T. Branch and The Urban Environment

#5C: Community Involvement

2006-04-29T22:23:00.000-04:00

I finally finished the concrete paver project. The first-year architecture students, along with their studio instructors, arrived at Ile Ife Park at about 1pm to first help clean up the park area, and then, install the pavers into the ground. Of course I was involved, and I had a great experience in taking part of this project, not only because it was part of architecture, but because it was part of the community as well. We worked in collaboration with the Village of Arts and Humanities Urban Landscaping Team, who were very friendly and committed to their work. There were many things that had to be done, such as planting a garden and preparing the paths for the installation of the pavers, but I basically moved the dirt around all day...it was an important job though, because the piles of dirt that was in the park was ugly to look at, so we put it to good use to level the uneven ground in the park and help make the park more presentable.

I uploaded some pictures of the pavers and the where they will be placed in the park: the first one is a picture of my paver, the rest of the pictures show what some of the other pavers look like and how they will be placed in the park. Even after all of the work that we have done today, the overall project is still in progress and its up to the Urban Landscaping Team to complete the renovation of the park in time for June 3, the Together We Build Festival. The festival will take place on the Village grounds, and serve as a special tribute to all of the projects in the Village as part of its 20th anniversary.

#6C: Healthscape Field Report

2006-04-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

In my urban environment class I learned that the term "Healthscape" is a combination of health issues and landscape issues of a particular area, hence the name. Healthscapes can be described as issues that involve how a person can interact with the surrounding area, given certain health restrictions. For example, how do blind people live in their community?...can they do it alone, or do they need someone else to assist them? Is the community safe for blind people? When trying to answer those questions, that is when people address healthscape issues. I chose to focus on how people with physical disabilities should be able to get around in their community, and after I had chosen a topic to discuss I was assigned to apply my proposal to my community site I had worked on in the community description assignment. My proposal is simple: create an environment that can serve people with disabilities, through buildings that are wheelchair accessible, handicapped parking lots, and renovate the land to keep the sidewalks and streets in good shape in order to prevent future accidents.

I had trouble working on my healthscape field report for the Village because the site I chose to focus on, Ile Ife Park, is not exactly completed yet. That is a huge problem for me because it interferes with my healthscape proposal. I do know that the park will be wheelchair accessible once the renovations are completed, but for the time being it definetly is not wheelchair accessible. I also looked around other areas of the Village and I noticed that the sidewalks seem to be in decent shape for people in a wheelchair or people with crutches, though I do see a few sidewalks that are in need of repair, especially on Cumberland Street, between 11th Street and Germantown Avenue. I also noticed that the homes in the community are not fitted to those with physical disabilities. There are steps, not ramps, that lead up to the front doors of each house, and the paths on those steps are quite narrow. Finally, I didn't see any hospitals around the Village, so if someone who lived there had a physical disability needed to go to the hospital, it would be a long journey for them, even if someone drove them there. It is not like they can be taken to a clinic across the street if they needed medical attention, they would have to wait until someone picked them up and then it would take even more time to reach a clinic or hospital. After my analysis of the Village, I confirm that at the moment, the Village is not a good place for people with physical disabilities.

#6B: Industrialization Field Report

2006-04-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

During my many visits to the Village I have never seen any form of industrialization take place there. Of course the Village is a land restoration and beautification project, so there won't be any examples of industrialization there, but there aren't any forms of industrialization outside of the village either. I mentioned in my gentrification field report that there was an abandoned building across Germantown Avenue, but there are no signs of improvement or renovation on the building. There are also a few residential areas outside the Village, across from Cumberland Street, but they are in decent shape so there isn't any type of renovation going on over there either. In the surrounding neighborhoods there are no food stores, complex mall areas, or anything else like that. I saw one independent corner store around 12th and Cumberland Street, outside of the Village border, but that's it. Nothing else. This isn't a case where there are two types of surroundings like the atmosphere on Broad Street compared to the atmosphere of other streets a block over, the Village is pretty much the same all around: park areas within an inner-city community. I don't know for sure if people reside in every house in that community, but if there had to be some renovation done, I would propose to renovate the houses that people actually live in, just to make them look a bit nicer, and to remove the houses that are abandoned. However, I also understand that is not an easy task, and with most of the funds going to the restoration of the parks, the chances of those houses being renovated are slim to none.

