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Built Environment Analysis Draft

Date April 14, 2016

Posted by areid29

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map atl roads

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Define terms: infrastructure, public transit, arterial road, sprawl, etc

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Thesis:

Atlanta’s infrastructure contains inherent flaws which prevent it from adequately coping with the level of traffic. While the city does have public transit options, the urban sprawl has greatly outpaced them in size compared to other metropolitan areas of a similar size.

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elaborate on thesis and outline main points

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Figure explaining types of roads

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Infrastructure Flaws (layout of roads) compared to other cities (lack of arterial road, causes and effects of sprawl)

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Map of the four MARTA subway lines

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2. Public transit flaws compared to other metropolitan areas

-Miami

-Munich

-Hamburg

-Barcelona ]

Logo of Renew Atlanta

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3. Plans to counteract this (Renew Atlanta)

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4. Conclusion/Final Thoughts

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Bibliography/Sources (more to be added):

“List of Metropolitan Areas by Population.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 28 Mar. 2016. Wikipedia. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

“Is It Game Over for Atlanta?” Aaron M. Renn. N.p., 20 Nov. 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

“List of United States Rapid Transit Systems by Ridership.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 4 Apr. 2016. Wikipedia. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

“Atlanta Is No New York: Getting Behind the Obvious – Curbed Atlanta.” N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

“Arterial Road.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 5 Aug. 2015. Wikipedia. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

“I-285 Wreck Shows Lack of Arterial Roads | Www.ajc.com.” N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

“Chicago’s Street Grid vs Atlanta’s Funneling Arteries.” ATL Urbanist. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

Built Environment Description: www.georgia.org

Date April 5, 2016

Posted by areid29

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The State of GA logo displayed at the top left of the webpage.

For my Digital Built Environment Description, I chose www.georgia.org. This is the website for the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), that plans, manages and mobilizes state resources to attract business to the state of Georgia. The GDEcD also promotes the state as a tourist destination and a site for on-location filming.

The top of the www.Georgia.org homepage

When you first get to the homepage of the site, it doesn’t quite present like the website of a government agency. It has a slightly flashy, modern feel to it, with the main color scheme being composed of a grey patterned backdrop and white panels with text on them. In the top left corner, the website has a row of flags that change the website into the respective language of that country and redirect to a different page on the site regarding international trade with that country. This adds significantly to the functionality of the website as well as it’s legitimacy in it’s efforts to attract foreign business to the state. directly below this is a row of icons linking to different social media websites like Facebook and Twitter that allow you to follow the GDEcD.

Moving on down the page, the next feature is a row of menus with drop down sub-menus that appear when you hover your mouse above them. The names of the menus (with subtitles in parentheses) are: Competitive Advantages (Incentives, Workforce & Lifestyle), Business Resources (Growth, Relocation & Innovation), Industries in Georgia (Key Sectors & Strengths), About Us (Contact & News) and next to that is a search bar to search for keywords within the site.

An example of the drop down menu

The most striking feature, to me, is the scrolling billboard just under the row of menus. It displays news and other important items on a timer of about 30 seconds and also has an option to pause or move forward or back one slide. The current installations are an ad for Georgia tourism, an ad for Georgia as the #1 state for business, a poster stating Mercedes-Benz’s intention to open facilities in Georgia and a poster stating that Georgia is home to 20 Fortune 500 companies.

The Newsroom and Events section

Scroll down further and you will find a list of dates of important events. Some of these events include: Brazil Trade Mission, Greater Women’s Business Council, and Leadercast Live – Architects of Tomorrow. To the left of this is a “Newsroom” column with recent stories posted in chronological order. It even has a section below this that allows the user to select an individual sector to view stories within that sector only. These sectors include: Commerce, Tourism, Centers of Innovation, Entertainment, Workforce, Arts and Music. then, at the very bottom of the page is a black backdropped section with contact information and a reiteration of the menus at the top of the webpage.

Very bottom of the webpage

Overall, the spatial and visual modes of this website combine very effectively to give a professional impression to the casual user. The site is very much oriented towards business executives and others who have the ability to bring commerce to the state (as evidenced by use of certain buzzwords like “Incentives”, “Innovation” and “Sectors”), as well as individuals who may bring income to Georgia as tourists.

Annotated Bibliography #10

Date April 3, 2016

Posted by areid29

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Hsin Hsin Chang, and Su Wen Chen. “The Impact of Online Store Environment Cues on Purchase Intention: Trust and Perceived Risk as a Mediator.” Online Information Review 32.6 (2008): 818–841. emeraldinsight.com (Atypon). Web.

The stated purpose of this paper is to explore whether or not online environment cues like website quality and branding affect consumer purchases on that website. The article also aimed to find the level of relation between perceived risk and consumer trust in an online shopping environment. The study confirmed that website quality and branding do affect customer purchasing decisions but also found that website branding played a larger role in that decision than website quality and insisted that online retailers focus their resources on improving the brand of the website rather than improving the functionality of the website. I chose this article because it exemplifies one of the practical applications of a good understanding of online spaces and how people interact with them. The only possible flaw with this article is that it was published in 2008, which leaves open the possibility that consumer attitudes toward online shopping have changed enough since then so as to invalidate some or all of the findings.

