Circulations Through Pratt

What would Pratt look like if it were one of Calvino’s Invisible Cities?

1. What would it be called?  How would you describe it?
2. Take a 20 minute tour of campus or an area on or around campus.
3. Take at least 10 photos that capture the tour of your Invisible City.
4. Consider other ways of documenting the “invisible” and use those where applicable.
5. Take notes about the features of that “city” and give your tour of Pratt a title that is based on Calvino's cities.
6. Return to the Classroom and discuss.
7. Rewrite in Calvino-style language and incorporate your photos (and any other spatial documentation you’ve captured)
8. Create at least two "versions" of Pratt as Invisible City using two different categories from Calvino. Collect and integrate necessary documentation.

1. Klovivk. The city with stations that many stop to look at. Each place stays the same. It does not move, but the paths are created by the individuals.

4. Documentation through photography.

5. City of Memory

7. Stations sporadically placed throughout a mapped area. Everyone walks through these spaces to reach a certain station, but no one walks to the same station after each day. From one point to another. Each place has a written memory. An essence of the body. As the person crosses from one station to another, a pathway is created. A web of lines. From point A to point B to point C. They walk and walk. They do not stop and they themselves forget the intersections they created the last day, week, or month.

8. City of Trade. They cross paths until their paths become foreign. They pass off their past to each other like a football at a game. 

A Walk in the City

         A city does not exist without the aid of the inhabitants. It is through the people who walk through the city that creates a city. Through the perspective of a voyeur, Michel De Certeau implies that the experience of one person creates the space in A Walk in the City. This is reinforced by Italo Cavino's Invisible Cities, in which the short stories Esmeralda and Chloe reinforce this idea that a city cannot be simply just a single description of the space, but in fact a conjunction of many stories that create the overall arching concept of a true city.

         In the city of Esmeralda, a city of trade, the characters in this story never risk a day of boredom, as they are provided with an infinite number of ways to get to wherever they want to be. The transaction taking place is the experience of each trip in nature. When one decides to take the boat as opposed to the road, the transition between space is completely different. This becomes one's sacrifice, although the outcome is not necessarily negative in any aspect. In Invisible Cities, Marco Polo describes this to Kublai Khan. Although this space may seem entirely nonexistent because of the nature in which the characters interact with the space, the city upholds many similarities to a real city with "a network of canals and a network of streets span and intersect [into] each other." It is in these small stories that we are able to decipher Polo's intentions in describing each story to Khan, instead of just factual statements about the city. In the city of Esmeralda, Polo explcitely states that it is, "difficult to fix on the map the routes of the swallows, who cut the air over the roofs, dropping long invisible parabolas with their still wings, darting to gulp a mosquito, spiraling upward, grazing a pinnacle, dominating from every point of their airy paths all the points of the city." This connects to A Walk in the City, in that both texts draws upon the conclusion that an entire city cannot be generalized just like a city simply cannot be mapped out onto one piece of paper. A map does not contain all the pathways that one may take, because it is the characters in the city that create the space. Their pathways cannot be mapped, just like a city cannot be one story. Therefore the experience of the characters are just as important as the intentions of the city.

         In the City of Chloe, another trade city, people exchange moments of superficial encounters, in which it represents the interactions between the people that create a form of space. De Certeau had said that the "practitioners make use of the spaces that cannot be seen." This would be the characters in the city. In which, each person "who move through the streets are all strangers. At each encounter they imagine a thousand things about one another; meetings which could take place between them, conversations, surprises, caresses, bites." These intimate gestures of trade between these strangers become a form of creating space. They create this space through their blindness. Which in literal terms, their intentions to not create any interaction between the strangers become a technique in creating spatial interaction. Although it "elude legibility. It is as though the practices organizing a bustling city were characterized by their blindness." It becomes part of the organization, in which the strangers' lack of interaction "brings the city to life."

         Through Invisible Cities and A Walk in the City, we can come to the conclusion that space is created through the experience. In which, De Certeau reinforces this idea through his text, in which he describes the concept city. This is similar to the cities described in Calvino's work, wherein the cities are each one aspect of a whole city. Each little story paints a part of the city and brings its meaning of "what is a city" into life.

