Orientation
A number of people have heard me discuss my putative urban development project. Lots have been baffled by that title, and asked, well, what I'm going to write about. The project has been so open-ended so far that I couldn't even answer that question. But I think I've finally come up with my topic: Orientation.
The idea for orientation has a few sources. One may even be able to determine them elsewhere in this blog. Consider Sartre's definition by the Other, and how, on a grander scale, virtually everyone wants to be defined by others. One can only be guaranteed he is observed, though, when he is at the focal point of everyone else's eyes. This happens in certain parts of cities, and doesn't happen in others. Think of it as a goal of good design: to provide the most focal points.
The next source stems from my hatred of the radiant city, which has a similar idea of a lack of focal points, but in a much more stunning and morbid way. The sadness that comes from the radiant city is uniquely American, as was first pointed out by my hero, David Foster Wallace.
The third source comes from the beautiful facades of the architecture in Washington, D.C. I recognized right away the fact that these buildings had beautiful front doors added greatly to their aesthetic quality, but I want to take it just a little further and say that they make the city itself. Other cities, especially Paris, share this quality.
The last source I'll mention here comes from Leon Krier's 1985 project, The Completion of Washington D.C. Only through this beautiful collection of drawings for his vision of the city did I truly understand the original L'Enfant plan. Washington's avenues are designed to orient the city itself toward its most famous landmarks: the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the White House, etc. The city was designed as a capital city, and orientation is the key factor to realizing that dream.
However, I do not here propose listing various instances of the necessity to realize that orientation is what's at work. That would be easy (I just did it four times, for example). What I propose is to use existentialist philosophy to turn orientation on its head. To prove, through the emotions evoked by orientation, some key fact about the nature of reality. Now that I'm aware of it, my journey can begin.
The idea for orientation has a few sources. One may even be able to determine them elsewhere in this blog. Consider Sartre's definition by the Other, and how, on a grander scale, virtually everyone wants to be defined by others. One can only be guaranteed he is observed, though, when he is at the focal point of everyone else's eyes. This happens in certain parts of cities, and doesn't happen in others. Think of it as a goal of good design: to provide the most focal points.
The next source stems from my hatred of the radiant city, which has a similar idea of a lack of focal points, but in a much more stunning and morbid way. The sadness that comes from the radiant city is uniquely American, as was first pointed out by my hero, David Foster Wallace.
The third source comes from the beautiful facades of the architecture in Washington, D.C. I recognized right away the fact that these buildings had beautiful front doors added greatly to their aesthetic quality, but I want to take it just a little further and say that they make the city itself. Other cities, especially Paris, share this quality.
The last source I'll mention here comes from Leon Krier's 1985 project, The Completion of Washington D.C. Only through this beautiful collection of drawings for his vision of the city did I truly understand the original L'Enfant plan. Washington's avenues are designed to orient the city itself toward its most famous landmarks: the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the White House, etc. The city was designed as a capital city, and orientation is the key factor to realizing that dream.
However, I do not here propose listing various instances of the necessity to realize that orientation is what's at work. That would be easy (I just did it four times, for example). What I propose is to use existentialist philosophy to turn orientation on its head. To prove, through the emotions evoked by orientation, some key fact about the nature of reality. Now that I'm aware of it, my journey can begin.
posted by Owen Martin | 1:20 AM
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