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A Sequence of Assignments from Envd 394A: Writing for Environmental Design

Annaliese Bischoff, Spring 2007

Assignment # 1: Environmental Autobiography

A. Introduction

In the design fields, there are many occasions where creative writing is appropriate in design presentation. Those with this expertise can use it to broaden the types of clients and projects they attract.

The first type of writing you are asked to complete centers on personal expression. Each of us has a unique history of spaces where we have spent time. This history not only offers a potential source of special meaning to us, but helps shape our particular attitudes and values toward the environment As designers, it is very important to understand our particular attitudes and values because we often draw upon our personal experience in design. In this exercise you are asked to bring your history of environmental spaces into consciousness for review and analysis. Through this process, you should be able to tap into a valuable source of reference (your own experiences) with a new awareness. Further, in this creative writing exercise, the development of your “voice” will foster and enhance personal expression.

B. Sample Writing Styles

Before beginning your environmental autobiography, find a descriptive passage of writing which vividly portrays a landscape in which the author (or character) lives or has lived. You are free to choose from any author whose writing style appeals to you. Authors whose work you may want to consider include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Henry David Thorough, Willa Cather, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Joseph Conrad. Turn in the passage with your assignment. A citation must be provided (author, title, etc).

C. Suggestions for How to Start Your Own Autobiography

Isolate yourself with a media which is comfortable to you (computer, paper, pen, pencil) as you recall your first memorable place. Visualize the qualities of this space which stand out and seem important. Record the ideas which come to you in a writing style which is comfortable to you. Continue this process for all of the places which you consider to be significant in your life (for example, important residences in which you lived or visited). Obviously, time will be a limiting factor with this assignment. Therefore you may want to select 3-5 places.

This process of recall and analysis will help you to determine what to include in your autobiography. What you choose to communicate should be comprehensible to others. You may want to include the following kinds of information:

• Descriptive

• Type of place, location, size, age, length of stay;

• Memorable physical qualities: light, dark, cold, damp, hot, etc.

• Associative (i.e., did you feel fear, joy, security, loneliness, etc. in this place?)

• Functional/Uses (i.e., socializing, personalizing, privatizing)

Finally, what insights can you draw from this? (For example: are there special memories you associate with similar places because of your earlier experiences?)

D. Requirements

A thoughtful written presentation of your environmental history and your analysis of it is required. The format for presentation, although up to you, should be appropriate for review by your classmates. While organizing your thoughts and ideas, an outline will help you determine the structure of your essay. Many writers find that an introduction is written best after everything else has been written. A simplistic, yet often effective, guide to structure is:

• tell us what you are going to tell us;

• tell us; and then

• tell us what you told us.

Ask yourself whether your essay has unity, coherence and emphasis.

The first draft of your essay (and your chosen descriptive passage, as described above) is due in 1 week. The essay should be two pages (typed and double-spaced). Your peers, teaching assistant and instructor will participate in reviewing your work.

E. Objectives

• To increase your awareness of the qualities of environments which have been significant to you and which may provide insights toward your career preference.

• To give you experience and encouragement in the development of a personal style of expression.

• To give you feedback on what aspects of your writing communicate effectively and how you might try to improve your writing effectiveness.

Assignment # 2: Cover Letter and Resume

First determine and find a real purpose for writing a cover letter to accompany your resume. Is it for employment or advanced study? Find the name of a specific person to whom you will address your letter. Find the correct address. Select a purpose that is real; it is helpful to have a context that you can relate to at this point in your career. Make sure that this purpose is feasible. You want to make sure you select something real and something you expect to do within one year’s time. If you are focusing on future study, consider writing to the program director. You may want to use this type of letter not only to introduce yourself, but also to consider related employment. For example, if you are writing to a graduate director of a master's program, you might also be applying for a research or teaching assistantship in your area of interest. If your purpose is for employment, make sure you have a realistic view of the position. Seek out employment opportunities such as internships that interest you. Search the internet and bulletin boards in Hills for specific opportunities that motivate you. Develop your resume to accompany this cover letter.

