The creation of thick space – maps + information

Referencing readings:Hazel Easthope – A Place Called Home

Katharine Willis, Jens Geelhaar – Information Places: Navigating Interfaces between Physical and Digital Space

Michelle Gay, 2013.For: Peter Pennefather. KMD4000, Faculty of Informations, University of Toronto.

Spatial information

Spatial information

Willis & Geelhaar (2009) suggest that one type of information we encounter is spatial. Their text explores the notion and sense of ‘self’ and ‘other’ in the conceptualization of space or place. They look at resonances and differences between physical and digital space through both paper and digital mapping projects.

Easthope’s (2004) concepts weave together social construction of and interconnections between self and place as well. Self/space/place: seem to be fundamental building blocks of finding/place making/place. Whether abstract, thick or thin, home or cosmos, physical or virtual – all facets work to help people find ‘way’ and make ‘place’.

Spatial information Questions• MG.Q1: combing these two articles, how do we interpret, navigate and

negotiate the phenomenon of human consciousness (self?) in a space/time grid?

• MG.Q2: does the ‘self’ and ‘sense of place’ change when the space/time

Cartesian grid incorporates a digital or virtual dimension? • Is the virtual dimension another abstract representation of space that gets

re-imagined and incorporated into our conceptualization of place? Or does it bring something different to the notion of place. (I’m thinking interconnectedness with others, and memory -- that abstract representations of place [maps] alone don’t necessarily promote these.)

• MG.Q3: does this virtual dimension compete with or fold into the sense of

self within physical place ? • Does this become an ‘enhanced or augmented’ place or ‘enfeebled’ place

(Easthope)?

Creation of thick space

Creation of thick space

Heidegger’s’ concepts of thick-space and thin-space’ and Bourdieu’s ‘habitus’ are frameworks which can help understand humans in space.

A ‘sense of self’ seems implicitly connected to ‘thick space’. ‘Self’ is not separable from ‘Place’, together they are like a saturated-solution.

Creation of thick space

• MG.Q4: What happens with sense of self/place in a new urban development –

such as a vertical condo-village?

• Can the Lisgar square, and our research and writing on activating urban commons, develop or uncover placemaking/wayfinding strategies to help new communities to form? How can we encourage Lisgar Square to become a ‘thick’ space?

• MG.Q5: How can city planning departments and processes help with the

staging of creating thick spaces? Is this incorporated into real decisions around the planning of a “Regeneration” neighbourhood?

• Perhaps different terminology is used in city planning, but can we determine if the concepts and philosophies are being incorporated into the planning process in the City of Toronto?

Space to Place

Space to place

• Information exists in places – predominantly visual forms and structures are easily identified – and then acted upon by people. These forms and structures make it easier for us to make associations with, and begin to imbue space with narratives and social meanings – ie. creating place. (Willis & Geelhaar, p. 209)

• Space becomes place when embedded with narratives that resonate with a ‘self’. As Easthope suggests, the concept of home is both sociological and psychological. (Easthope, p. 135)

Mapping / place-based information. Digital and physical representations.

Maps help people develop an IMAGE of a space or route. Here I’m reminded of Lynch’s concept about the importance of people being able to ‘imagine’ the spaces they inhabit - which contributes to and helps create our notion of place. (Lynch, 1960) • Suggestion by Willis & Gelhaar that GPS digital maps deliver information

in INCREMENTS and that the paper map offers an OVERVIEW and fuller context.

• MG: Q6: How does INCREMENTAL delivery of information affect our ability

to build ‘thick space’? • MG.Project Challenge: conceptualize a 3dimensional (or is it

4dimensional – x,y,z + time) visualization of “Lisgar SquareD”

Mapping / place-based information. Digital and physical representations.

Mapping / place-based information.

Digital and physical representations.

Project Challenge:3D/4D Virtual Self/Place Sketch

of Active participant within a mapped bounded space.

Using Lisgar Square TORONTO as place reference.

MG – Oct 9, 2013

Mapping / place-based information. Digital and physical

representations.

Conceptualized “Place” cloud – filled with shareable, retrievable data and information.

Actors can ‘triangulate’ with any node through local server. Use pump.io (Brenshausen, 2013) model as Lisgar Square server?

Mapping / place-based information. Digital and physical representations.

Information modalities: physical, digital, memory

Mapping / place-based information. Digital and physical representations.

information as stories. What are they? Location-based, poetic,Practical, informative, exploratory

referencesBehrenshausen, Bryan . (2013). pump.io: the decentralized social network that's

really fun. Retrieved from http://opensource.com/life/13/7/pump-ioEasthope, Hazel.(2004). A Place Called Home. In Housing, Theory and Society. Vol

21. No 3. DOI: 10.1090/14036090410021360Gay, Michelle. (2013). ThoughtMap. Ink drawing with found map, dried leaf and

pin. Slide 2.Gay, Michelle. (2013). WovenSpace: Cartesian Grid, with Ink spill. Slide 3.Lynch, Kevin. (1960). The City Images and Its Elements. In The Image of the City. Cambridge [Mass.] : M.I.T. Press & Harvard Univ. Press, 1960.Melville, Herman. "Moby-Dick or, The Whale. 1851." Evanston and Chicago IL:

Northwestern UP (1988).Willis, Katharine, & Geelhaar, Jens. (2009). Information Places: Navigating Interfaces between Physical and Digital Space. In Foth, M. (2009). Handbook of research on urban informatics: The practice and promise of the real-time city. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.