Annotated Bibliography #9

Date April 2, 2016

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Thomas, M.j.w. “Learning within Incoherent Structures: The Space of Online Discussion Forums.” Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 18.3 (2002): 351–366. Wiley Online Library. Web.

This bibliography covers a case study published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. The study explores the implications of using the format of a discussion forum on students’ learning. it relies on a study on patterns of interaction on one of these mediums and the effects it had on learning outcomes. The findings suggest that the typical “branching” model for online discussion forums may be insufficient to realize the true potential of a conversational mode of learning in an online space. I chose this article because it directly relates to this class since the majority of this class is conducted online and commenting on posts, either by the instructor or by other classmates, is an integral part of the course. It also loosely relates to my Annotated Bibliographies #7 and 8 because the one of the types of forums this research could be applied to are unmoderated forums, which would be another example of the “Affinity Space” of informal learning. I can’t find any limitations in this article that significantly affect its purpose or findings. This source would be helpful to anyone looking to explore the effectiveness of the increasingly prevalent “online-discussion” mode of learning on students’ performance.

An example of the “comment branch” format

Annotated Bibliography #8

Date April 2, 2016

Posted by areid29

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Terrie Lynn Thompson. “Work‐learning in Informal Online Communities: Evolving Spaces.” Information Technology & People 24.2 (2011): 184–196. emeraldinsight.com (Atypon). Web.

This paper seeks to investigate how workers engage with each other in informal online communities to learn about their field of work. It operates from the assertion that, while there is a large amount of work-related learning done through the internet, most of it is situated in formal online courses, implying the need for a more comprehensive understanding of less formal learning spaces. This investigation was conducted through interviews with 11 self-employed contractors and consultants who do not have staff working beneath them. This paper seems to be directed at workers in the same position as those interviewed, but also possibly web designers who have the power to implement the changes argued for into new mediums of field-specific communication between professionals for their own advancement. I chose this source because it examines the usefulness of existing channels for informal learning and how they could be improved and used in the future and because it ties in very nicely with the article I annotated in my post titled Annotated Bibliography #7 in that they both discuss at length the implications of the “Affinity Space” that is developing in online spaces. The only flaw that seems to exist with this research paper is that the sample size (11 individuals) may have been too small to attain accurate results for it’s purposes. Overall, this article would be useful to anyone seeking to explore how the online built environment has influenced discourse between independently employed professionals.

Annotated Bibliography #7

Date April 2, 2016

Posted by areid29

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The flickr.com logo

Davies, Julia. “Affinities and Beyond! Developing Ways of Seeing in Online Spaces.” E-Learning and Digital Media 3.2 (2006): 217–234. ldm.sagepub.com. Web.

This article examines the environment of Flickr, a free online image hosting website that supports a community wherein members can share their own photos and explore those of others. Davies asserts that through flickr, new multimodal teaching and learning relationships are formed through the “Affinity Space”, first coined by James Paul Gee. An Affinity Space is anywhere that informal learning takes place, and here it is argued that the Affinity Space of flickr uses in images exclusively to create new meanings and discourse. One piece of information that has given me a new perspective on the online built environment is this column’s offering up of evidence for the broadening of the term “literacy” to include more modes than just text, like images, at a time when the visual mode is becoming increasingly intertwined with the textual mode, especially in online spaces. The only flaw I could find with this article is that is was published ten years ago, so the Affinity Space and new definition of literacy discussed inside have probably expanded a bit beyond the framework outlined inside. I chose this article because it is valuable to anyone trying to analyze the multimodal rhetoric of online spaces since they are, almost by definition, places where informal learning takes place through the users’ voluntary exploration of them. although I was unable to export them to this blog post, it is worth noting that this article also included several images from flickr, including a picture of the welcome page, and several example of posts by users.

