Assignment
Part I: Household (Interior) Analysis
The first part of this assignment involves directly observing, describing and analyzing one part of the household space in which you live. Choose ONE room or area of the household and observe it. Our aim is to approach this space not solely as a user, but as a theorist who can analyze it as an ‘artifact'.
There are many different questions that you can ask in order to become aware of how this room is designed and structured. Remember that you are analyzing this space sociologically, so that the objective here is to examine this site as a product of a culture. That is, even if someone hadn't been here before, how would they figure it out? Observe its spatial features and consider how they ‘speak'.
Consider the following questions: What are the pivotal objects here and what do they orient us to or ‘make matter'? How does the design ask one to move through the space?
How is the space organized and how does that influence how we think or act? How does the design influence what you do here and how you do it? What are the patterns of use that emerge and how does the space shape those habits? How is the body configured through the space? What kind of body is expected or normalized?
How are the senses structured here? Is one sense privileged over another? What kind of aural (sound) or olfactory (smell) or visual (sight) cues are set up here? What kinds of words or terms (linguistic cues) spring to mind, and what kind of ‘mental map' is configured through these? Who is expected here and how is that shown? What sorts of roles are set up through the form?
Does the design set up a sense of solo use (private) or shared use (public)? Does it create any hierarchies or power differentials? How does it set up social interaction? Remember that for all of these, that you want to ‘make the link' - show how the spatial features / design details that you are describing manifest a ‘framework for thinking and acting'.
Part II: Household (Exterior) Analysis
Now that you have observed, described and analyzed one part of the household structure, shift your focus to the exterior. Position yourself so as to directly observe the outside of your household.
What type of building is this, and how does the form allow you to identify it as such? What are the main visual cues that convey a sense of the building and its type?
Are there cues that orient to the other senses (sound, smell)? Consider the size of building, the placement of windows, the structure of the doors; what do these suggest? What is the building's relation to the street?
What sorts of pathways or sense of direction and movement have been generated? How is a sense of a neighbour set up here? How does the structure of the building set up a relation to those neighbours? Are there markers of the private or the public? How do we see these?
What are the most significant or important objects here and what do they ask us to think about or value? How does the design set up a sense of normal practice or use? What would be problematic activity here and why? How does the design set up that sense of ‘the problem'?
What kinds of bodies are encouraged to move through this environment, and how are expectations of their ability or agility conveyed? Are there class dimensions to this structure? How does the design of this structure or immediate area show a relation to nature?
Finally, in your concluding paragraphs, reflect on how what you live in now is similar to or different from earlier forms of urban space.
Consider one of the periods examined in the first part of the course (ancient, medieval, early industrial) and think about what would be seen as familiar to that urban dweller. What in your living space would be the most unfamiliar or foreign to them?
What do you appreciate about the difference between now and then? Is there something that you wish we normalized now, that would have been normalized then? You should use the work of at least ONE of the theorists of the course to support your argument.
o Please bring a hard copy to class as well as submit a copy through Blackboard Assignments. If you cannot make it to class, make sure you have submitted the assignment through Blackboard Assignments and bring a hard copy to class the following week.
o Direct observation is required for this analysis. Please identify the general location that you are analyzing.
• Approximately 4-6 pages, double spaced
o 12 point font, 1 inch margins
• Proper referencing format (APA or MLA) is required when specific course material is used (e.g. an article or film). But note that this is NOT a research paper, therefore the written work should be your own, original observations and analysis. Material taken from outside sources that has not been properly referenced (i.e. plagiarism) will result in an essay grade of 0.
• Note: Pictures of this material site may be included as addendums, but they cannot replace the written work. The aim is to show how the urban form ‘speaks'; to do this, you must describe and analyze in written form what is there. As this is NOT A RESEARCH paper, it is expected that the observation and analysis is your own, and utilizes the orientation of the course.