In Nersessova’s “Tapestry Of Space: Domestic Architecture And Underground Communities In Margaret Morton’s Photography Of A Forgotten New York” by Irina Nersessova, describes the impact of architecture on a person’s mental and physical behavior.

Margaret Morton compares building a home to someone with a splintered personality attempting to connect the pieces together to build a whole identity for themselves.  “Architecture is the simplest means of articulating time and space, of modulating reality and engendering dreams.” Its not just plastic, glass, and concrete expressing beauty but something that influences its surroundings and the people around it. Morton uses photography to expose the not so glamorous side of a society focused on amassing material items, and maintaining an image. The difference is that, the tourist is there to see the nice side of things while the photographer is attempting to understand the space they are exploring. The underground serves as a sort of physical and mental refuge for the people that go down there. They go to escape the pressures and dangers of living above ground. The psycho-geography of the tunnel makes it more than a place for homelesspeople to survive. It allows for the tunnel to contain its own society. It then becomes a place where they can reside and be safe. They may not own it but in a sense they make it their own home.

The homeless are hidden from the eyes of the public to help make the city more attractive to people such as tourists. the public eye believes they will scare people away from their cities. The last thing the city wants is for homelessness to be something to remember from their city. Sometimes there is security walking around so they won’t bother people and run to them asking for change. They may be seen as lazy, but they are hardworking because of their need to establish a dwelling for themselves. Homeless people are not as distracted by material items, they are more aware of the fragility of where they live. People think they are criminals and the weird people of the world that do not belong here. But what people do not understand is they have gone through so much struggle that they ended up where they did and all we do is push them away and treat them like trash. We are the ones who are criminals because we treat other human beings like trash.

In conclusion, society sees the homeless as the outcasts, but they fail to realize that technically they are homeless as well but have not thought of it in another perspective. Also If they choose to live the way they do thats their choice. The homeless become connected to the places they live and their established routines of their everyday lives. The most we can do is help and give them a push to help themselves and have a better life for them.

Bibliography

NERSESSOVA, IRINA. “Tapestry Of Space: Domestic Architecture And Underground Communities In Margaret Morton’s Photography Of A Forgotten New York.” Disclosure 23 (2014): 26. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.