Place

This is an essay on methodology.  It was published in 1984 when I was in an iconoclastic mood, but I think it is a reasonably accurate account of what I see as the relatively straightforward approaches I have used in all my substantive writing.

From his initial writings on imagination and memory, to his recent studies of the glance and the edge, the work of American philosopher Edward S. Casey continues to shape 20th-century philosophy. In this first study dedicated to his rich body of work, distinguished scholars from philosophy, urban studies and architecture as well as artists engage with Casey's research and ideas to explore the key themes and variations of his contribution to the humanities.

Structured into three major parts, the volume reflects the central concerns of Casey's writings: an evolving phenomenology of imagination, memory, and place; representation and landscape painting and art; and edges, glances, and voice. Each part begins with an extended interview that defines and explains the topics, concepts, and stakes of each of area of research. Readers are thus offered an introduction to Casey’s fascinating body of work, and will gain a new insight into particular aspects and applications of Casey's research.

With a complete bibliography and an introduction that at once stresses each of Casey’s areas of research while putting into perspective their overarching themes, this authoritative volume identifies the overall coherence and interconnections of Edward S. Casey's work and his impact in contemporary thought.

This article examines the conception of the everyday city as presented in the work of architect Christopher Alexander and architectural theorist Bill Hillier: Both thinkers suggest that, in the past, lively urban places arose unself-consciousty through the routine daily behaviors of many individual users coming together in supportive space and place. In different ways. both thinkers ask whether, today, a similar manner of vital urban district can be made to happen self-conscioustv through explicit understanding transformed into design and policy principles. The aim for both Alexander and Hillier is place-based urban communities marked by lively streets, serendipitous public encounters, and informal sociability. The article begins by examining commonalities and differences in Alexander and Hillier's conceptions of environmental wholeness and urban place. Next. the article considers implications for urban design and, last, indicates the considerable value that the two thinkers' ideas offer environmental philosophy, particularly for understanding environmental wholes.

CALVINO’S INVISIBLE CITIES IS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ESSAYS DESCRIBING MODERN CITIES AND THE WAY THEY ARE PERCEIVED: A DELIGHTFUL ALLEGORY OF THE THOUSANDS OF INTERACTIONS, TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE, BETWEEN PEOPLE AND PLACES.

BY ADOPTING CALVINO’S LENS IN READING CITIES, I STARTED TO DEFINE THE CORE OF MY PROJECT WITH THE CLEAR INTENT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE CITY AFFECTS CITIZENS AND VICE VERSA.

CITIES CAN BE CONSIDERED AS LAYERED ENTITIES IN A PERPETUAL EVOLUTION, LIVING SCENARIOS WHERE HISTORY AND STORIES CONSTANTLY OVERLAP CREATING NEW SETTINGS, NEW SCHEMES AND NEW SITUATIONS WITH THOUSANDS OF ACTORS PLAYING COUNTLESS ROLES. HOWEVER, IT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO GRASP THE ROLE THAT CITIZENS PLAY TODAY, WHETHER THEY ARE SPECTATORS, CHARACTERS OR PROTAGONISTS.

CITIZENS ARE TOO OFTEN OVERCOME BY THE TOP-DOWN CONFIGURATION OF CITIES.

IN ORDER TO REVERSE THIS, I HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING MY ROLE AS DESIGNER, WHICH IS TO HELP FOSTER NEW ACTS OF BOTTOM-UP PARTICIPATION IN ORDER TO PERCEIVE, CONCEIVE AND INITIATE CHANGES IN THE WAY WE LIVE IN CITIES.

THUS A QUESTION ARISES: HOW CAN WE DESIGN CONDITIONS THAT ALLOW PEOPLE TO BECOME AUTHORS OF THE URBAN METAMORPHOSIS?

THE PROJECT ATTEMPTS TO BE ONE POSSIBLE PROCESS THAT ACTIVELY ENGAGES AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY, SHIFTING THE ROLE FROM PASSIVE USERS TO PROTAGONISTS OF A CHANGE.

1+1=3 IS LOCATED IN A SMALL TOWN IN ITALY CALLED CASSINA DE’ PECCHI, ONE OVER MANY THAT ENCOMPASS MILAN’S GREEN BELT. THE ENTIRE AREA COVERS OVER 40.000HE AND IT IS THE LARGEST AGRICULTURAL PARK IN EUROPE; HOWEVER THE 61 TOWNS HAVE ESSENTIALLY LOST THEIR RURAL VOCATION. ON THE CONTRARY, THEY ARE PERIURBAN TOWNS, PLACES DEFINED FOR THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION IN PROXIMITY OF A CITY, RATHER THAN FOR THEIR IDENTITY.

