20 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2017
    1. This Article examines the sometimes subtle ways that the built environment has been used to keep certain segments of the population—typically poor people and people of color—separate from others.

      This is definitely the theis statement. To be honest, when I first realized that we would be doing alot of studying "built environment" i was confused. Like why are we studying buildings? But the more we got into it, it definitely interest me more. Finding out that the architecture of a building or a street was meant to keep lower income and POC having access to it isn't something I would initially think of when I see a bridge. Very interesting.

    2. He believed that through this action, the city was sending a clear message to its black residents,

      Things that are currently happening is sending African Americans a message. For example, The black lives matter movement isnt protected by the police but once you see a picture of a KKK parade, the police is protecting them. Is it because they are racist or is it because the KKK is seen as more likely to be in danger. Very controversial to me.

    3. At the request of white residents, in 1974 the city of Memphis closed off a street that connected an all-white neighborhood to a primarily black one.

      1974? That wasn't that long ago. A lot of people like to claim that racism ended over a 100 years ago. My mom was born during this time. Racism is alive and well. People argued that it was for lesser traffice and promoting safety. Is being connected to a black neighborhood dangerous?

    4. The lack of public-transit connections to areas north of the city makes it difficult for those who rely on transit—primarily the poor and people of color—to access job opportunities located in those suburbs

      Before Christmas break I relied entirely on MARTA and ubers/lyfts for transportation. It was very hard for me to find a job walking distance. Thankfully, I was able to bring my car to Atlanta from home. My experience with MARTA was not bad. It is a fact that most of MARTA users are from lower income classes.

    5. Wealthy, mostly white residents of the northern Atlanta suburbs have vocally opposed efforts to expand MARTA into their neighborhoods for the reason that doing so would give people of color easy access to suburban communities.

      This is very surprising to me. But then again it isn't. Wouldn't expect Atlanta to have this issue. Although most wealthy, powerful, people are white, I would consider Atlanta the "Black Hollywood". Many black people make a name for themselves here. Want to see a wealthy black person? Come to Atlanta.

    6. "Trying to appear "not too black" on Airbnb is exhausting" by Norrinda Brown Hayat touches on the discrimation in the Airbnb business. It is said that some of the airbnb listings are discriminating against african americans. Some of the Airbnb listers are intentionally declining people with typical African American names and accepting a white man with the same profile but with a "white sounding" name. I find this article very interesting because I have a friend that is interested in listing his apartment as Airbnb and he said in order for him to do it he has to appear "more white". I chose this supplemental reading becuase it gave another example of discrimation and oppression in the "business" world and in less obvious ways.

    7. that these overpasses be built intentionally low so that buses could not pass under them

      So basically, Moses DID have these bridges built low intentionally. What time period was this? Was this around the 60s? I always new America was a racist country, some would say it still is (I agree). Many poor people and POC did use buses so this method may have been effective. It is sad how much somebody could do just to oppress minorites.

    8. Robert Moses was known as the “Master Builder” of New York.1 During the time that he was appointed to a number of important state and local offices,2 he shaped much of New York’s infrastructure, including a number of “low-hanging overpasses” on the Long Island parkways that led to Jones Beach.

      So was Robert Moses racist? Since he was the person behind the building of the low-hanging overpasses, as mentioned previously. The article states that the bridges being built low was an attempt to keep POC from coming to the beaches. Is their any proof?

    9. Street grid layouts, one-way streets, the absence of sidewalks and crosswalks, and other design elements can shape the demographics of a city and isolate a neighborhood from those surrounding i

      Interesting Schindler mentions one way streets. In Atlanta their is a lot of one way streets and I never really thought it was because of the attempt in isolating neighborhoods. Is this what Schindler is implying?

    10. Bridges were designed to be so low that buses could not pass under them in order to prevent people of color from accessing a public beach

      This is a very interesting claim. Was this the sole purpose of building it low? I truthfully find this hard to believe. In fact, I don't think the architecture of the bridge would have been effective in preventing people of color from accessing the beach.

    1. Studying buildings, then, requires some special training. The basic vernacular arch­itecture research method, however, is hardly revolutionary: it still requires gathering data, ordering and analyzing the data, and interpreting the data.

      Basically studying buildings isn't easy. A person will have to put in a lot of work and time into studying to really get the information that they want.

    2. In the "MARTA Breaks Ground On First Transit-Development Project" reading, it exhibits the thinking of the architectures when the build buildings in urban areas. I definitely understand this because I am currently residing in a city where parking is very difficult. I have a car down here but because of the troubles of parking I rather take other ways of transportation such as MARTA. To summarize this reading, MARTA is using the building of apartment complexes and a dance studio as a way to increase the number of people using their transportation.

    3. It would be easy, for example, looking at the architectural landscape of New England now, to think that people of the past were better off than they really were, for usually it is the bigger houses that survive

      This is an interesting excerpt because I know when I watch some movies in which the setting is dated back in the old days. A lot of poor families had a big house. It isn't really about the size of the house that determines the wealth. It's more then that.

    4. Determining history through buildings has its drawbacks, certainly. One has been mentioned already: the time it takes to do fieldwork. Another problem is the uneven rate of survival of buildings. Smaller houses tend not to endure, so the material record may be skewed in favor of the elites, just as the written record is

      I find this to be true because a smaller building in a poor area that looks runned down and old could be a lot newer then a bigger building with a nice exterior in a wealthier area because the owners has the money to keep it up.

    5. t may be that buildings important to your study are gone demolished or fallen down— so that the standing record is incomplete. In such cases you may need to reconstruct the missing pieces from whatever information is available

      This reminds me of my Great Grandparents old home (which just so happen to be next to their not so new home). Anyways, back before I was thought of my great grandparents home caught on fire and burnt most of everything. To this day I can peak into the home and see old picture and a huge hole in the floor. I can use context clues to know what room was where. It's really interesting actually.

    6. As might be evident by now, students of vernacular architecture are not on the whole what might be called “library” scholars. If you are interested in studying build­ings, particularly those of the more ordinary variety that have not been studied before, the place to begin is with the buildings themselves.

      Students who study vernacular architecture is said to be "library scholars" but in the text, it states that students have to do more then just do research and read upon studying buildings. That's true for a lot of aspects of life and studying things. In order for a student to be successful they have to physically study the buildings itself.

    7. It incorporates many perspectives, and there are many ideas about what it is

      The study of vernacular architecture isn't easy and requires deeper thinking and the ability to see different perspectives and to see things that aren't always clear.

    8. The physical properties of the room, so constructed, ensure that these values are enforced and that those who use the room adhere to them as well. The key feature of the space is that the desks are bolted to the floor so that they cannot be moved. Neither students nor teachers could try new ways of seating or of breaking up the teacher-facing students format, even if they wanted to.

      This is a great example of how the architecture and craft of a building tells a story to people who study buildings. This shows the values of the people at the time. It's amazing because this same format of a classroom is still used. Except that more then likely the desks are not bolted down.

    9. This Urge center-chimney, hull-parlor house in W ethersfield, Connecticut, is typical of those buildings that have survived all over New England from the late seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century.

      This proves my point about how it doesnt matter hous old the building it is its about what its made out of etc.

    10. buildings reflect our cultural values

      I think this statement relates to the "MARTA Breaks Ground On First Transit-Development Project" reading. The fact that architectures are buildings park with restaurants, apartments complexes, etc so that it could create more people using MARTA says that a lot of things we do in society is money driven.