Abstract:

“Territory is established by the limits of the processes which create it. A habitat is an area within which an animal forages and mates; a nation is the domain in which authority dictates that certain actions proceed in certain ways according to law. Paths, boundaries, and gateways are conditions, not things, spatial patterns defined by processes. Paths are places of movement, boundaries limits to movement, gateways places of passage and exchange. A path is maintained by movement.”
Anne Spirn, The Language of Landscape. Yale University Press, 1998.

Visual Perception of the city: is the name of a course I have been teaching in Wentworth Institute of Technology at the senior level since the fall of 2015. This course addresses topics pertinent to the Urbanism concentration, with an emphasis on applying research in discourses relevant to the concentration topic area. Contemporary theoretical and historical issues are addressed through reading discussions, presentations, writing assignments, and the application of this knowledge through the production of new visual and physical content. This course is designed to run parallel with Studio 07, the final studio in the concentration curriculum.

This course introduces students to a visual perception of the city and the ideas that shape the form of a city. Using Boston as the basic ground, the lectures examine the key forces affecting the city as it is today, setting the basis for a discussion about the development of the form of the city. Site visits and seminars complete the practical component of the class. Each student will explore diagraming and sketching as disciplined ways of seeing, or investigating urban landscapes and expressing ideas. Student’s readings, observations, and a written journal form the basis of discussions on built heritage, urban landscape, community identity and sense of place, and how visual perception can inform design and planning.

Students investigate the evolution of the city of Boston and its relationship with the creation of public space in different places. Graphic tools are used to analyze the special character of Boston urban design. Each Tuesday new material is presented in class, assigned reading on/by the evolution of the city are discussed in a seminar. Every Thursday students bring the results of the site visits to different part of the city. During the semester student’s will develop a sketchbook and a web site containing the results of their graphic investigation.

Keywords:

Visual Perception, Urbanism Concentration.