A good cover letter adds value to your resume. Five potential ways your letter can accomplish this are summarized below:

1. Highlight specific items of particular importance to your prospective employer.
2. Reframe items so that they will connect to the prospective employer’s interests.
3. Elaborate further upon material which is relevant to the specific situation of key interest to you.
4. Motivation: clearly explain why you want the particular job.
5. Address any credibility gaps. If you have any gaps this is a perfect place to address them.

Bring a rough, but typed, complete draft of the assignment to your discussion section next week.

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What is a resume?

A resume is a self-promotional document that presents you in the best possible light, for the purpose of getting invited to a job interview. It's not an official personnel document. It's not a job application. It's not an obituary. And it's not a confessional.

Top Ten Technical Resume Writing Tips

• List your technical knowledge first, in an organized way. Your technical strengths must stand out clearly at the beginning of your resume. Ultimately, your resume is going to be read by a thoughtful human being, but before it gets to that point it often has to be categorized by an administrative clerk, and make its way past various sorts of key word searches. Therefore, you should list as many directly relevant buzz words as you can which reflect your knowledge and experience. List all operating systems and UNIX flavors you know. List all programming languages and platforms with which you're experienced. List all software you are skilled with. Make it obvious at a glance where your strengths lie - whether the glance is from a hiring manager, a clerk, or a machine.

• List your qualifications in order of relevance, from most to least. Only list your degree and educational qualifications first if they are truly relevant to the job for which you are applying. If you've already done what you want to do in a new job, by all means, list it first, even if it wasn't your most recent job. Abandon any strict adherence to a chronological ordering of your experience.

• Quantify your experience wherever possible. Cite numerical figures, such as monetary budgets/funds saved, time periods/efficiency improved, lines of code written/debugged, numbers of machines administered/fixed, etc. which demonstrate progress or accomplishments due directly to your work.

• Begin sentences or clauses with action verbs. Portray yourself as someone who is active, uses their brain, and gets things done. Stick with the past tense, even for descriptions of currently held positions, to avoid confusion.

• Don't sell yourself short. This is by far the biggest mistake of all resumes, technical and otherwise. Your experiences are worthy for review by hiring managers. Treat your resume as an advertisement for you. Be sure to thoroughly "sell" yourself by highlighting all of your strengths. If you've got a valuable asset which doesn't seem to fit into any existing components of your resume, list it anyway as its own resume segment.

• Be concise. As a rule of thumb, resumes reflecting five years or less experience should fit on one page. More extensive experience can justify usage of a second page. Consider three pages (about 15 years or more experience) an absolute limit. Avoid lengthy descriptions of whole projects of which you were only a part. Consolidate action verbs where one task or responsibility encompasses other tasks and duties. Minimize usage of articles (the, an, a) and never use "I" or other pronouns to identify yourself.

• Omit needless items. Leave all these things off your resume: social security number, marital status, health, citizenship, age, irrelevant awards, irrelevant associations and memberships, irrelevant publications, irrelevant recreational activities, a second mailing address ("permanent address" is confusing and never used), references, reference of references ("available upon request"), travel history, previous pay rates, previous supervisor names, and components of your name which you really never use (i.e. middle names).

• Have a trusted friend review your resume. Be sure to pick someone who is attentive to details, can effectively critique your writing, and will give an honest and objective opinion. Seriously consider their advice. Get a third and fourth opinion.

• Proofread, proofread, proofread. Be sure to catch all spelling errors, grammatical weaknesses, unusual punctuation, and inconsistent capitalizations. Proofread it numerous times over at least two days to allow a fresh eye to catch any hidden mistakes.