IN FACT, A SENSE OF STASIS AND PARALYSIS OCCURS IN CASSINA DE’ PECCHI SINCE THE 80’S: THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT IS NOWADAYS DISREGARDED AND THE URBAN TRANSFORMATION IS A LONG WAY OFF, HENCEFORTH INHABITANTS ARE RATHER DETACHED FROM THEIR LIVING ENVIRONMENT. MOREOVER AN UNSTABLE POLITICAL SITUATION LED CASSINA TO A COMPLETE LACK OF AGENCY.

1+1=3 ATTEMPTS TO PROVOKE A CHANGE. IT SEEKS TO BE PIONEER OF A NEW PRACTICE THAT ALTER THE WAY THE ENVIRONMENT IS UNDERSTOOD AND PLANNED BY SUGGESTING BOTTOM-UP ACTS OF RE-APPROPRIATION.

A FARM-MAKING PROCESS HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO ENABLE CITIZENS TO ENGAGE WITH THE FORGOTTEN RURAL ENVIRONMENT AND SPECULATE ON ITS POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. AN ABANDONED PUBLIC FARM ACTS AS CATALYST TO ATTRACT CITIZENS AND TRIGGERNEW RURAL [R]EVOLUTIONS IN ORDER TO INCITE HOPE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE.

THE INITIAL CONCEPT WAS UTTERLY FOCUSED ON THE CHOSEN FARM, CASCINA BINDELLERA. THE PROCESS WAS MORE BASED ON THE SUBJECT RATHER THAN ON THE COMMUNITY, NEVERTHELESS 1+1=3 SOON SHIFTED ITS FOCUS FROM A MERE COLLECTION OF IDEAS TO THE CO-CREATION OF A MORE PRAGMATIC VISION FOR CASSINA, WHERE THE FARM STANDS AS THE STARTING POINT.

THE MAIN AIM WAS TO DESIGN A PROCESS SO THAT NEW COLLECTIVE CITY-NARRATIVES CAN UNFOLD, IN ORDER TO OPEN UP GLIMMERS OF GENUINE PARTICIPATION. THE IMPACT OF CITIZENS’ DIRECT PARTICIPATION HAS THE AMBITION TO GENERATE THE EQUATION 1+1=3, WHERE BOTTOM-UP PRACTICES ACT AS CRUCIAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW PROACTIVE AND COHESIVE COMMUNITY, IN ORDER TO RE-DESIGN A CITY IN WHICH EVERYONE HAS A PLACE.

Este artículo describe el proceso de investigación-acción en la didáctica de proyectos arquitectónicos, en la relación de la teoría con la práctica a partir del recorrido del no-lugar al lugar. Se introduce la teoría en el taller (curso de proyectos) a través de conceptos relevantes tales como: no-lugar, lugar, ser humano, habitar y contexto, principalmente, desde disciplinas distintas pero complementarias como son: filosofía, antropología, sociología y arquitectura, a fin de abrir una reflexión que permita profundizar en los conceptos clave para poder fundamentar con mayor solidez y vincular con sus habitantes y el contexto los proyectos arquitectónicos.

Increasingly marked by ethnic resettlement, large-scale development and the destruction of cultural places, today's world challenges the essential bond between indigenous peoples and the land. Popular ideas about the supportive role of long-term, phenomenological links to place and heritage appear to be losing their relevance. Yet, a closer look at the complexity of human connections to place reveals how painful memories and discomfort can also generate strong bonds that affirm community and cultural cohesiveness. Place-making in indigenous heritage landscapes marked by colonialism is often ambivalent, evoking Ruth Benedict's observation that the sacred ‘may be a source of peril or it may be a source of blessing’ (1934:28). Though the actual meaning of places may be fraught, a shared approach to such heritage can bind communities together, overcoming historic silences and a violent past. With specific reference to ethnographic research in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, I illustrate the contingency of indigenous processes of place-making that are based in personal belief, discomfort and colonialism as much as affirmative interaction with the physical world.

While place-based methods are increasingly being used to explore why place matters for health, how places matter for mental health and psychological wellness is less understood. Overall, approaches that consider community, environmental, and neighborhood-level factors have been taken up to a lesser extent by psychologists. Yet methods that situate human behavior within a spatial context have the potential to expand psychological and interdisciplinary inquiry aimed at improving mental and cognitive health. This article presents a brief overview of one type of mobile method, the go-along walk, that can be used with a variety of technologies and complementary methods to better understand how individuals respond to places and environmental stimuli, including place-based exposures. Implications for broadening the range of research questions and translational applications are discussed.

