Interpreting places & landscapes

Geography 1, 2nd Sem. AY 2010-2011Ms. Rocelyn C. De Vera

• How the environment shapes & is shaped by people

• How it is perceived & understood by people

VISUALIZING LANDSCAPES

2 Major Kinds of Landscape

• Natural Landscape Natural Landscape - Landscapes without any evidence or trace of human activities.

• Cultural Landscape Cultural Landscape - a characteristic and tangible outcome of the complex interactions between a human group and a natural environment.

Landscapes

• Natural Landscape• Cultural Landscape

Cultural Landscape

• A characteristic and tangible outcome of the complex interactions between a human group and a natural environment

cultural Landscape

• Archive of society Reflection of our culture and experiences Comprehensive product of human action

Collection of evidence about our character and experience, our struggles & triumphs as humans

Types of Landscape

• Ordinary/Vernacular Landscape• Symbolic Landscape

Types of Landscape

1.) Ordinary landscapes (vernacular)Ordinary landscapes (vernacular)– Everyday landscapes that people create in the

course of their lives

– Landscapes that are lived-in and changed

– Influence and change the perceptions, values, and behaviors

Types of Landscape

1.) Ordinary landscapes (vernacular)Ordinary landscapes (vernacular)– WorkWork– Social activitiesSocial activities– SchoolSchool

Types of Landscape

2.) Symbolic landscapesSymbolic landscapes– Representations of particular values, or

aspirations, that the builders & financiers of those landscapes want to impart to a larger public

Symbolic Landscape

• Landscapes of power• Landscapes of despair• Derelict landscapes

Landscape as Text

• Like a book, landscapes can be read and written by groups and individuals.

• Landscapes do not come ready-made with labels on them.

• There are “readers” and “writers”

Landscape

Landscape

• Many cultural landscapes exist in any single place

• Quiapo• School

• Reflect the lives of ordinary people, as well as the more powerful

Study of Landscape

• Humanistic approach– Places individual at the center of analysis– Values, meanings, intentions..

Study of Landscape

• Humanistic approach– Critique:

• individual ≠ group

Study of Landscape

• Alternative:• Larger forces and individuals

• Culture, gender, government

• Enhance or constrains individual lives

• Two-way

Place-making

• Provides a source of physical safety & security• A source of stimulation• A physical expression of identity

Territory

breeding areas

December and January

beach areas that offer protection from the winter storms and high surf wave action

Harem

bull

Place-making

• physical territory physical territory (the physical body, real and personal property);

• social territory social territory (family, intimates, clan, tribe, peer group, club, associations, other social, cultural or religious groupings);

• psychic territory psychic territory (thoughts, opinions, theories, philosophies, plans, purposes, dreams, memories, time).

Territory

Place-makingTerritory

When a territory is threatenedthreatened

defend itattack the territory of the attackersuffer the trauma of invasion

When a territory is threatenedthreatened

defend itattack the territory of the attackersuffer the trauma of invasion

overcrowding

Destruction of properties, vandalism

Breaking up social ties

Plagiarism,Attacking of ideas

overcrowding

Destruction of properties, vandalism

Breaking up social ties

Plagiarism,Attacking of ideas

Place-making

• Persistent attachment to a specific location

• Geography of people’s behavior

– Claims to spaces

Territoriality

Claiming space

• Unwritten territorial rules

– 1. regular use

– 2. use of spatial markers

– 3. bubbles or areas of personal space that we try not to invade (or allow to be invaded by others)

Place-making

Personal space

different people within those cultures, may have quite different ideas of personal space. different people within those cultures, may have quite different ideas of personal space.

"typical" American prefers to speak to strangers literally at arm's length

"typical" Swiss prefers a distance of twelve to eighteen inches

"typical" Japanese prefers about two arm's lengths

both of which may discomfort many Americans.

friends

"typical" American prefers to speak to strangers literally at arm's length

"typical" Swiss prefers a distance of twelve to eighteen inches

"typical" Japanese prefers about two arm's lengths

both of which may discomfort many Americans.

friends

Place-making

• Study of the social & cultural meanings that people give to personal space.

Proxemics

different people

Different cultures,

different ideas of personal space.

different people

Different cultures,

different ideas of personal space.

Sense of place

• People and places • through territoriality

Place-making

• Sense of place– Feelings evoked among people as a result of the

experiences, memories, & symbolism that they associate with a given place

– Place is important to us, that its loss can be traumatic

– Insiders– feel at home

• Sentimental

• Affective bonds with places

• Become “significant” to individuals (special attachment or sense of identity or belonging)

• Home, school, city,country

TOPOPHILIA

How do insiders develop sense of place?

a) through shared dress codes, speech patterns..

b) through familiarity with the history and symbolism of particular elements of the physical environment

c) through people’s familiarity with one another and their surroundings

How do insiders develop sense of place?

a) through shared dress codes, speech patterns..

b) through familiarity with the history and symbolism of particular elements of the physical environment

c) through people’s familiarity with one another and their surroundings

• Cognitive Images

– what people see in the mind’s eye when they think of a particular place or setting

The formation of cognitive images:

THE REAL WORLD

TRANSFORMED COGNITIVE IMAGE

Environmental Images

Information Perception Cognition Recall

Senses Birth and personality Culture

What causes distortion of images?a) incomplete information

- the farther we live from the area, the less info we have

b) our own biases- we remember more what we like or what we think is significant

What causes distortion of images?a) incomplete information

- the farther we live from the area, the less info we have

b) our own biases- we remember more what we like or what we think is significant

Compiled through behavioral patterns

Cognitive images

• Influence behavior

Images and behavior

• The narrower

• The less likely • Venture beyond their home area

• Shopping Behavior of people

X X nearest store with the lowest prices

traffic, parking, pedestrian circulation

People go to places they regard as attractive, relaxing, reassuring,

they tend to avoid places they regard as repellant and fearsome

traffic, parking, pedestrian circulation

People go to places they regard as attractive, relaxing, reassuring,

they tend to avoid places they regard as repellant and fearsome