• Laser print it on plain, white paper, if you are not going to consider specialty papers. Handwriting, typing, dot matrix printing, and even ink jet printing look pretty cheesy. Stick with laser prints. Don't waste your money on special bond paper, matching envelopes, or any color deviances away from plain white if your resume will be photocopied, faxed, and scanned numerous times…..defeating any special paper efforts, assuming your original resume doesn't first end up in the circular file

from: http://www.taos.com/resumetips.html

Assignment #3: Environmental Biography

Introduction.  In this next assignment you are asked to develop a documented essay.  You will develop, sketch, and suggest environmental biographical influences upon an American literary figure whose life has been informed, inspired, or shaped by the New England landscape.  Suggested figures include William Cullen Byrant, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Nathaniel Hawthorn, Herman Melville, Adrienne Rich, or Edith Wharton.  If you have other people you would prefer to research, please discuss your ideas first with the instructor.  It is very important that you have some degree of interest and curiosity in learning more about the individual's life and work.

For the first part of this assignment select one figure mentioned.  On February 27th the Tuesday discussion group will meet at the library during class time from 1:00 until 3:30 in the Calipari Room.  Both Thursday discussion sections will meet in the library on March 1st during the 1:00 to 2:15 class time with extended and optional work time until 3:15. This will be the only meeting of the week.  At the library you will have help finding an adequate, but not overwhelming amount of material on the life and works of this person. 

Objectives:  1) To give you experience in researching and documenting a particular subject.  2) To expose you to the many resources in the UMass library for this and for future work.  3) To give you feedback on the efficacy of your writing style and how to improve it.

Requirements.  For First Review: Develop a research journal of all your research efforts. In this cite at least three quotes from the author to illustrate your ideas.  Note at least two secondary sources in citations as well.  Bring your journal (in the form of rough notes) of your preliminary investigation to the next discussion section class..  Keep careful track of all your references for citation.  First reviews are due during your discussion section on either March 6th or March 8th.

For Final Draft: An essay 2-3 pages in length (typed and double-spaced) with a list of references (your documented sources) at the end. Your final drafts are due during your discussion section on either March 13th or 15th.

Suggestions for the Research Journal/First Review and Final Draft.  Reflect upon the information you have gathered.  Write a rough not only historical, but also interpretive account of this person's life.  Consider the following: Who was/is this person?  What were/are the major personality traits?  What did/does this person enjoy, loathe, dream, and accomplish?  What influences have New England landscapes had upon this person and his/her work?  At different developmental stages what different influences and interests can be documented?  What are the most important environmental memories of this figure?  Do these relate to specific literary works, and if so, in what ways?  Can you discuss specific examples? 

Be sure to develop two elements together in your sketch:  First, include a description of the person, the work, and the landscapes of note; second, develop a review using some degree of conclusion, assessment, critique or conjecture about any important connections.  Reflect upon your own environmental autobiography as a possible model for your inquiry.  If you have any time for a brief field trip, consider visiting any actual landscapes which these figures found important.  You may want to read a selected piece of writing before a site visit.  Your essay may be shaped and structured by these two types of experiences. Don’t neglect the development of your title.

Assignment # 4: Proposal Writing

The ability to write a successful proposal is one writing skill that will distinguish you from your competition in the job market. The ability to write effective grants for either yourself or for a firm is a skill which can open doors of your choice. Take this assignment very seriously. Find an idea that you really would like to develop, if only you had some funding. Select an idea that you can not only concretely envision, but also something that you are qualified to undertake right now. Do some research on your own for the background of this project. Investigate the kinds of funding sources that are available to you. Develop your idea more fully. Sketch out as much detail as possible that would constitute a full proposal. Then write a draft of a proposal summary. This is the document that is required and due for this assignment. One of the most crucial parts of any proposal development is the summary. It is here that you summarize your entire proposal "in a nutshell." The summary is also known as an abstract. In this assignment you will learn what the proposal summary is, how to write one, and how important it is. 

• What is it?  A paragraph (or a series of short paragraphs) that presents a clear concise summary of your entire proposal. It should stand alone as a brief description of your proposed program.

