His & Hers: Designing for a Post-Gender Society

We’re living in a time of change, the revolution of the ideals of gender. Masculine and feminine roles are being questioned and challenged through advances in science and technology and the cultural shifts in the depiction of genders. But as things change something have yet to change or yet to catch up in the change, such as most companies having a male CEO and female secretaries. Fields that deal with technology and web design at the top companies are 85 percent male. Though recent event show that a new wave of feminism may be needed, and implores men to also get into the fight for gender equality. And, the LGBTQ community has also made many great progresses and change in the world, with America making same sex marriage legal and many other countries around the world following suit.

The first thing to adapt the this change and become part of it was fashion, due to its ability to change quickly unlike architectural based jobs. With this becoming like this there is a bit more confusion with girls looking like boy and boys looking like girls. Things have become more androgynous. When everyone is born they are born with a gender, but beyond that that can decide what gender they truly are. There are college students who don’t put down their gender because they don’t want to be assigned as one or the other. In the past trans people were discriminated against and outcast, but with today’s progressive and more accepting views they’re being welcomed and accepted.

Corporations have started taking note and changing to be more accommodating to their workers by adding in gender neutral bathrooms such as unisex one. This allows their workers to feel more comfortable at work. Thought bathrooms are only one part of this grand puzzle we most solve, but they are a space at is very sensitive to this personal issue. In a case recently, a worker went under gender reassignment during summer break. After returning to work both male and female co-workers went to human resources and said that they didn’t want this individual in their bathrooms. This is a very hard issue and must be fixed in a way that no one is negatively effected by it.

Making everyone feel comfortable and accommodated no matter where they are parallels the bigger issue about design. The Disabilities Act are a disaster about how it went about doing things and we most not approach gender issues the same way, with regulations and forcing everyone to comply.  We are only the start of gender neural design, and having something like a safe place or everyone to function and feel safe in is the one step.

In the world where everything is being change, challenged, and switched, where the line between gender is being blurred and broken we need to design for different human beings who are out there by being respectful and understanding. We need to create a world where human beings can be their own individual selves.

Recognizing Campus Landscapes as Learning Spaces

Education in today’s society is facing many challenges and changes in providing good learning spaces for the diverse needs of today’s college kids. As the years rise so do the number of students attending a college. In 2019 the amount of students registered in college will be around 9% higher than it is today. America expects a college to look like a place of learning inside and outside. A college needs more than just technological upgrades, class room additions, and new buildings. A college needs to feel like a learning space, a place where it always feels like a holistic learning space so it can provide a holistic learning experience. Learning is a constant goal that is always happening 24/7 all year long. Only around one-fifth of a student’s time is spent in a class room, which means that most of there time is spent around campus and not in class. A more adept learning space has more ability to provide learning outside of class, which might be an overlooked catalyst that can help students learn. The whole college experience is a very demanding time that requires a very high level of focus and concentration. This increases the chance of students falling into fatigued states and exhausting themselves out, and with all the technology in today’s society the students face a higher chance of being distracted. Although student’s cognitive abilities are highly over taxed and expected to always be working their best, universities do not provide any way to replenish or restore cognitive abilities.

The first American colleges were built to be self-sufficient in rural areas, having  dorm, dinning halls, and class rooms. Many of the people who wanted to make colleges back then wanted to make an ideal community that was isolated from the life of city but open who others to join. As time went on the lay out of college changed to be more open and less focus on many buildings together to block out the outside world’s temptations. Adding farms, gardens, and greenhouses started to provide student with more of a sense of community and a place to belong.

The layout of a campus has an impact of the learning behavior of a students, so a well designed campus is a crucial element into the learning of a student. Natural scenery refreshes the mind and helps it over come fatigue.  Though nature as proves to be hard to define. Nature could mean anything from just plants to gardens or even untouched woods. In most cases nature means anything that has to do with plants, fresh air or water. Without ways to restore ones cognitive abilities a individual may become angry or irritated.

Traditional campuses pride learning opportunities inside, but campus fail to provide a good learning environment that facilitates learning outside of class on campus.  Colleges need to pay attention to this mixture of indoor and outdoor spaces to help grow a community for their students. Nature trails provide an area for the growth of community and quiet area provide a student the ability to refresh one’s self. If colleges can mix their campuses in the right way they will provide a higher and more effective learning environment for their students.

