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Notes by Alan Dix on "The Image of the City"

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The Image of the City

Notes

p.4 (top)

"To become lost is perhaps a rather rare experience" c.f. Lost

p.6

observer "should play an active role in perceiving the world"

p.11

maze learning and "east/west" boy

p.11

sherpa who didn't realise that peaks seen from different directions were the same

p.12

"seeing" animal in dense bush - similarly need to "see the hidden forms" in the cry

p.21/22

"parallel" streets cross at Boston Common

p.23

highways as barriers or paths - c.f. two roles of a line, to separate or join Gnosis and Geonosis

p.41

LA "it's as if you were going somewhere for a long time and when you got there you discovered there was noting there after all"

p.48

landmarks - are words (or archetypes) landmarks for concepts?

p.54

gradients along paths including state of repair

p.54

curvature noted only in relation to visual cues c.f. space syntax

p.56/57

freeways magically link disparate areas with little sense of fit to overall city plan (ditto subway)

p.65

edges as seams - disconnection vs. mutual visibility & accessibilty despite differentiation

p.95-103

detailed advice for oaths, etc.

p.128

Chinese compass directions rather than left-right (like Bali)

p.129

Tikopia - seeward / landward not compass

p.132

orientation by reflection of land on clouds - Arctic and South Seas