• What does it look like?  It is relatively short; about a page or two in length. What should you put in it?  Each paragraph should parallel the sections of your proposal narrative (i.e., a paragraph for introduction, problem statement, objectives, methodology, evaluation, and anticipated outcomes) 

• In the case of a project proposal submitted to a foundation, also include the total cost of the project, the length of time it will take, and the amount requested.

• Where does it go?  It is inserted at the beginning of your proposal, but you don't write it until your proposal is complete. It's the last thing you write. 

• Is it important?  It is VERY important. Oftentimes, the summary is read and determines whether the proposal is considered further.

The Summary is a one or two page description of your entire proposal. Although placed at the beginning, write it after completing your proposal. Its importance cannot be overestimated, because grant reviewers will sometimes make their first cut for prospective awards after reading just the summary alone! So, in the grant, learn to summarize completely and succinctly! 

Proposal Outline.

The following is a sample outline for a project proposal. Note that all questions for a section may not apply to your proposal, but can be used as a general guide.

• Introduction and Problem Statement (1 or 2 paragraphs)

• Motivation Sentence

• Summarize the problem (1 or 2 sentences)

• Summarize the solution (1 or 2 sentences)

• Describe why you are the best person to undertake this proposal

• Motivation, Need, and Justification (1 to 3 paragraphs)

• What is the history of the problem?

• Why is this problem interesting?

• When and why does the problem occur?

• Is the problem already solved? What is done now?

• Are there any similar systems or solutions to the one you propose? If so, reference and very briefly explain them.

• Are there are possible improvements to current solutions?

• What makes your project unique?

• Project Objectives (1 paragraph)

• What in general will this project achieve?

• Project Deliverables

• Deliverables (3-5 paragraphs)

• What will the project produce? (program, report, exhibit, design implementation,etc.)

• Methods: Describe the features of each of the project's products and the methods or approach you will take.

• Evaluation: How will you measure/evaluate the effectiveness of your work?

• Outcomes: Emphasize what your project contributes or achieves!

• Timeline (1 paragraph - point-form is suitable)

• Provide an estimated timeline of project deliverables and important dates.

• Conclusion (1 paragraph)

• Summarize the project including the problem, motivation, and proposed solution, and re-state important planned contributions.

Money for Arts-A Guide for UMass Students: Transforming your ideas into fundable proposals: http://www.umass.edu/fac/artscouncil/grants/money/index.html

General Proposal Writing Websites:
http://members.dca.net/areid/proposal.htm
http://www.cpcwnc.org/Toolbox/writinggrants.html
http://www.fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html
http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~rlawrenc/teaching/writingProposal.html

Assignment # 5: Abstract Writing

Writing an abstract is another type of writing environmental designers and landscape architects find useful. Whether the abstract is for a conference proposal or a paper to be published, knowing how to write an effective abstract can be valuable. For this assignment, follow the guidelines for the Undergraduate Research Conference, the Massachusetts Statewide 12 th Annual Conference on Research, Scholarly, Creative and Public Service Activities. Any project of depth, including independent studies, internship experiences, or the outcomes of a studio, could be suitable for presentation. For more background, information, and application, visit the website at: http://www.comcol.umass.edu/conference

You are encouraged to submit your abstract (250 words) for presentation at this conference to be held at the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston on April 27, 2006. Note that deadline for submitting abstracts is March 2, 2006. We are fitting this assignment in our course spring schedule so that you could meet this deadline easily. Please do consult and use the online website and handout for more specifics.

With this assignment your style should be objective and professional. The appropriate voice to use is 3 rd person singular, rather than 1 st person singular . The abstract is due in this class on February 23rd with a revision due March 2nd. If you do submit your abstract to the conference and it is accepted, this success will add impressively to your resume.

