Exterior Built Environment Description: Candler Park

The Exterior environment chosen for this project was Candler Park. Candler Park was first opened back in 1874. It was erected by the park committee in 1932. Candler Park is located 585 Candler Park Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30307. This park caters to people of all ages and includes many sports related spaces. The biggest sport played there is golf, which has 2,064 yards dedicated to it, that includes 9 holes and a par of 31. The park also includes a basketball court and a field where different sports can be played, for example, football and soccer. The park also has a pool opened to all ages during the summer season.
Candler Park has a significant importance in history because it is the site where Sweeny’s Division spent 24 hours in a line that crossed through the southwest area of the park. At the park, there is actually a sign that was placed in order to show where the event in history took place, and to give visitors a brief description of what took place. Throughout the park, there are signs that give a brief history of different areas of the park. Signs placed at the entrance give information on the park and important people that help contribute to the park. At the playground, there are also signs that give information specifically about the playground, such as when it was built and who contributed to the playground. The signs are normally placed on the entrance gates of the different areas of the park. The signs help to make it easy to navigate around the park.
Candler Park is a very open park and each area of the park is given an adequate amount of space in order to focus on the specific thing that space is dedicated to. To get to most of the park areas, the main gate is used, which has a one-way street that connects all areas of the park, except the golf course. The golf course can be accessed from driving around the outskirts of the park but its main building is located on Candler Park Drive.
Visiting Candler Park was a very nice and relaxing experience. The park was filled with many trees and green scenery. The park feels very welcoming to people of all ages because of the many different things they offer. The park is all about bringing the community together. Whether young or old many activities are planned in an attempt to bring people of all ages. The park swimming pool is also another way to attract all ages because of the many different activities offered, such as swimming lessons for all ages. Candler Park opened their own website in order to spread the information on the park, including upcoming events.

Exterior DIgital Record 2: Candler Park

These picture are of the Candler Park Playground that was built in 2001. The top two pictures are of the signs placed on the entrance gates for the playground. These signs give information on the playground, such as, the mayor at the time that the playground was built and contributors to the playground. The bottom picture is a picture of the entire playground including the entrance gates that the signs were placed on.

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Exterior Digital Record 1: Candler Park

These pictures are of the main entrance for Candler Park. The top left picture is a sign placed on the main gate that presents the information for the park, such as, who erected the park and when it was done. It also presents information, such as, the park committee and the mayor at the time of erection. The top right picture shows the name of the park and its hours. The bottom picture is a full view of the entire park entrance.

 

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Reading Summary 1

The main purpose of this article was to point out a physical aspect of segregation and discrimination. This physical aspect that was focused on was architecture. Even though segregation ended, architecture was used as another way to mask the secret wants of a separated population. In this article, Schindler explores 5 parts of architectural exclusion: the theory, the practice, the brief history of exclusion by law, the architectural exclusion in the court, and the problems and solutions.

One example used to prove the main point of the argument was the bridge building in New York by Robert Moses. His way of keeping segregation was through building low-hanging overpasses. One in particular that he built was a bridge that leads to Jones Beach, which was purposely built low so that public transportation, such as buses, could not pass. The fact that buses could not pass through meant that people who relied on them, specifically poor people and people of color, could not go to Jones Beach.

Another example used in the article was the use of highways. In Palo Alto, a highway was built that separated the upper-class West Palo Alto from the low-income East Palo Alto. This highway made it difficult for pedestrians to travel from one side to the other and made it difficult for cars to turn left. This highway had a high rate of car and pedestrian accidents and because of the lack of safety, it made it more difficult for people to access the area.

Schindler pointed out many of the physical aspects of architectural exclusion but she also pointed out the aspects of legal exclusion. She goes on the talk about how forms of architectural exclusion are overlooked by law makers. She points out how racial zoning, racially restrictive covenants, and exclusionary zoning were laws that were used manipulatively to gain the desired outcome of keeping out undesirable people out of certain locations. Social norms were also used to further the exclusion. In legal exclusion, legal tools are used to exclude people and in architectural exclusion physical aspects of the built environment are used.

In Schindler’s opinion, there are two reasons why it is hard to find architectural exclusion illegal. “The first is the failure of courts, legislatures, and citizens to recognize that architecture regulates…The second is that, even if challengers and decision makers come around to understanding the idea of architecture as regulation, our existing jurisprudence is insufficient to invalidate288 this form of exclusion.289” (Schindler, 1991) She goes on to further explain and give examples of architectural exclusion that are overlooked.

In the ending of the article, the problems and solution are discussed. Even though some problems of the built environment are considered “legacy problems”, there is not much that can be done about some of the architectural exclusion. Some laws were repealed when it comes to exclusion by law, but it had not effect on the architect built while those laws were still in place. Not much can be changed about the past but Schindler feels that if awareness can be brought to the general public, a change can be made for the future and eventually architectural exclusion can come to an end.

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