Understanding Comics

1) Time can be depicted in many different ways. Such that it can be stretched out to depict one scene or shortened to depict one scene. In Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, he clearly shows this in his study of different comic sequencing on page 74, where certain scenes transition with certain techniques. Such that there can be transitioning between one aspect to another aspect or from one action to the next action. This can be seen in his comparison from Japanese comic to western comics and the fad of including motion in the late 1800s. Architecture is similar in that spaces can transition from one to the other to show time lapse. An example would be the strategic placement of a program to  place the living room in the front of the structure, which transitions into the kitchen, then into the bathroom, and finally to the bedroom. This would show the time lapse of one coming home from work, to prepare for dinner, to prepare for bed, and finally to sleep. This is very similar to action to action, where the sequences are of different parts of one person moving through the space. This also indicates the transition of time from afternoon to night. Another similarity architecture has to Understanding Comics is from aspect to aspect. In which, architecture depicts this through a series of sections in diagrammatic form. To understand structures, silhouettes of people are placed inside section cuts. A whole range of sections can show what people do in a series of drawing. This can be an indicator of time as sections can be depicted at night or in the daytime. Showing different actions from "aspect to aspect" we have a clear understanding of what is going on throughout the space according to the time of the day.

2)

3) In the city of Chloe, characters in this story exist all together, yet they do not interact together. Instead of speaking to one another, they pass by each other on the streets and imagine the thousands of possibilities between them. Each character has their own interesting stories based on their appearance, yet no one interacts with each other. Even when they occasionally find themselves standing next to one another. I think the concept of this story is interesting, in the sense that the people living in one space can be much more than they are, yet they do not. It can be reflected into my design, such that the twin brothers living in one space can be much closer, yet because of their clashing personality they do not make much of an effort. They live in the same structure, but rarely interact besides when they pass by one another when transitioning throughout the space. Because of the dynamics in their personality, they live on without knowing the complete story of one another.

(Passing glances, A nod, A smile. Just a gesture of acknowledgement. = Only when they see each other)

4) Possible Encounters

    Passing By

   Upstairs/Downstairs

   Neighbors/We Just Share the Rent

In which, the occupation of space can be taken by both parties, they do not/rarely co inhabit one space together. Due to whatever reason, this chance of encounter leading to something more is quickly dismissed because they do not take the time to get to know each other better.

Since space can be felt, the only moments where the two brothers meet are when they transition through each other's space. These spaces vary in size, but progressively get bigger as they reach the top. The moments of transition happen on the stairs in the interior of the structure. The space is cramped to allow the two brothers to form interaction. The upper levels receive more freedom and air space to allow for the extroverted activities, while the lower floor allows for introverted activities.

Walking in the City - De Certeau

1.   What doe de Certeau mean when he says, when a person sees Manhattan from the 110^h floor of the world trade center, “his elevation transforms him into a voyeur. It puts him at a distance. It transforms the bewitching world [. . .] into a text. [. . .] It allows him to read it; to be a solar eye” (92).

De Certeau means that when a person is on the 110th floor of the World Trade Center, he automatically becomes someone who is all seeing. In which, he becomes the storyteller. Everything below becomes a "text" that can be manipulated in however which way the "author" or "god" wants to manipulate it into. The transformation that De Certeau is alluding to would be the experience, in which one would feel very different being in the crowd.

2.   De Certeau states that “urban life increasingly permits the re-emergence of the element that the urbanistic project excluded” (95) and “spatial practices in fact secretly structure the determining social conditions of social life” (96). Explain these statements and discuss how they relate to the title of this section-- “From Concepts to Practices.”

De Certeau's statement refers to concepts of the mind and the actual practices of these concepts. Urbanistic projects may relate to the formations of cities and how the formation follows a certain structure. Although they follow these structures, the actuality of this concept in action or in "practice" may not appear to follow the structure at all. In a perfect world, these concepts, when put into practice, will turn out exactly as it was planned, but because our world is not, there are unforeseeable  consequences. The practice of one space directly affects the conditions of the space, which then, creates the quality of life. This all can be related to Style Wars, in that the graffiti became a concern due to it creating social conditions that was deemed improper by many. Signs of graffiti have direct relations to areas with high crime rates, as well as undereducated children and low income families. This becomes a city wide problem, as it degrades all forms of quality living.

3.   What is “the Chorus of idle footsteps” and why can’t “they be counted” (97)? Refer to the notion of “tactile apprehension and kinesthetic appropriation” in your answer (97).

In "Walking in the Cities," De Certeau mentions how pathways are formed by people and how these pathways are created by the "idle footsteps." The chorus of idle footsteps are the footsteps of the pedestrians. This mass of people are all walking to their own destination. They cross into each other's pathways, which creates these "shapes" of space. Although the footsteps of many create different pathways, these pathways cannot be counted because of the different types of "footsteps." Everyone moves in their own way with their own purposes. These pathways are then erased, while new ones are created on top of these old paths. Therefore, "this causes it to be forgotten."