Assignment # 6: The Journeybook

In this next assignment you will document your experiences over spring break and interpret these in the form of a visual book. The shape of the visual book will depend upon your interpretation of your experiences. You can creatively think of a form that you feel appropriately conveys the essence of your experience over this time frame. Whether you spend time working, resting, recreating or traveling, you can imagine turning your experience into a shared visual and verbal package. A visual book can take any form that recreates a sense of your serial or sequential experiences. Just as a traditional book has pages to turn, the components of a visual book can operate metaphorically just as the pages do. A visual book may have drawers that open instead of paper pages that turn. A visual book may take the form of a traditional book where images and words combine to convey information. Use your imagination in thinking about your experience before deciding what form seems most appropriate to you. Examples in lecture will illustrate several ideas.

Over the course of our break document your experiences over a minimum of five days. This part of the exercise is like a conventional journal. Then translate the experiences into a form of a visual book. Share a draft of this in class the week after spring break. During that week the class will move to a new assignment on proposal writing. The following week all final projects are due. You will present your concept briefly.

The objectives of this exercise are to stimulate creative thinking, to explore inter-connective relationships between verbal and visual material, and to foster the development of creative presentation styles. The project will be graded on the basis of creative concepts, logical organization, and presentation crafting.

Assignment # 7: Writing a Press Release

A press release is a statement about events or ideas of interest that the writer wants to broadcast to a large group of readers via local or national mass media. News releases may be produced by non-profit groups to announce fund-raising events, for example, or they may be produced by individuals or departments within an organization.

Editors of newspapers and journals use new releases as they decide what stories or events they will report. So do television and radio directors. Editors receive competition for time and space, so they are apt to print better written submittals. These are less work on their part.

Include your name, address, phone, fax, and email on your press release. Also be sure to include the name and phone number of any person to be contacted in case of questions about the content.

A news release may:

• Announce changes

• Announce opportunities

• Announce new developments

• Explain the other side of negative events

• Inform the general public

Two Examples of Press Releases

NOFA: FOR PRESS RELEASE

On February 3 rd at the 2001 Annual Meeting for the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) held at the Quabbin Regional High School, Patty Gambarini and Annaliese Bischoff, from the Department of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, organized a session “Web Sites: How Farmers are Using Them” and “Getting Started with Your Own Site.” Presenters included Bill Coli, who spoke about his experiences developing a web site for the Blue Heron Farm in Charlemont (www.blueheronfarm.com), and Annaliese Bischoff who relayed the story of the Tregellys Fiber Farm in Hawley (www.tregellysfiber.com.). Denise LeDuc from Uplinc, a professional computer solutions business, discussed the process of designing a web site. She also talked about marketing her own blackberry products on her own bed and breakfast business web site. Interested farmers had the opportunity to sign up for web site planning and design assistance later this spring with “Savuka,” an afterschool program with the 21 st Century Community Learning Center at the Amherst Regional Middle School, under the direction of Nancy Abdalla with teacher Paul Plummer. The session at NOFA was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, supporting a research assistantship for Patty Gambarini, a second year graduate student in Landscape Architecture. Any farmer interested in learning more about the opportunities with this grant for assistance with web site planning can call Annaliese Bischoff at 413-545-6623.

BHMA: FOR PRESS RELEASE

“Music is in the air above, so joy cannot be far.” So sang Greg Williams, Academic Dean of the Berkshire Hills Music Academy (BHMA) in the rafters of the old barn on a tour of the South Hadley former Skinner Estate, which will open this fall as a residential school for young adults with Williams Syndrome. Helping with the master planning of the 40 acre grounds is a second year graduate studio from the Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Department at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst under the direction of Associate Professor Annaliese Bischoff. Dave Collette, Director of Operations for BHMA, led the tour for the studio class along with Sharon Libera, Ph.D., member of the BHMA Board of Directors and parent of a Williams Syndrome son. According to Dr. James E. Hoffman at the University of Delaware, “Williams syndrome is a rare, genetically-based disorder resulting in mental retardation and an unusual pattern of strengths and weaknesses.” People with Williams Syndrome have spatial deficits and motor skill impairments, but are highly social, amiable, and outgoing, usually with a great love of music. Some have an unusual gift and talent with music. The challenge for the landscape architecture graduate students is to understand the needs of this special population and to recommend design ideas for the development of social and recreational outdoor spaces at the academy. This will be the first program of its kind in the world, as a nine month two year residential program, centered on a music curriculum. Up to now there have been music camps, such as in France and the Berkshires, typically one week long for this population.