#5B: Community History

2006-04-29T22:15:00.000-04:00

The Village of Arts and Humanities is on a special mission to develop a community through various arts-based programs in education, land transformation, construction, and economic development. The purpose of the Village is to create a peaceful environment mainly to inner-city communities of North Philadelphia, but occasionally it will extend its programs to other areas under similar conditions. the Village is not a recent organization...in fact, it has been around for a long time, for almost 20 years. It all started in the summer of 1986, with Arthur Hall, founder of the Ile Ife Black Humanitarian Center. The organization occupied the building at 2544 Germantown Avenue, and when he asked Lily Yeh to use her artistic talents to convert the vacant lot next door into a small park for children, and the Village has grown even since. The vacant lot next to 2544 Germantown Ave. was just the beginning. As Yeh was working on the project, the people of the surrounding neighborhoods offered to help contribute to the artwork that would be produced in the park. As a response to the success of the project, Lily Yeh was asked to return year after year, producing more and more artwork. The amount of people involved also increased over the years, and there were so many people involved that it led to the creation of a special community filled with murals, mosaics, and other types of artwork, all within existing inner-city neighborhoods. And so Lily Yeh worked alongside neighborhood children and adults in the construction of these projects for many years to come. One of their most powerful contributors was community member James "Big Man" Maxton, a tenured artist who was actually Lily Yeh's partner in creating many of the pieces of artwork in the Village. When Mason passed away on February 2, 2005, the people of the Village paid a special tribute to him and his service with a memorial placed in Memorial Park, not too far from Ile Ife Park. In the community description I mentioned that there were a set of steps that were decorated and placed in one of the parks...well I find out those set of steps were the same steps Mason used to sit on outside in front of his home, interacting with other members of the community. Recently I took a picture of his memorial.

The vacant lot that has been converted into a park has been renamed Ile Ife Park, not only because it is named after the organization that once resided next to it, but because the name Ile Ife is taken from an Ibo language of Nigeria and means "house of love," referring to how the people of the surrounding neighborhoods worked together to help transform an inner-city area into a strong and beautiful community. The park where I have focused my field reports and where my architecture project will take place is in Ile Ife Park. In case anyone is wondering how I obtained all of this information, I collected some pamplets about information regarding the Village from a member of the Urban Landscaping Team, and from there I was able to learn more about its history. Unfortunately, at the time, The Village of Arts and Humantites website is down, so I couldn't present any links to the website.

#6A: Gentrification Field Report

2006-04-17T12:13:00.000-04:00

I sat in one of the small "parks" in the Village, on a park bench near the intersection of 10th St and Germantown Ave. I took a closer look around the surrounding area and I was surprised that I learned a lot more than I expected. The first thing I noticed was that the area of the Village was larger than I thought, because now that I closely observed the area that I was in, I realized that this was the "border" area, and not 11th and Alder St. as I mentioned in Assignment #5. I know that this is the border because as I looked across the street to the other side, I saw some abandoned buildings and sidewalks made entirely out of concrete, something completely different from where I was standing in. I saw some people working on at a small site across the street as well, doing some sort of construction. Maybe they are making another small park to add to the Village...hmm...interesting. Another feature about the area that really noticed was that the Village was in need of renovation...I mean it was really bad. I thought the people trying to preserve the community would have improved the area since my last visit but it is even worse then it was before...there are large plots of dirt everywhere, blue plastic ripped up on the ground, and even some houses that look like they are need of serious repair. Add this with the trash and other debris that people produce in the park, and you can imagine a pretty depressing setting.

#5A: Community Description

2006-02-26T17:32:00.000-05:00

The area of Philadelphia that I chose to focus on is an area that is known as the Village, or the Village of Arts and Humanities. It is located between Cumberland Ave and Huntingdon Ave, between 11th St. and Alder St.

Here are some pictures that I took of some interesting artwork at the Village, and during my visit, I took 8 more pictures and posted them on another blog, A Visual Description of The Village. The reasons why I chose this area are because this area has something unique about it, and because I really don't know any other place in Philadelphia that I could use, since I'm from New York. I found out about the Village when I visited the community last year, for an architecture project. When I saw this place for the first time, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here is a typical inner-city community transformed into something unique through various pieces of artwork. I think it is very interesting how there are murals on the outside walls of residential areas, detailed patterns on the floor, and patches of empty space turned into sites for sculptures and paintings. There is even a small stage built under a large mural that hosts special events in the community. But the most interesting feature about the Village is that some of the artwork relates to the actual community. For example, on one wall there were special murals honoring those that have died in the community, a colorful checker table that people can actually use, and then there were these "steps" that served as a memorial to a special person who devoted the remaining years of his life helping everyone in the Village. Finally, some of the original artwork had been around for many years, creating a historical context in the area, and more artwork will continue to be added on, including the final touches of my architecture project, where the students are supposed to install concrete blocks, engraved with their own design, into a designated area. I'm glad that I chose this area to work on, and I can't wait to install my concrete block at the Village.

