Rolling the dice

After our individual wayfinding journeys our group had to get together to create a mental map of where our paths crossed, converged, or diverged. We decided that we would select a node, landmark, or edge from everyone's drawings and create three cubes that represented each element. Our idea is that you could roll the dice and depending on what you rolled an unique path would be created by a certain node, landmark, and edge. The image that I created from my trip to Khmer Buddhist Temple is of an overhead edge. The road and the overpass create two edges that silently tell a person to go in between the two planes to continue along the path of the road.

Journey to Khmer Buddhist Temple via Wayfinding

For my first assignment in Community by Design I had to take a trip to Khmer Buddhist Temple. It was our task to go to an assigned destination and generate an experience to examine wayfinding in Greensboro. 

Wayfinding can be described as a way in which a person orients themselves in a space to navigate from one point to another. Urban planner Kevin A. Lynch coined the term in his book Image of the City, where he described wayfinding as, “a consistent use and organization of definite sensory cues from the external environment”. This means that we take certain information (audio, visual, or verbal) from our surroundings to find our way. Lynch defined urban space in terms of elements such as, paths, edges, nodes, landmarks, and districts.

I knew this was going to be interesting because I am still very unfamiliar with Greensboro. But then I thought to myself, "If I really don't have any idea where I am going, I'll probably notice the wayfinding elements more so than I would have if I knew where the heck I was going." So first thing I had to do was look up where my destination was located then get directions. I was surprised to find out that the Buddhist Temple is only eight or nine miles away from my apartment but it takes about twenty minutes to get there. Armed with my camera, sketchpad, and chauffeur I started out on my journey into the world of wayfinding.

The stairway from my apartment provides a path for me to follow. It tells me how I am supposed to get from the ground level to the second floor. 

This boarded up building on Francis King Street  acts as  a landmark for me. I always notice the strangely beautiful patterns that are stained under the windows.

I consider where Friendly Avenue and Francis King Street a node because the two roads converge into one.

Once I am on Friendly Avenue I can see the Guilford College water tower on my right. It is a very large landmark that is always visible from a far distance.

While driving down Martin Luther King Drive I passed the Degussa factory. It caught my attention because it was bright blue and the various sizes fand heights of the structure. I would consider this a concentration of nodes because all of the different parts of the factory appear to overlap and intersect each other. 

After the Degussa factory I spotted this odd arrangement of animal statues on the side of the road. They served as a landmark because it was definitely something that was memorable for me. These statues are for the Greensboro Pet Spa, however, I feel the statues give the place more of a pet cemetery vibe.

This is the path that I took when I was very close to the buddhist temple. I noticed that the trees served as edges because they emphasized the path of the road and created a barrier that forced you to travel in a certain direction.

Finally! I get to my destination and I am surprised by the huge chain link fence. The whole perimeter is surrounded by chain link fences that serve as an edge to the temple. The actual temple is in an old house, nothing memorable. It reminds me of the Buddhist Temple in Ithaca, NY  that was in an old Victorian house. It was really interesting to see the clashing of two different cultures and styles. 

The last thing that I saw on my journey was the actual gate to the Khmer Buddhist Temple. The large wooden gate serves as a path because it tells you that you need to pass through it to move inside. What especially made the gate noticeable to me was the top was broken and it  reminded me of the O.K. Corral, minus the tumbleweeds.