This ethnography investigates the collective identity of the Knoxville punk community. I argue that punk rock culture in Knoxville exists as a proactive open community, and frame the discussion with the psychoanalytical work of collective identity by Jacques Lacan, notions of discourse described by James Gee, as well as definitions of community explored by Will Straw and David Hesmondhalgh. Knoxville punk musicians promote the sense of community with music through the value of cultural knowledge, providing physical areas for social space creation, and instructing young women musicians. Each factor provides a distinct element for the proactive movement in Knoxville punk. In examining the familial nature of punk musicians in Knoxville, I illustrate how punk culture transcends previous notions of subcultural studies and promotes a collective identity through the desire for community progression. Rather than focusing on the negative aspects of a youth culture in opposition to mainstream...

Comment fabriquons-nous nos territoires ? Que ce soit les discours, les écritures médiatiques, la visualisation cartographique ou l'analyse de données, ces dispositifs de mise en visibilités contribuent à la définition et à la production de nos quartiers, de nos lieux de socialisation et de nos activités dans l'espace public. Cet ouvrage aborde des processus sociaux de territorialisation par lesquels les sociétés, les collectifs, les acteurs donnent du sens à leur espace de vie et le redéfinissent. Il montre la manière dont s'engagent et se confrontent différentes représentations, par exemple autour des jeunes et des médias d'information, de l'inclusion numérique, de la mutation d'un quartier, de la gestion de crise, de ce qui fait mémoire et patrimoine.

La critica condivisa da Paci e Sini alla concezione scientifico-matematica di spazio e tempo che sorregge la concezione tradizionale di storia e la concezione razionalistica dell’architettura si sostanzia dell’appello al mondo della vita, alla spazialità e temporalità della vita vissuta, della durata e della relazione.
Nell'indagare il rapporto tra memoria e progetto tutto ciò ha un ruolo essenziale, così come l'apertura d'orizzonte offerto dalla genealogia e dalla sua costitutiva capacità di farsi carico di
quella circolarità delle estasi temporali per cui il passato necessita del futuro per acquistare il suo senso compiuto.

This article explores communication at University of Nebraska Cornhusker football “watch parties”—public gatherings where fans watch the football team's game on television—at seven locations across the United States. This study concludes that the decoration of the watch-party site, the attire worn by fans attending the watch parties, and collective activities of relating and connecting that occur during the watch parties constitute a unique type of performance ritual. Specifically, this article analyzes how the watch-party rituals spin a web of communal connections in which fans at each site connect with one another, with fans at other sites, and with the state of Nebraska to form what is called an “intermediate place”—a place that is symbolically rooted in a specific geographic location and simultaneously manifest in other physical locations.

John Sayles is one of America’s most successful independent filmmakers, whose works include Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980), City of Hope (1991), and Lone Star (1996). This article examines Sayles’ portrait of place in Sunshine State (2002), a film set in Plantation Island, Florida, where large-scale corporate development is transforming two communities—one black, the other white—into upscale winter resorts. Sayles’ film probes the place experience of some sixteen vividly drawn characters and illuminates how the same physical place, for different individuals and groups, can evoke a broad spectrum of situations, meanings, and potential futures. One of Sayles’ conclusions is that people cannot escape the place in which they find themselves. They can, however, learn from that place and thereby decide whether and in what ways they will offer that place commitment or not.

Edited by Cara Courage, Anita McKeown Routledge, 2019 https://www.routledge.com/Creative-Placemaking-Research-Theory-and-Practice/Courage-McKeown/p/book/9780367586935 This book makes a significant contribution to the history of placemaking, presenting grassroots to top-down practices and socially engaged, situated artistic practices and artsled spatial inquiry that go beyond instrumentalising the arts for development. The book brings together a range of scholars to critique and deconstruct the notion of creative placemaking, presenting diverse case studies from researcher, practitioner, funder and policymaker perspectives from across the globe. It opens with the creators of the 2010 White Paper that named and defined creative placemaking, Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa Nicodemus, who offer a cortically reflexive narrative on the founding of the sector and its development. This book looks at vernacular creativity in place, a topic continued through the book with its focus on the practitioner and community-placed projects. It closes with a consideration of aesthetics, metrics and, from the editors, a consideration of the next ten years for the sector. If creative placemaking is to contribute to places-in-the-making and encourage citizenled agency, new conceptual frameworks and practical methodologies are required. This book joins theorists and practitioners in dialogue, advocating for transdisciplinary, resilient processes.

Settler societies tend to resort to myths in order to settle contemporary anxieties. If myths have a settling function, what happens when the seams that hold a contentious past together are unpicked? Tim Winton's In the Winter Dark (1988) demonstrates that colonial myths cannot account for a sequence of events that take place in bushland surrounding the protagonist's farm. As the characters fail to resolve this mysterious violence through narrative, the contradictions that demanded the construction of foundational myths reappear. Winton's gothic tale engages with the idea of settler colonial trauma, but the object of trauma is displaced and treated allegorically. I demonstrate how John Docker's concept of 'Epistemological Vertigo' can be used to propose a postcolonial reading of Winton's novel.