Helping with this project as a guest critic and lecturer is noted designer Julie Moir Messervy, featured with Yo-Yo Ma in the PBS series “Inspired by Bach” while designing the Music Garden, constructed in Toronto. Richard Van Emmerik, from the Exercise Science Department at the University of Massachusetts, will advise the graduate students on aspects of Williams Syndrome relating to motor skills and spatial perception. The eight graduate students will complete a site analysis of the Skinner property, develop concepts for a master plan and build models illustrating selected details of their individual designs. “It is a very inspiring project to design a special place for people with William Syndrome; there is something about working with this population which is contagiously joyful, “ remarks Annaliese Bischoff. Paul Bengston, Jennifer Claster, Patricia Gambarini, Sara Hage, Nancy Howard, Mark Lerch, Michael Schreiber, and Mary Scipioni will present their final projects in Hills 105 at the University of Massachusetts in mid March.

Assignment # 8: Art of the Word

In this assignment you are asked to explore the interface between the visual language and verbal language. Reflect upon how the arrangement of letters on a page can add another layer of communication to the understanding of the meaning of the words themselves. You must determine the message and content for yourself. Give yourself a prompt to get started: Start with something important for you to communicate. Research examples if you have trouble jumping in with an exploratory spirit of play and adventure.

In lecture several examples from a range of advertising to creative writing will be presented. Look at the connections between the look of words and their meaning. You may want to write a poem that has a special use of the physical relationship to how it appears on the page. Or you could work with a series of words you translate into visual images. Explore the interconnections between the meaning of words and the physical space they occupy on a page.

Color, texture, and mixed media are all permitted. Consider keeping the size standard at 8.5 by 11 inches suitable for including in the portfolio. However, if your idea would be better executed at a different scale, you can consider including a photocopy or a photo image of the assignment in your portfolio at the end of the semester.

Assignment # 9: Writing an Effective Critique

For this assignment you are asked to write a critique on a subject related to your field of study. This critique could focus on a project in the built environment, a book in the field, a relevant lecture, or a proposed plan. Whatever the content of your subject is, the common purpose among all critiques is the development of critical analysis, a thoughtful assessment of two or more issues. Typically a critique includes two types of writing, description and evaluation. The descriptive purpose must help the reader envision the subject. Beyond the mission of descriptive writing a critique must also include some appropriate type of evaluation. You may be developing and sharing your opinion on a topic. Part of your critique would then need to include support for your logic and reasoning. Critiques represent an important type of writing because they reveal your ability to think critically, an invaluable job skill.

The following is intended to stimulate thought/discussion about how to write a critique and is not meant as “the final word” on critique writing. These points should be considered, where appropriate and supplemented with your own thoughts and ideas. Good luck!

Tips on How to Write a Critique

Getting Ready to Write a Critique

• Read the book thoroughly/visit the landscape/examine the plan. Think critically (not necessarily negatively) about the material and ask yourselves these (and other) key questions: How? Why? How well?

• Points of view: How do the ideas/design presented compare to others with which you are familiar or that you have studied (and with your own ideas)? Does the design work? (Do you agree or disagree with the arguments being put forward in the book?) Why/why not?

Consider opposing points of view—this will help to clarify your arguments.

Writing a Critique

• Analyze a design:  Why was this design built? What is the designer’s concept? Who is the intended audience? What are the elements of the design and how well do they work together? Does the overall design work? why or why not? Does the design have the intended effect? why or why not?

    or

• Evaluate a book:  Why was this book written? What is the main idea/point? Is the argument logical and the facts accurate? Do the arguments support the main point? Is the text appropriate for the intended audience? Does the text present and refute opposing points of view? Does the text help you understand the subject? Do any of the words or sentences evoke a strong response from you? What people, articles, or discussions have influenced your views? How might these be compared/contrasted with this text? What questions/observations does this article suggest? Does this text inspire thought/discussion, etc. and, if yes, to what end? Does this text accomplish its objective?

