Essay and Peripheries by Regina SteffanThis project is the work of a European student, who had lived in a number of different cities through out the world. The basis of her proposal for her Major Research Project was based on her perception that various cities such as New York, Paris, Kyoto, displayed architectural styles, such as the International or corporate style. However, the essential “feel” of each city was different and manifested itself in the way space was used by its inhabitants. She investigated and analysed the layout of each city using anthropology as critical framework, and focusing on approaches such as proxemics. She concluded that cultural characteristics that defined the use of space in each city; the radial layout of Kyoto that reflects the presence of the Emperor’s court in the centre, with circles of different ranking Shogun palaces around it, while the centralised character of the French government, is manifested in the long avenues that lead to dominating squares, circuses or monuments.
She used these findings to define the design strategy of her project. Her final piece is a series of texts laid out in such a manner so as to be read in different ways; if the reader is reading the section dealing with Paris the text will line up when the paper is folded diagonally, or horizontal folds allow the lining up of text about New York etc.
Her final piece is not a merely an essay, rather it is an interactive map which invites the reader to discover ideas about the subject and through the designed object.
Credits and thanks to:
Writing Purposefully in Art & Design for allowing us to reproduce these examples as well as the Context Programme, BA Graphic Design Course, Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design, University of Arts London
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