Sol y Sombra

After a walk around Washington Square on a really sunny and hot day...20th june 2008...

Today I’ve been thinking of a new categorization of users in public parks:

The shaders, and the sunners.

The shaders will find a shade, cool or remotely darker space in the desert. They will almost be consider as photophobic. You don’t whether they had a sun-trauma, sensible skin, sun panic, they don’t have sunglasses or they just don’t like to frown.(I’m not obviously part of that group).

The sunners are considered the foolish irresponsible souls that expose themselves to skin cancer and other sun diseases. People never think that they might have taken a sunscreen bath or they are the missing link of a Mesozoic reptile and they need the high temperature to warm up their blood.

They normally wait for any occasion to interact with Lorenzo (Spanish name for the sun).

Who are those users?

The shaders: Elder people. Hairy-Dog owners (not the cruel ones). Big consensus reached mixed groups of shaders and sunners. Eaters (that don’t like melting ingredients). Readers (that don’t like to frown). Homeless. Working out persons.

The sunners: Young people. Elder leathery people. Laying down attitude. Time consuming (non)activity.

Those 2 groups coexist “normally” (without social problems or bloody quarrels).They are not confronted. The exemption comes if 2 different users are in a relationship. That’s when you can see couples traveling along shades divided by a perfect delineated line on the ground.

The problems appear more between the specimens of the same groups when the shaded or the sunny space is limited. This is the case of sites with extreme weather conditions (too hot, or too cold) where specimens switch and are temporary part of the-other-group. I am not considering the case for this study, it will be too variable and complex (just like humanity).

A bigger study needs to be done after just this reflection/comment. Maybe we could find out the percentage of these users in population to establish a common and equitable coefficient to calculate the shade space needed in public spaces.

"What percentage of the population is a shader? How much public shaded space is needed in this area?" would be the question, and the answer will be a number.

It will be for sure an interesting design factor, since shades moves (as the sun) along the space. "How this movement can change the ground floor?" would be the next question, and the answer will be a design.

Furia Roja

He ido a ver el partido de la Selección española contra Italia a North Beach.
Para estudiar la vitalidad...
Pues bien, HEMOS GANADO! Todo el barrio se ha quedado apagado, pero hoy no importa.

¡¡Força Azzurri!!

PD: que conste que el fútbol me da igual.

First Step: Explaining the past

I came back from Spain last Thursday. Back to my Berkeley bubble, to my Berkeley mind, my thesis mind.
I've been constantly thinking what should this blog has to say. I just realized this morning that this blog it's just like me when I arrived to this side of the ocean. It appears in a scene that doesn't know, and have to explain where does it come from, what are the things that happened to it before to be whatever it is.
That is exactly what my life has been the last year and that is what this blog will have to be. It will have to explain Why this thesis statement, why this topic, why this place, why it's me to do it. Sometimes I will have to assume that you know what I'm talking about and others I will actually go back and write the story from the beginning.
Today, I'm talking about 3 things:
1. The pedestrian environment
2. Columbus Avenue Introduction
3. Central Subway Opinion/ Commitment
-will post them along the day-

Doble trabajo, pero intentar'e traducirlo todo, sin enies y sin tildes though...
Volv'i de Espania el jueves. De vuelta a mi burbuja en Berkeley. De vuelta a mi mente de Berkeley, a mi mente de tesis. Cuando no tienes una realidad familiar y social cerca, tus inquietudes personales (que con suerte son las mismas que las profesionales) se vuelven los grandes fantasmas de tu vida, lo ocupan todo. Ahora estoy constantemente pensando en lo que este blog tiene que decir.
S'olo ha sido esta maniana cuando me he dado cuenta que este blog es como yo cuando llegue a este lado del oc'eano. Ha aparecido en una escena desconocida, y tiene que explicar de donde viene, y qu'e cosas le han ocurrido antes de estar donde est'a. Esto es lo que ha sido mi vida este 'ultimo anio y lo que mi blog tendr'a que ser. Va a tener que explicar el porqu'e este enunciado de tesis, porqu'e este tema, porqu'e este lugar, y porqu'e soy yo la que la escribe. Alguna vez tendr'e que asumir que sae'is de que hablo y otras volver'a a los or'igenes y escribir'e la historia desde el principio.
Hoy, voy a hablar de 3 pensamientos:
1. El entorno peatonal.
2. Introducci'on a Columbus AVenue
3. Mi opini'on "comprometida" acerca del Central Subway Line
---a lo largo del dia----

Start from the Beginning

I just have to start....

"start always from the beginning" my father said.

So, I start a new format, a new phase.

This new space has the good things of the unknow, of the no-directed, of what gets shaped along the process.

This new space is an attempt to share my thesis, to share the doubts, references and discoveries in the way of research.

Is an attempt to open a public debate in a specific actual topic.

Is an attempt to try new participatory methods in urban processes.

Is an attempt to get all the persons related to the topic involved: citizens, professionals, institutions, specialists and thinkers...

Let's get started

.............................

Sólo tengo que empezar.

“Empieza siempre por el principio” mi padre dixit.

De esta manera, empiezo un nuevo formato, una nueva etapa.

Este nuevo espacio tiene lo bueno de lo desconocido, de lo "sin rumbo", de lo que toma forma a lo largo del proceso.

Es un intento de compartir mi tesis, de compartir la colección de dudas, referencias y descubrimientos en el camino de una investigación.

Es un intento de abrir un debate público sobre un tema concreto, de actualidad.

Es un intento de nuevos métodos de participación en los procesos urbanos.

Es un intento de involucrar a todas las personas relacionadas con el tema tratado:

ciudadanos, profesionales, instituciones, especialistas y pensadores.

Empezamos.