Summary of Better Online Living through Content Moderation

Date March 31, 2016

Posted by areid29

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This article by Melissa King discusses the subject of trigger warnings, block lists, privacy options and ignore functions and the criticism that users of these receive from those who do not need them. This piece acts as a well worded defense for those who suffer from PTSD, anxiety attacks and other afflictions from the people who would tell them that they’re “weak”, “too sensitive” or that they should “just deal with it”. It is essentially divided into three sections. The first has no subtitle and acts as an abstract to introduce the reader to the content that the rest of the column will discuss. The next section, labeled “Computer Chair Psychology” (likely a play on the phrase “Armchair Psychology” used to refer to amateur psychology) and discusses the psychological aspect of protective measures like trigger warnings and block lists. It points out how appeals to “be less sensitive” or “ignore it” misuse a type of treatment called Exposure Therapy wherein the patient is slowly exposed in increments to the stimuli that causes them anxiety in an effort to overcome that anxiety. Here, the author relies on quotes from two other voices on this subject. The first is Maddy Myers, where King references her article on TheMarySue.com on trigger warnings. The next is Caleb Lack, a licensed clinical psychologist and psychology professor who specializes in treating anxiety disorders, who says: “Bullying has long been known to have a severe impact on mental health, particularly if the bullying is repeated and prolonged… So, given what we know about PTSD, and given what we know about the effects of bullying (cyber and otherwise) on mental health, I think it’s relatively safe to say that “Yes, you can ‘get’ PTSD from Twitter.” One needs to be careful, though, to be specific about this: it’s the bullying and harassment that could lead to PTSD or PTSD symptoms (as well as depression, increased suicidality, and so on), not anything inherent to Twitter itself.” The next section is “Threatening Legal Recourse” and it discusses the defamation cases that have come out of this issue. The cases cited here are from the people who are listed on block lists and call for compensation for “defamation”resulting from being included on these lists. King references the Gamergate group thats been in the news lately who used scare tactics to silence those who pointed out mysoginistic tendencies in video games. The last section is “Towards More Agency Over Online Experiences” and it recounts many of the points made earlier in the piece and points out the fact that women are a very large target for people who disparage people with needs for trigger warnings, particularly women who delve into male-dominated fields like STEM and video game culture. in the last paragraph king nicely sums up the main purpose of the article, saying: “Ultimately, easy one-size-fits-all solutions ignore the diversity of human psyches and experiences. Content control tools take this fact into account, and give people more room to act on behalf of their own mental and emotional needs.”

-MyersTuesday, Maddy, and August 11th 2015 at 2:37 pm. “Saying Trigger Warnings ‘Coddle the Mind’ Completely Misses the Point.” N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

-“Better Online Living through Content Moderation.” Model View Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

Color Walking Reading Summary

Date March 29, 2016

Posted by areid29

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William S. Burroughs

This article describes an activity called “Color Walking”. The two authors, Phia Bennin and Brendan McMullan, credit the author William Burroughs with the creation of the concept in order to help his students to better analyze the world around them. This added an interesting new side to the article because, while I haven’t read any of Burroughs’ works, I have been reading a lot of Jack Kerouac lately and Burroughs was a major player in the beat poet scene and plays a large part in On The Road . Kerouac even describes him as the “greatest satirical writer since Jonathan Swift“. The basic idea behind a color walk is to set aside a period of time and walk down the street looking for everything of a specific color and follow these things wherever they lead you. The things themselves could be anything; cars, clothing, buildings, etc.. to better allow participants to stay engage, the article suggest that one switch the color they’re searching for periodically when the one that they’re using becomes stale. The purpose of this article, as I interpreted it, was not to describe the activity in detail or analyze it but to give a brief description and set of instructions so that the readers can try it out for themselves. I almost saw it more as a manual than an article. The instructions given for a Color Walk are as follows:

Give yourself an hour of uninterrupted time, no commutes, no errands, just eye time.
Pick a color, or let a color pick you–follow the one that makes your heart go thump-thump.
If you get lost, pick another color. If you get really lost, you’re on the right track.

As for the effectiveness of this article, I was originally a bit conflicted on the style used here. It seemed on my first read-through that the piece was lacking in depth and analysis: the authors could have elaborated more in detail on their own color walk or how this technique could be used to discover new things about an area. but after that, it occurred to me that the brevity of this article was intentional. by not stretching the passage, it appears that they were trying to leave the majority of the experience up to the interpretation of the reader. This choice adds tremendously to the ways in which a color walk can be approached and applied to the real world and, in my opinion, makes the piece much more effective. Overall, I feel that this column would be helpful for anyone looking for a new and more interpretive way to inspect the built environment or just for an interesting way to spend some free time.

Field Notes from Clay Family Cemetery

Date March 29, 2016

Posted by areid29

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These are the field notes I collected while performing my Built Environment Description at the Clay Family Cemetery in the neighborhood of Kirkwood. In this instance, I decided to use the method we learned in class of creating two columns, one for objective and one for subjective, so that I could make sure I was only including the objective features of this site in my description.

Internal Built Environment Description: Rhodes Hall (part four)

Date March 10, 2016

Posted by areid29

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The inauguration of Jefferson Davis

Depiction of Stonewall Jackson at the first battle of Manassas

Robert E. Lee right before surrendering

This is, in my opinion, the most fascinating part of the entire mansion. These three painted-glass window panels were installed to depict the rise and fall of the confederacy. There was a lot of southern nationalism around this time in history as the southern surrender was approaching it’s 40th anniversary and several Confederate generals died right around this time. The first panel depicts the inauguration of Confederate president Jefferson Davis above and the Battle of Fort Sumter below. The second panel shows the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Manassas with “Stonewall” Jackson earning his nickname. Finally, the third panel depicts Confederate General Robert E. Lee saying goodbye to his soldiers right before departing to go sign the terms of surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. The level of detail of these fixtures is absolutely incredible; you can get up close and see the individual soldiers and details of their faces and uniforms. All three windows are divided by portraits of over a dozen important Confederate figures.

Window in a closet below the staircase

Finally, this last window kind of put into perspective the mindset of the architect and of Amos Giles Rhodes when this house was being designed. This window is in a small closet below the staircase and the rest of the windows and was supposed to be symbolic of taking down the Confederate Flag and storing it away in order to let go of the past while still honoring the sense of southern heritage that many southerners then and now associate with the Confederacy.

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