to the dining hall. 

Marks on the Wall in my Place