Digital Built Environment Description: Digital Record 1

This is the logo for the website www.artsatl.com. It easily represents the site because it includes the name of the website, and it is creative rather than being a boring logo like other sites have.Having the pink in the logo also makes it more noticeable by giving it a pop of color.

Annotation #10.

CDC.gov

National Center for Environmental Health, CDC. “Impact of the Built Environment on Health.” June 2011. PDF file.

The article begins by identifying the health issue that can be caused by the built environment. The built environment effects one’s physical health as far as something like having sidewalks or lack there of. The CDC has done research on the health impact, and on how much people would take advantage of sidewalks and bike lanes.

The CDC has found that having safe sidewalks and bike lanes greatly increase the number of people who take advantage of them which improves their health at the same time. Not only has the CDC done research on this topic, but it has also funded many workshops, events, and organizations to improve the built environment for the sake of peoples’ health.

I chose this article because it shows more about the effect of simple things in the built environment such as bike lanes and sidewalks that will improve peoples’ health. It is related to several of my other sources because it is on the topic of the effects of the built environment on health. The only weakness in this article was it was too much about what the CDC has done working to improve health rather than the built environment and health.

Annotation #9.

tb0396c.jpg

Rick Fedrizzi. “The greening of Pittsburgh: Next up, schools.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing  Co., Inc., 24 March 2016. Web. 25 March 2016.

Pittsburgh is known for its Leadership in Energy an Environmental Design certifications. The majority of the buildings in Pittsburgh have been designed to be ecologically efficient, making the natural environment healthier for its people. The next goal is to make schools go green too so the kids in Pittsburgh will have a more healthy environment to learn in.

The article goes on to point out that there are many schools throughout the United States that are not built to be healthy for the kids and people who work there. It states in the article that it has been proven by research that bad quality construction of schools can lead to students having bad eyesight, concentration, and unhealthy breathing. Their goal is to create and update schools that will provide a healthy and safe built environment that the kids of Pittsburgh can successfully learn in.

I chose this article because it is the first article that I have seen that speaks on the topic of changing schools to improve the health of children and employees in the schools. This is related to a few of my other annotations because it is about the effect of the built environment on peoples’ health.

Annotation #8.

Video

Municipal Art Society.“Health in the Built Environment.” Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 30 October 2014. Web. 23 March 2016.

This video is about DELOS which is an organization that builds for health and well-being. It starts off by explaining that we spend ninety percent of our time inside, but we do not know the affects it has on our health. The entire video is focused in on the interior built environment.

The director of DELOS, Natasha Franck, came up with a well building standard. The concepts of the well building standard consists of: air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind. She gives examples of how being inside makes boundaries between us and nature. For instance, not being in the natural lighting takes away the natural ques the natural light does for us. Also, she points out things like poor air quality in an interior built environment. The interior built environment has more of an impact than realized. With the well building standard, aspects of the built environment such as air quality would improve drastically.

This video seemed relevant because of the topic being how the interior environment affects one’s health and behavior. It falls in line with my latest annotations on the health aspect of built environments. The only improvement that could have been made would be more examples given when talking about what the well building standard would consist of.

Annotation #7.

City skyline with park in foreground

Harvard T.H. Chan. “Nature, Health, & the Built Environment“. Center for Health and the Global Environment. n.d. Web. 22 March 2016.

This source is about the layouts of cities affecting human health. It points out that designing cities to promote health is becoming more important as populations expand and cities get overcrowded. By using evidence from research, the claim that coming into contact even just a little bit each day can help a person think more clearly and relieve some stress. Another point made in this article is that by interacting with nature on a regular basis, a person will become more connected by doing so. With this connection comes the attachment that would make a person want to protect the natural environment more.

The interior built environment is also mentioned in this source. It states how people spend majority of their time inside of buildings in the interior built environment, but the affects of it on health is not known.The more knowledge about the affects of the interior built environment on our health, the more designers and architects can make them better for us.

I chose this source because I would like to know more about the influence of the built environment on a person’s health. More information would have been helpful, but it relates to my other sources by talking about the effects of the built environment on people.

Pseudo-scientific

Ideas that are considered to be science, but do not actually match the guidelines to be called science.

Reading Summary 6

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The article “Color Walking” by Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan is an article that tells a little bit about where colors can take you. They begin by explaining where the idea of color walking originated. A long time ago, a man named William Burroughs came up with the idea of a color walk. He thought of color walks because he wanted a way to inspire his students. A color walk is basically exactly what it sounds like. A color walk is simply choosing a color and going on a walk that is influenced by that color. The places the walk will take a person is based off of the the things of that color that catch the person’s eye. The idea is to have a color picked out that you like or catches your attention and as soon as you step outside, you let that color guide your way.

In this instance, Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan decided to do a color walk for themselves. Bennin and McMullan decided to do the color walk differently though, by not having to stick to only one color like the original color walks did. They began their walk on a Sunday afternoon at the WNYC radio station which is in the lower end of Manhattan, New York. Their color walk was only about fifteen minutes long, but they saw a lot in those fifteen minutes. Bennin and McMullan started off their color walk by following the color blue, until they went to the color purple, and then they ended their color walk with the color pink. Many things caught their attention during their short walk through lower Manhattan. The first item that caught their eye was a woman’s blue scarf, then they went on and were taken by a girl’s chipped blue nails. Next they followed the blues to the basketball court, and after that their eyes began to follow the color purple. They then spotted a gay couple, one wearing purple leopard print leggings and his partner, who was the end to their walk, was wearing the color pink.

After Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan’s color walk, the colors that they had seen remained fresh and vibrant in their memory. After experiencing the color walk, Bennin and McMullan walked away taking notice of the colors that they see more than ever before. They realized how full of color the world truly is.

At the end of their article, Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan give advice to readers who might want to take part in experiencing a color walk. They suggest to take an hour out of the day to focus solely on what can be seen. Another suggestion of Bennin and McMullan’s is to follow a color that is not just a color, but is excited and makes the heart race. The last piece of advice they have to offer is about getting lost. They say to just pick a different color if lost and that it is going really good if very lost.

 

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Adage

A general saying that has truth to it.

Synonyms being: proverb, cliche, and motto.

Complicity

Being involved with others in doing something illegal or wrong.

Similar to being an accomplice.