4.   De Certeau maintains that walking creates “one of these ‘real systems whose existence in fact makes up the city” (97).  What does this mean and how does it relate to his assertion that, “The act of walking is to the urban system what the speech act is to language” (97)? What is he trying to establish by saying this?

Walking creates the urban system, like speaking creates a language. This basically means that a urban system would not exist without the existence of people walking and creating pathways throughout the space itself. Similarly so, language would not exist if people did not speak. A city is created because humans walk with purpose. This becomes the only reason why a city exists.

5.   Why can’t walking be “reduced to [a] graphic trail” such as you would see on a map or urban plan, according to de Certeau (99)?

Walking varies in diversity. Maps allow only certain pathways to travel by, which is limiting compared to real life in actuality. People have the ability to travel through "loopholes." Space is never defined the same by people. For example, a map of a small town may include the fences of the backyard of homes. If one were in a hurry, he might jump the fences instead of taking a recorded route, like the sidewalk. Walking can never be simplified to maps because they cannot predict all the choices of the pedestrians.

6.   What does de Certeau mean by “the long poem of Walking”  (101).

Walking can metaphorically be compared to a poem. In which poems are known to be complex with allusions, ambiguities, personal interests, etc. Walking is similar to poems because everyone interprets it differently, just like the poet had his own intentions. The intentions were probably based on the cultural impact at that time, personal matters, as well as social impact. Walks have their own stories. They are also determined by the same general ideas.

7.   De Certeau defines two “pedestrian figures” through which “rhetoric of walking” (100) is created: synecdoche and asyndeton. He notes that synecdoche “expands a spatial element in order to make it play the role of a ‘more’” (101). On the other hand, asyndeton, “by elision, creates a ‘less” opens gaps in the spatial continuum, and retains only selected parts” (101).  Explore and explain these terms and relate them to de Certeau’s larger argument.

     A synecdoche takes one idea that is part of another idea, while a asyndeton takes a separated idea and joins them, which creates conjunctions. This is similar to the creation of space, in that space can be joined or separated into islands. Space creates stories that are created with  a combination of social practices that it symbolizes. This would mean the space itself and what people do in that space creates stories. These stories can be connected to other stories or can exist on their own.

8.    De Certeau argues that the proper nouns which mark a city (naming streets, buildings, monuments) once were “arranged in constellations that heirarchize and semantically order the surface of the city . . .” (104) .  However, even though these words eventually lose their original value, “their ability to signify outlives its first definition” (104) and they function to articulate “a second, poetic geography  on top of the geography of the literal . . . meaning” (105). Explain what he means by these statements.

     This relates back to what De Certeau had said about pathways created by people and how they cannot exist after they are overwritten. New stories are created over these geography. After it is overwritten, they become something else. Although the names are the same, they have entirely different meanings than when it was first named. They create order in the moment. Each name systemizes where each space belongs, but over time these names of streets and avenues begin to lose its meaning. Which is interesting because these meaningless names give meaning to people who travel in the moment. They look to these names to create their own meaning.

9.   Explain de Certeau’s statement that “places are fragmentary and inward-turning histories, pasts that others are not allowed to read, accumulated times that can be unfolded but like stories held in reserve, [. . .] encysted in the pain or pleasure of the body: ‘I feel good here’” (108). How does this fit into the larger argument about the “habitability” of the city?

Referring to the stories that are created, De Certeau mentions that places have records of stories, but because these stories are only known in personal terms, they become these taboo stories that cannot/will not be seen by others. They turn to individual history to each person who have lived in the very moment. They become the very stories that are held in reserve, only to be released when told. Each space encrypts certain feelings that intertwines with these hidden stories. This connects the habitability of the city to the idea that space that is intimate and personal becomes the only place habitable.

10. Explain the following quote, which occurs in the final paragraph of the essay: “the childhood experience that determines spatial practices later develops its effects, proliferates, floods private and public spaces, undoes their readable surfaces, and creates within the planned city a “metaphorical” or mobile city” (110). How does this statement fit into the argument as a whole?

     Nothing is stable. Because of this, spaces are ever changing and they become this idea of a  mobile city. Pathways determine stories, but they erase and overwrite. Just like signs define space, but lose its meaning and create new ones over time. The mobile city represents the ever-changing space that we live in. We can bring this city anywhere we want and create new stories within it. The only thing that will destroy it would be the only thing that is out of our control, time.