#4: Environmental Ethical Dilemma

2006-02-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

I was interested in talking about issues regarding global warming because of the possibility that the polar ice caps could melt and eventually cover the world in water. I didn't really take it seriously, and I always thought that something like that was just ridiculous and could never happen, but after finding some information on the EPA website, I started to change my mind. Not only is that scenario a possibility, but global warming can also change regional climate in the process, expanding deserts in one area or producing more rainfalls in another. These changes in the environment can range from altering forests to producing more drought areas to damaging ecosystems. The concept behind global warming is that certain gases emitted from cars and factories are trapped within the earth's atmosphere actually heat up the earth's surface. It seems simple enough--stop producing these gases, and the problem is solved, but actually, it is not that easy. Unfortunately, things such as cars and factories are part of human life, and the usage of fossil fuels to power them has increased over the years. And speaking of years, the EPA website stated that the effects of global warming might not take place until the next century, so its natural that no one really pays attention to this issue. The ethical dilemma, or the argument here is whether or not the issue of global warming should be further looked into, and whether or not it should be taken seriously. The members of the EPA support the idea obviously because they created the website about global warming in the first place, but the people who are against the idea are basically those involved in the gasoline companies, factories, and any other organization that contributes to the production of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. They may not actually show that they are against the issue of global warming, but I believe that it can be implied because they are not doing anything to produce or stop the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere even though they are contributing into it in the first place. I would put car companies into the list of those that are against the issue of global warming but recently I have seen commercials about cars with some sort of new "hybrid" technology that enables them to operate on less gas than normal cars. I believe at the moment there cannot be a resolution to the dilemma for two reasons: because people would have to drastically change their lifestyle in order to create a more healthy atmosphere, and because the serious effects of global warming have not taken place yet. In my opinion, there can always be a push for a change, but if the people do not see a serious reason to change their lifestyles, then most likely, it won't happen. I know that there are a lot of people like me who aren't really concerned with global warming, but i think that it is a mistake. I believe that these issues should be further looked into, and that there should be a stronger effort to send the message about global warming throughout the world.

#3: Community Map

2006-02-10T17:20:00.000-05:00

This is a map of my community back home in New York, part of what they call Jamaica, Queens. I was able to draw the area from using the Google Earth program, then I sketched out the map on another piece of paper, and finally, I used Adobe Photoshop to clarify what was important in the drawing by using a series of colors. I live in the center of this map (indicated by the letter A, in yellow), and there is a chain of stores across the street (indicated by the letter B, in blue). I don't know what to call this type of community: it definetly is not a suburban community, and it's not exactly an urban community because it isn't in New York City, so I think it is somewhere in between, shifting towards the urban side. I wouldn't call this place the most attractive community in the world: there aren't any new features other than some minor adjustments to the park across the street, there aren't any interesting features in this area, and I can't recognize anything that can be used as a landmark. I don't really like this community because the place is very dull to me, and because the people here aren't too friendly, creating a bad atmosphere. My grandmother who lived here said that the neighborhood was good years ago, but it has changed over time, and it is a lot worse now than it was back then. I hated it so much that I wanted to go away for college, which eventually led me to Temple. I also wanted to use my community map as an example of a juxtaposition. Once again, similar to the Rite Aid proximity around Temple's main campus, I also noticed that there were two gas stations across the street from each other (indicated in red, and the letter C), and that there two different elemetary schools that were in proximity to each other (indicated in orange). I used the two examples i mentioned as examples of a juxtaposition because I feel that it doesn't make sense to have two gas stations across the street from each other or two schools near each other. When I thought about this, I said to myself why couldn't there just be one gas station, or one larger school. I strongly believe that the two schools are definetly too close in my community. I guess the fact that there is a park across the street from where I live is another example of a juxtaposition because they create two different atmospheres yet they are right next to each other. The park normally has a peaceful atmosphere and is accompanied with plesant images such as children playing and people enjoying themselves, but across the street, the atmosphere is not peaceful and most of the people aren't nice at all. Also, the buildings in the neighborhood are ugly compared to the park, which in my opinion, has more renovations than anywhere else in the community.