Some of the trees are without leaves due to the winter, but they still look hauntingly beautiful since they will once again return for this dead looking state to a state of lush green. The sidewalk that surrounds the park all the way around its super long length can be seen.

Some of the newer trees that are being grown while older more fully grown trees are in the background. The park is very open and has many shady trees that can be used for cover in the rain and/or sun. This picture was taken from the road and shows how easy it is to get into from the road.

One of the many wonderful looking builds around the park can be seen from the other side of the park. In this picture you can also see the side of a sign, which is one of the few human objects here, besides the sidewalks and few park benches.

Far one side of the road the other can be seen to only be a little away. The trees still looks beautiful in the cold winter as the sun beamed down from the sky. The very clean park and park’s sidewalk can be seen from the road, and the park as a whole is very easy to enter.

The Olmsted Linear park  is just as the name hints at, a very long linear park made of a few sectors. It is North of Atlanta in a very nice and clean neighborhood. Near the park is a church and a neighborhood.

From everything that I see and have heard about the park the park is over 100 years old.

The park is made mostly of organic items such trees and grass and the only inorganic or human items there were park benches and sidewalks. The side walks made the whole site very easy to navigate, and the site as a whole was very open and inviting. The most of the trees and grass were affected by the winter and had turned brown or lost their leaves. During the winter the site felt very sad and somber but as warm and inviting. The park presents itself as a very long park, which is great for paying or going for a walk. During my time at the park I saw many people who lived around there playing with their kids at the park. Seeing this park bringing families together to play games made me happy but also sad because I regretted not bring of own family there while I visited.

After going there and spending an hour there I can say that I’d love to go there again during the summer when all the trees are full of leaves and the grass is green. I look forward to see how the park can change in different seasons, and to see if the park feels warmer and even more inviting for family then.

Mehta, Chirag. Theodore, Nik. “WORKPLACE SAFETY IN ATLANTA’s CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE IN TEMPORARY STAFFING ARRANGEMENTS.” WorkingUSA. Spring2006. 9.1(2006): 59. Business Source Complete. Web. 5 Feb 2016.

Both the writer of this article work with constructing buildings, the article talks about the issues in safety during building and how hazardous building builds and communities can be. The article has many diagrams and graphs that it uses to show that these companies will cut corner and use loops in things to avoid spending extra money on safety items. The article has many surveys they did to prove their facts. This article will help me by showing me how neighborhoods are formed and how sometimes buildings are not build right due to company negligence, which in turn leads them to being cheaper and creating more dangerous neighborhood and crime. This article is wrote by experts in the construction field who used many surveys to prove their facts, which means that everything in this survey is trustworthy and factual.

Oakley, Deirdre. Ruel, Erin. Reid, Lesley. “Atlanta’s Last Demolitions and Relocations: The Relationship Between Neighborhood Characteristics and Resident Satisfaction.” Housing Studies. 28.2(2013): 205. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 5 Feb, 2016.

All three of the writers of this article are Sociology professors, the article talks about how moving a community out of a lower income area to better neighborhoods will increase their happiness, helpfulness to society, and their ability to make money and have a job. The people who were moved were moved to safer areas, which allowed them to live longer and live happier. This change caused a drop in crime rate for that area and in turn for the whole city as well. The authors wrote this to inform people on how changes in a person environment can change a person’s whole attitude. This article will help in my study of crime and how to stop crime in low income areas around Atlanta. This article was wrote by professors who are experts on human interaction in societies and communities.

Ohmer, Mary L., Warner, Barbara D. Beck Elizabeth.”Preventing Violence in Low-Income Communities: Facilitating Residents’ Ability to Intervene in Neighborhood Problems.”Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare. 37.2 (2009): 162. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.

This article was written by two Social Work professors and one Criminal Justice professor, the article talks about crime and crime prevention in low income areas. The article start with talking about how something in the past have proven to bring down crime and make things safer, but it also addresses the problems of how somethings that helped another neighborhood may not be able to help another. The authors wrote this to help in identifying problems in a community and to help stop them, for people who protect neighborhoods and for neighborhoods to protect themselves. This article will help in my research of violence in poor areas and how poor or low income deal with the problems in their society. This article is an Academic Journal wrote by people who are experts in their fields who have done many studies on the subjects of criminal justice in more poor areas.