Write in standard essay form:  Prepare an outline—state your main points and how you will back up your arguments. Begin with an introduction: define the subject, your approach and conclude with your point of view. Defend your point of view by raising specific issues/criticisms.

An Example of a Critique

by Ethan Carr, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The spectacle of the Gates in Central Park has triumphed as one of the great public art projects of our times. The Gates captured New York’s—and the world’s—attention and imagination. They did so in no small measure by riding piggy-back on another, greater public art project, Central Park itself.

Of course it is unfair to compare two works of “public art” when the meaning of the term has shifted. When Frederick Law Olmsted described Central Park as public art in the 1850s, he meant that he and Calvert Vaux were creating a unified landscape composition in which all parts were “confluent and helpful” and contributed to a planned sequence of emotional “effects.” The sense of “enlarged freedom” in open, pastoral meadows, for example, balanced a more personal response to nature in the picturesque Ramble. The structured spaces of the Mall and Terrace induced a more staid sense of awe, and allowed for large public gatherings in which, at least for a while, New Yorkers could come together in a common appreciation of outdoor beauty and activities.

This kind of landscape design was a compositional art that emphasized emotional effects and spatial sequences over specific details. Most of the details, after all—trees, shrubs, rock outcrops, water—possessed their own perfection. Park design was also public art, because the entire project served a functional program that included open spaces for play, lakes for ice skating, paths and drives for people and carriages, and scenery for physical and mental health. But Vaux and Olmsted sublimated this social functionality into their artistic composition of trees, grass, water, and sky. This would be no arbitrary collection of ballfields, ice rinks, and museums set down on a site. The landscape itself, or more correctly the sequence of emotional experiences the landscape offered, would become the most prized “function” of all.

The Gates were a different kind of public art: an ephemeral counterpoint superimposed over the larger, more permanent artwork around them. They succeeded mainly by highlighting (like “immense Magic Marker lines” according to one critic) the many miles of pedestrian paths that wind through every corner of the park. Here Christo and Jeanne-Claude found a rich vein to mine. No other aspect of the park’s construction received more attention or money. Each type of traffic in the park—pedestrian, horseback, carriage, and crosstown commercial—received its own system of paths, bridle paths, drives, or sunken transverses. The overlaid systems were separated by dozens of ornamental underpasses and overpasses in an elaborate choreography that allowed all of the potentially conflicting traffic of the park to proceed unimpeded by intersections. Diversity was accommodated; conflicts were resolved. When Vaux described the park as “the big art work of the Republic,” he was referring to it as an optimistic and ideological vision of social cohesion and unity at a time of massive immigration, urbanization, and the threat of regional secession.

The Gates obviously inspired reflection on the park’s path system, but the project failed to elicit much more thought about the complex landscape it adorned. The obsessive tracing of the pedestrian paths alone produced a one-dimensional commentary on the spatial complexities and symbolic meanings of movement through the park. Did Christo and Jeanne-Claude really think about the larger meanings of the circulation system they highlighted, or were they simply fascinated by an abstract curvilinear pattern, available to be used as the massive template for their own, admittedly epic, drawing?