By showing how easily the most inflexible settler-farmer gives way to fear and irrational behaviour, this story reveals the fragility of the settler society. The settling myths that hold the nation together are not enough to hold back the violence associated with the colonial past which keeps coming to the surface of the present in the form or personal and collective trauma. The conclusion Winton reaches is that the settler is not settled. The bush defeats settler logic. Space defeats time too. In the Winter Dark challenges romanticised perceptions of the bush and promotes a non-anthropocentric view of space and nature. Only by moving away from traditional representations of nature can Australians re-establish a productive relationship with space.

Keywords: postcolonial studies, settler societies, bush, space, place, gothic, trauma, epistemological vertigo, Tim Winton, John Docker

This article proposes the term ‘site-situational’ art or performance as a meaningful shift beyond ‘site-specificity’ and as a way to develop forward-moving and relational understandings of place. While place falls prey to Western, modernist stereotypes of closed, territorial geographic systems, site-situational readings, radical forms of ‘recognition’ and ambulatory hermeneutics enable an understanding of place as a wandering signifier, a trickster figure, and an in-the-moment conversation between environments and living beings. Through an analysis of the 2009 Infecting the City performing arts festival in South Africa, the article links site-situational performance to situational understandings of identification in the context of migration and xenophobia. It connects the participatory creative resistance aspired to by the Situationists that transforms situations rather than just recognises them, to the potential mutuality that can be experienced when one recognises oneself in the face of a ‘foreigner’ as well as the potential culpability that accompanies pro-active recognition-on-the-run.

Pretendo compreender o lugar do lugar de fala como uma dimensão espacial constitutiva dos atuais conflitos discursivos em torno da produção e da legitimação de saberes e de a quem se atribuem  autoridade e credibilidade. Comparo as discussões em torno de outros “enunciados situados”, anteriormente conduzidas pelos estudos subalternos, pelos feminismos e pela literatura decolonial, com o debate sobre o lugar no campo da geografia. Finalizo com comentários inconclusivos e questões em aberto sobre o lugar do lugar de fala, com vista a análises futuras.

Palavras-chave: lugar de fala; enunciados situados; lugar; geografia; subalterno.

A third place is any place where people regularly meet for relaxation outside of home or work. Research on third places has been within the context of developed countries and ignores the differences that may occur in developing countries. This study looks at how Generation Y conceives of and uses third places in a developing country. It concludes that Generation Y is comfortable with multiple third places and with using virtual third places to complement or substitute for physical third places. Oldenburg’s conception of third places may therefore be less relevant to Generation Y. Recommendations for reaching this demographic are proposed.

The earlybird registration deadline - February 18th - is fast approaching. There are still some places available for this exciting new Summer School! "Cultural Mapping and Connecting with Place" 21 to 25 March 2022, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. For info and registration, visit: https://ces.uc.pt/summerwinterschools/?lang=1&id=28189

book reviews:
* Philip Graus (2017) Place and Placelessness Revisited, Urban Policy and Research, 35:3, 369-371, DOI: 10.1080/08111146.2017.1329802
* Yiwei Huang (2020) Place and placelessness revisited, Journal of Cultural Geography, 37:2, 254-255, DOI: 10.1080/08873631.2020.1761581

All across the globe, there has been increasing recognition of the transformative power of creative placemaking to revive the economic and cultural life of cities. Singapore is no exception. Since 2008, the Singapore government has been engaged in a concerted effort to placemake Singapore into a culturally-vibrant cityscape with “heart and soul”. However, despite its increasing global popularity, what constitutes creative placemaking and its processes remain vague and tenuous. Notably, scant critical attention has also been paid on how Singapore has tried to adopt this global buzzword, and its impact on the localised dynamics of urban spaces and arts practices.

Drawing on personal reflections from my pedagogical and research experiences, this article will illuminate the current challenges obstructing creative placemaking from being truly embraced and embedded within the urban life of Singapore.  Importantly, this article will highlight creative placemaking as an important turn in Singapore’s urban planning and policy, and advocate for the importance of higher education teaching as a critical means to enable this turn.

In this paper I present the prepositional system of Persian. I show that Persian prepositions can be divided into three classes (Class 1, Class 2a and Class 2b) which exhibit distinct syntactic behavior. Then I examine the question of the categorial status of Class 2 prepo-sitions and demonstrate that they are not to be regarded as nouns. Finally I present the extended PP projection of Persian spatial prepo-sitions and argue for a feature-based analysis of the properties they manifest.