Project 1
August 30th:
My chosen intersection was Beeler St and Unger Lane. Before even arriving, I noticed the contrast between one being a lane and one being a street, and this became even more apparent as I approached the intersection. I visited my intersection around 3:30 PM. When I first approached, I almost couldn’t tell where the intersection was. When I turned off Forbes avenue onto Beeler, I noticed a shift from a main commercial drag that runs next to campus onto a quieter but still moderately trafficked street. This contrast is even more apparent when you hit the intersection. I would describe the intersection as where a residential street with moderate foot and road traffic meets a quiet residential street that curves up a hill leading nowhere.
At first glance, it looked uninviting. With two tall “NO OUTLET” signs and an un-Zebra’d crossing walk, it looked as though people weren’t wanted. Although I saw a few students walking down Unger during my time there, I never saw anyone enter.
Beeler was neither loud nor quiet. There was a subtle rumble of cars rolling past and a steady stream of pedestrians. A bus would drive by every few minutes but did not raise the volume significantly.
I felt safe due to the proximity of people and how close the intersection is to where Beeler and Forbes meet. But at the safe time, I felt uninvited. Besides the “NO OUTLET” signs, there was a feeling of everything being in motion. The only stationary person I saw was a young girl watching her mom mow the lawn. No one stopped to understand this intersection as I attempted to do.
The only man who did stop caused me to have a sudden moment of panic. He pulled his car erratically into the beginning of Unger Ln. His windows were down, and I could hear him loudly express confusion about what was happening. He dug around in his backseat for a minute or so before getting back in his car and driving away. This caused a significant interruption in the routine I was used to observing at this intersection. It made me consider even more what it felt like to be in that space and how it changed how I might have reacted to the situation. If the environment was more hectic, would I even have noticed?
The people walking by overlooked the intricate detail of the street planning and the houses built over 100 years ago. Multiple cars even passed me while I waited at the yield for pedestrians sign. People were ignoring this intersection.
September 5th:
My quantitative analysis focused on things I could see immediately when arriving at the intersection. Like how many cars were parked on the street, how many houses there were, the number of people walking by, etc. I focused my qualitative analysis on what effect the things I can measure quantitatively have on a person’s experience in the space. I thought about how even though most of the houses on Unger Lane are single stories, due to the different elevations of the hill, they feel as though they are taller. How the giant no outlet signs make the lane feel unwelcoming, a message deterring exploration. My quantitative analysis guided me into the deeper qualitative analysis.
One thing I noticed during this second trip that I hadn’t before was how different the intersection looks from the other side of the “NO OUTLET” signs. The intersection looks much more open as the trees are not obscuring your view, but at the same time, it looks empty.
Additionally, I went this time after a day of rain which made the intersection look much darker and more rundown. It didn’t have a bright sky to bring out the vibrant vegetation.
As you can see in this screenshot from google maps, you can’t see the yield for pedestrians sign when you are driving towards the crossing walk. This leads cars to keep driving as if there’s no reason to stop even when just behind the tree, which elevates the otherwise flat manicured lawns, there is a big bright yield for pedestrians sign. While last time I noticed cars ignoring me while trying to cross the street, I hadn’t noticed how obscured the view of the sign was.
September 7th:
Exploration of balsa wood sticks:
I decided to start my exploration by attempting to make a square while using a miter joint. I accidentally cut a 45 degree angle on the wrong side of the piece that already had a 45 degree on the other end. Instead of trying to restart I decided to use it and frame my approach around it.
While doing this I got to attempt the miter joint that we had been demonstrated in class. This will help while I approach the bigger model project.
September 12th:
I went back to the intersection at night, and while I expected almost a stark contrast between my experience at day vs. at night but it actually seemed almost more inviting. The softer and darker blue tone of the sky blended better with the trees and buildings of the intersection. Rather than during the day when the bright sky is contrasted with the more muted buildings and trees.
When building my model, I had success when doing the miter joints but struggled, especially with the angles of the incline. Additionally, there is a slight curve in the base of my model. This is something that I could try to midigate by applying some force to try to flatten it.
The photographs that accurately portray my intersection are those that have more of an angeled perspective as they can accompass more of the space. Additionally, it feels like a front view of just; for example, Unger Lane does not encapsulate the entire story, but it does tell an important part of it.
September 15th:
I decided to use a triangle of gravel road to emphasize the incline of the road. I also choose to put a picture of the “NO OUTLET” signs on both front and back at the start of the slope.
I have, for now, chosen to include a lot of open space. I want to do this to emphasize both the space feeling emptier and more unnoticeable. While at the same time making people feel the contrast, the “NO OUTLET” signs add to the feelings of the space.
I am gonna continue to try out different ways of cropping the images to emphasize the parts I want the audience to notice.
I think the bright blue of the sky adds a lot to the story, so I used photoshop to pick up the exact color and print out a sheet of paper with that color.
September 19th:
Today I attached the images to scale temporarily on my structure. This allowed me to visualize what the images looks like from different angles and how that impacts the overall experience.
One thing that I noticed was no matter what side I put the “NO OUTLET” sign that includes part of the street it throw off the direction of your eyes and adds confusion as it’s headed inwards. To mitigate this I will be going to take different pictures of that no outlet sign at an angle where the curve of the rode doesn’t impact the viewers eye tracking.
Another thing I might look into is if it’s allowed to put images on both sides of the end so that you could have a different experience looking inside as you do looking on the outside.
September 21st:
I am changing my plan for the overall way I convey the story and also what story I am telling. Instead of both sides having no outlet signs and then no other pictures, after discussions with the TAs and Professors, I decided to convey a broader story about the intersection.
This intersection is not just about the “NO OUTLET” signs. It's about how noticeable they are due to their context. This is why I choose to add images from Beeler street on one side instead of having two no outlet sign sides. This adds more to the story and really shows it is an intersection, not just a study on Unger Lane.
As seen in the picture above, I decided to add an image of a tree to the Beeler street side. I did this not only because I was struggling with how to divide the space. But additionally, I believe it's a strong contrast to the welcome you get on Unger Lane. This further illustrates the complexities of this intersection.
Additionally, I changed the sky blue image to one similar to its opposite side, but in this case, there are people and cars on the street.
The similarities and differences between these two sides add a lot to the story I am trying to tell. Of how while at first the intersection, it can eventually bring you in.
From the presentation of the first project, I gained a better sense of why we had done the project from hearing my peer's ideas. From doing this project, I learned about the importance of adaptable prototypes. When laying out my pictures to scale, I was able to move them around and adjust them based on how they looked. I will carry this skill forward to future projects. I would like to improve my working process to be able to take my time and not have to rush in the end, and I think that will result in the details being more precise in the future.