Mind Map

PAGE 92

• Pedestrians and the voyeur

PAGE 94

• City Creation
• Urban/Spatial practices

PAGE 91

• Vision above all. Like the gods
• Rome and New York. Past and the future.

PAGE 99

• Maps and graphic systems

• Walking=Urban Spaces and Speaking=Language

Page 103

•        Names and Symbols/signs
•        History of the space

Page 105

•        Habitability
•        Memory
•        Mobile City

Style Wars

I think its interesting how the directors used film techniques to show both sides to Style Wars in the sense that the film depicts both stories. With two opposing groups, we are able to clearly see the situation, as well as the pros and cons of the issue. The documentary alternates between the stories of the graffiti artists and the politicians and parents of the artists, which in way really does prove the whole situation to be a "style" war. In one situation, one of the teenage boys was explaining why it was important to tag his name "all city," while his mother was sitting right next to him. The mother obviously had a disapproving opinion. Where her thoughts agreed more with the mayor of the city, in which, graffiti, then takes on an entirely different meaning. Graffiti, to the artists is their own art form, similar to calligraphy. Names, styles, and drawings become one artists' culture, but to the authorities, it is vandalism. Graffiti with negative connotations, imply a life of crime. It degrades the living system of one place and creates a negative atmosphere for the city. The colliding views show an interesting interception between the black and whites, and forms a gray scale, in which the viewer becomes the judge in seeing what is art and what is vandalism.

Using various film techniques, we as viewers, are able to take a step into the time period where graffiti art was at its peak. I think one of the more interesting techniques was the director's choice in filming the daily lives' of the graffiti artists. In which, Tony Silver, shows the culture at that time for graffiti artists. Hip-hop dance was a big part of the culture, as well as rapping. Depicting scenes where the artists gather around  to have dance offs and rapping sessions show the culture and the standards of living for this group of people. Graffiti, then takes on a new meaning. It becomes more than an art form. Graffiti becomes their culture, their way of living. This opens up new questions on the "blacks and whites" of graffiti. There is truth in what the mayor says, but there is also truth to what the artists say. Graffiti cannot be simplified to vandalism, but it also cannot be fully considered an art form. It is not in form itself, but in the act, that causes indifference in society.

Source: Photo

Final Essay

           During the 19th century, the Western Expansion preoccupied the minds' of most Americans. After the acquisition of the Louisiana territory, American nationalism was at its peak as all of America scrambled throughout to turn the belief in Manifest Destiny into a dream come true. This directly resulted in the Transcontinental Railroad, which became the perfect solution to join the West coast and the East coast. During one of the greatest movements in history, Robert Grainier, a character in Denis Johnson's novella, lives on the Western frontier while experiencing this historical movement in terms of De Certeau's Spatial Stories. Michel De Certeau's Spatial Stories reinforce the definitions of words we may use every day, but may not understand the true meaning behind. There's a fine line between certain words that calls for the need to specifically differentiate one from the other. A clear example would be the words "space" and place" or "frontier" and "threshold." Although both sets of words have similar context, both are of different origin and define completely different subjects. Even words that must exist with its counterparts like how each "frontier" consists of a "bridge" is clearly explained in Spatial Stories. De Certeau's Spatial Stories act as a guiding vessel in the employment of the overarching concepts of the spatial stories explored in Train Dreams. In addition, the questions of what is a space, place, threshold, bridge, and frontier can be proven by Johnson's text, which allows for a better overall understanding of what Train Dreams and Spatial Stories is about.

De Certeau defines space as an area where the existence is created by the activity that defines it so. The definition of place is the establishment of space. Therein place only exist after space is created and recreated over again with the same purpose in mind. Such that Grainier’s home would represent something that is a “place,” while “space” would be that of the entire town of Moyea Valley. In that the daily activities of the townspeople would create what a “town” is. Space can contain places, but in theory, it space is the creation of place. An example would be how Grainier can live in Moyea Valley, but the Valley itself can change due to external causes. Although the valley can change, the location in which Grainier chooses to live will still be his home. An example in the novella would be when Grainier’s cabin burned down, even though his cabin is gone, the concept of home is not. As long as Grainier rebuilds this cabin on the same plot of land and resumes doing “home” activities, it will still remain as a definition of home. This applies to space, too. Grainier had participated in various locations throughout the novella to aid the development of the railroads. Each location he had worked on would be considered as one of De Certeau’s space. This is due to the fact that each space is occupied for different reasons. His occupation as a logger, for example, led him to occupy a forest. In that moment the forest is still a forest, but once it is cleared, it becomes another space. Because they are occupied only for the moment, they are interchangeable. Thereby abiding De Certeau’s law of space.

