Assignment # 3: Space is the Place
In our daily lives we travel through and spend time in a variety of spaces. Each of these spaces, especially in an institutional setting such as a university, have been designed and constructed with the intent of influencing and ordering our experience when we are in the space. For instance, a dorm room and the main floor of the library were both designed with specific purposes in mind and were constructed to provide and facilitate certain experiences and activities.
For this assignment you will engage in an investigation and analysis of a space somewhere on campus. You should select a space in which you can spend a decent amount of time observing and documenting (I do ask, however, that you choose a location other than your dorm room). Your object will be to compose a three to four page double spaced composition in which you make an argument about the space you have investigated. In this composition, you will attempt to unpack the ways in which the space structures experience and affects those who use the space. Some research will be necessary to determine when the space was constructed, who constructed it, and why.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What does the space look like? How is it designed?
- What is the purpose of the space? How does its design attempt to fulfill this
purpose? (For example, is it built for comfort or for utility? If comfort, is it
actually a comforting/comfortable space? If utility, is it actually useful for its
intended purpose?)
- Who is the intended “audience” or users of the space? Are these the people who
actually use the space? How are the people who use the space using it? Does this
fit with what you can determine to be the purpose of the space?
- Why was the space constructed (or why might it have been constructed?) How
does it interact with and complement the spaces it is connected with or in
proximity to? Why might the designer have made the design choices they made?
- How do all of the elements of the space (tangible and intangible) work together to
create experience and facilitate activity?
Your composition should seek to arrive at some new understanding or observation of your chosen space. This understanding or observation will provide you with a thesis statement that can then be supported with evidence from your observations and research.
The composition will be three to four double spaced pages, Times New Roman font, size twelve, 1 inch margins, the usual.
Due dates:
Monday, 10/17: A#3 draft due in my e-mail by 12:30 pm
Monday, 10/24: A#3 final due in hard copy in class by 12:30 pm