#2: Juxtaposition Identification and Discussion

2006-01-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

When I was looking for some examples of a juxtaposition around Philadelphia, I realized that there are some good examples just around Temple's main campus. I didn't have to go all the way to Center City to point out some interesting features, and I think I found three examples of what could be a juxtaposition.

The first example that I found involved two stores that are in proximity to one another. I noticed that there was a Rite Aid one block north of Temple's main campus, and there was also another Rite Aid about one block south of Temple's main campus. The two stores are about four or five blocks apart, and i never really was concerned about it until now. After thinking about this for some time I realized that having two different stores close to one another didn't really make any sense, especially since neither one of the stores are owned or sponsored by Temple.

The second example involves the entire main campus of Temple and the surrounding community of Philadelphia. I didn't really notice this at first, but there seems to be an invisible border between Temple's main campus and the surrounding area. The campus grounds are fairly clean and organized, with renovations to buildings and other areas. The area outside the campus however, has broken sidewalks, and buildings that have not been renovated for years. It seems to me that as soon as cross Diamond St. or Oxford St, I feel like I have entered a completely different place. I especially noticed this when I walk on Broad St. past Diamond St. I can see the community past Susquehanna Ave and look at the deteriorating buildings, ugly-looking stores and the not-so-friendly inhabitants. When I walk on Broad St. past Oxford St. I compare the small plaza there to the buildings on the main campus, and I see that the plaza area is in much need of improvements, and looks much worse than the buildings on the main campus.

Finally, I noticed that one of the buildings on the main campus can possibly be an example of a juxtaposition. I think the Enginneering and Architecture Building can be an example of a juxtapostion because of the way the building is placed on the site. Professor Brigitte Knowles, an important figure in the Architecture Program, revealed to me in her class last semester that the front entrance of the building is actually the rear entrance of the building, and vice-versa. She explained that the building was placed on the site this way because originally it was supposed to be on another site but it was moved for spatial reasons and in order for the building to fit in the new site, the entrances had to be flipped around. Before when I didn't know anything about the building, I always thought that the front of the building was facing Gladfelter Hall and Anderson Hall, but now when I look at the building it makes sense that the front of the building is on the other side, facing Diamond St. because it has features that the front entrance of any building would have--a path in the center of the building to the entrance, and more prominent features of the building such as the window design in the above the entrance.

#1: Horse and Carriage Position

2006-01-30T13:57:00.000-05:00

Recently I was assigned in my urban environment class to discuss the incident that took place in New York City, involving a horse and carriage. According to an article in the Daily News, the horse was spooked somehow and bolted down a street in midtown on the night of January 2, 2006, and it ejected the driver of the horse and carriage out onto the street before it ran into a station wagon. The driver was in critical condition, and the horse suffered a serious leg injury and had to be euthanized as a result.

When asked to take sides on the incident, I chose to take the side of keeping the horse and carriages around, as opposed to banning them from the city. I felt that they should stay in NYC for many reasons: there aren't that many accidents that took place in the city, they have a cultural and historical value, it could have a negative effect on the people who work in the business because they would lose their jobs, and that they could follow certain park restrictions and just stay in Central Park as opposed to them permanently banned from the city. I was looking for more information on the issue when I came across an article in the USA Today website about PETA's reaction to the incident. Apparently, PETA is pushing for a ban on horse and carriage operations in New York City, by stating that other major cities such as Las Vegas, Paris, and London have already done so. However, I think PETA fails to realize that New York City is different from the other cities mentioned, and that in NYC the horse and carriage is significant because it is one of the attractions at Central Park: people come to take a carriage ride around the park and take part in something that has been around NYC for many years. Another reason why I think that the horse and carriage should stay in NYC is because it is an actual business, and many people would be losing their jobs, such as the horse-riders, the people who look after the horses, and the people who look after the carriages. The Manhattan Carriage Company is just one of the many examples of horse and carriage companies located in NYC. The MCC states that it is a "leading service provider for horse carriage rides in NYC since 1980," meaning that it has been around for 20 years without any real problems. I don't think it is fair to shut down the service of this company and any other horse and carriage company because of a few accidents that have occured along the way.