If there exist a difference in space and place, then there is also a difference in frontier. In which frontier is usually confused as a simple border separating two different geographical regions of space.  Through short stories, Johnson confirms De Certeau’s explanation that a true frontier is not just a border that separates, but also a bridge between two unique spaces. Thus one space can and only will exist when both frontiers and bridges exist. This can be proven throughout Train Dreams in the series of events in Grainier’s life. The definition of what is human only exists because there is also a definition of what is not. In reference to Train Dreams, there exists normal people like Robert Grainier or Kootenai Bob and the rest of the townspeople and there exists animals, like the wolves and the wolf-girl. Through this intangible frontier, there is a bridge. Because of the separation, there is also a link in between the gap. Without humans, animals would not be considered animals. Without animals, there would not be humans. Therein it is necessary for a bridging between both characterizations for the formation of a frontier. Another example would be the existence of the individual. There can only be a “self” if the opposite of “self” (everyone else) exists. Grainier becomes a unique character, not because of his past sufferings, but because of his unique mentality. In an abstract sense, Grainier has his own “self” and becomes this individual because no one else has the same outlook as him. An example would be Claire Thompson. Both she and Grainier were widowed within a few years of marriage. Although both experienced similar tragedies, both deal with their situation uniquely. In which Grainier wallows in his past and Thompson moves on towards the future. Each character deals with similar experiences in their own unique way. The bridge between these two characters would be the death of their significant other. The frontier that exists would be their mentality in dealing with the actual situation. Even in the internal battles within the self, Johnson clearly outlines that there is the existence of a frontier, as well as a bridging between the gaps of the two differences. Grainier battles with the differences of reality and fantasy repeatedly, throughout the mini novel. In which, he has recurring encounters with the ghosts of his past. In the near real life encounter with the ghost of his wife, he reinvents her last moments in the cabin long after she dies, yet he is able to picture the entirety of the event in a realistic manner. In Grainier’s fantasy, he cannot separate the difference between reality and fantasy. This illustrates the underlying message that Johnson tries to recreate, in that there is a fine line that a frontier creates. This frontier divides, but presents the opportunity for a bridge to form between two different concepts with similar ideas. Similarly so, Grainier also stumbles across another man who may knowingly or unknowingly battle with reality and fantasy. Mr. Peterson had reassured Grainier that his gunshot wound was the result of his dog shooting him in self-defense. In reality, the occurrence of such event is not very likely. Even Grainier who can be a bit of a simpleton, questioned Peterson’s story. The question of what is real and fake can only exist because of the “frontier” that exist. This frontier can only exist when the bridge that defines what is related also exists. In this situation the relationship between truth and lies establish this bridge. Truth is related to lies in that they both are the counter definitions of each other. Therefore, reality is directly proportional to truth, just as lies are to fantasy.

          In terms of frontiers, bridges, spaces and places, the subject matter of threshold comes into question. Thresholds can be defined in many different ways. The definition that usually comes to mind is any place or point of entering or beginning. In De Certeau’s definition, a true threshold is any occupiable transitional space. This can be applied to Train Dreams. Tangible thresholds would be the land reserved for the Western Expansion. Because of the concept of Manifest Destiny, each space was kept in mind as a space for transition. In that a place that was once a forest may be cleared to form a space, in which the loggers will occupy. After all the trees are chopped down, the space can perhaps become a place for railroads to pass through. Because of this establishment, it can also lead to the development of a town due to the settlers that may build their homes in the surrounding area. The possibilities are endless. The infinite potential illustrates how malleable this space is. Therein creating the idea of a threshold, since the space is so flexible, it is always in transition.

Through each story a little more of the Valley of Moyea is uncovered. We begin to see the Spatial Stories that De Certeau speaks about through Train Dreams. In which, we are then able to understand the distinct definitions to the words with similar context, such as the words, space and place. Not only the similarities of words are explored, but also words that represent opposites like frontier and bridges are brought into the light. The creation of such distinct spaces, places, frontiers, and bridges, allow for the existence of thresholds. Using Train Dreams and the stories told within the novella, we were able to differentiate and categorize each story to assemble a distinct definition with clarity.

Source: Photo