A lack of conceptual depth plagued the entire work. Did Christo and Jeanne-Claude really consider the significance of the concept of “gates” for Central Park? Nothing in their elaborate production suggested they did. The artists made brief reference to the park’s entrances, which were named in 1862. Boys and Girls, Artisans and Mechanics, and Merchants and Mariners all were among the dedicatees of the park’s eighteen “named gates,” which cataloged the range of groups and individuals who were to be welcome in the new park. These named gates, however, were never really gates: they were merely gaps in the low perimeter wall that defined the park’s boundary. Appropriate designs for the park’s perimeter walls and entrances were carefully considered, and then fiercely debated. Olmsted, in particular, objected to iron fences, suggestive of European parks opened to the public only at the pleasure of aristocrats. Vaux and Olmsted both rejected an 1864 proposal for more monumental, architectural entrances to the park, even though they were designed by the brilliant Richard Morris Hunt. Central Park was to be a “people’s park,” in rhetoric if not entirely in reality, and fences and gates were considered inappropriate both iconographically and functionally.

Central Park, perhaps more emphatically and significantly than any park in the world, has never had gates. The Gates, again, at least inspire some reflection on a potentially rich theme. But even after twenty-six years to think about it, today’s artists were stunningly unaware of the irony (or potential meanings) of erecting 7,500 Gates in a park characterized by the absence of such restrictions. The Gates did not exploit the subject or meaning of gates in the park anymore than they revealed new meaning or insight about interlaced movement through the landscape. They were simply the formal means to “wrap” an abstract pattern of winding asphalt paths.

Perhaps the strongest aspect of the Gates was the degree to which they resulted in a sense of physical, visual, and emotional restriction, in a landscape that was carefully conceived (and more recently restored) to create the opposite experience in every sense. The Gates corralled visitors onto paths, often eliminating even visual contact to any reference points or surroundings. Walking through the park, the sequence of complementing and diverse landscape “effects” was reduced to a singular, claustrophobic experience of one overpowering color, and one constricted, extruded space with an oppressively low ceiling replacing the open sky. Was this contrast between the experience of the Gates and the experience of the park landscape what Christo and Jeanne-Claude intended? Not if they were to be taken at their word, since they repeatedly insisted that the Gates were never intended to have any meaning, but simply to be there, and to be art.

But it is also true that as an event—what we used to call a “happening” in Central Park—the Gates have also simply been great fun for hundreds of thousands of visitors. Novelty, celebrity, and the sheer weirdness of seeing the park so completely bedecked in bright orange all had their own appeal. Now that they are coming down, we can also say that the project has been a success, in the sense that it was installed and removed without damaging the park. Central Park should not be subject to this kind of imposition often, but the exorbitant cost of the Gates (whatever it actually was) makes that unlikely. Nevertheless the Gates, as a work of art, occupied a privileged position, perched high on the back of the nation’s single greatest public art project. From that vantage point, we might have hoped to see farther.

Assignment # 10: A Digital Writing Portfolio

In this assignment you are asked to develop a digital writing portfolio that will include all the of previous assignments.. For this purpose you will plan and design a web site. For your web site you are asked to have a “home page,” as well as other web pages that are linked to this page. Include at least two links from your home page to other pages you intend to design on your site; these are known as internal links. Include at least one link to another web site; this is known as an external link. It might be to the LARP Home Page.

First, spend some time designing the structure of your web site. Consider the purpose of your site, what content it must have, and how you want to structure the site. Take time to plan the design so that your web site will have a unified appearance and clear organization. Create a storyboard on paper to conceptualize what you want your site to contain. Then move on to choose a consistent design across the pages on your Web site. Background, colors, fonts, layout should be consistent. Make sure you create links back to your home page from all the other pages in your site. Consider the use of what will be fast loading images for your site. Images can act as buttons or links to other Web pages. Read and follow the steps outlined in Fred Zinn’s article “Planning Web Sites.” Information on the organization of the structure, the navigation systems, and visual style are particularly important factors to consider. There are also important sites recommended to help in designing and creating Web sites. Remember that users can view Web pages on several different kinds of monitors with different browsers and with different speed modems. Take these factors into consideration when you design your Web pages; it becomes important to test your pages on different platforms and in different browsers. For this assignment you are required to upload design your web site online. The time on planning and designing a solid web site is important for our focus. Technical support to translate your web site into the digital version will be provided in class.

Updated September 3, 2008

 

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