"How wild a history," I said to myself, "is written within that bosom!"
Back to the idea how history is written by people. Just like people can read and write the city, you can also read what people have written in the city. The way people look, walk, talk, etc all contribute to their story
still it seemed that, in my then peculiar mental state, Icould frequently read, even in that brief interval of a glance, the history of long years.
he is reading people in the city. Based on what little he can see, he makes observations of people's faces and comes to conclusions about who they are and what they do.
he did not observe me.
Poe previously speaks about observing individuals of the city and placing them into different categories, as if they are not anonymous. However, this proves that one can get lost in the hustle and bustle of the city and choose to not be seen.
I made my way into the street, and pushed through thecrowd in the direction which I had seen him take; for he had already disappeared. With some littledifficulty I at length came within sight of him, approached, and followed him closely, yetcautiously, so as not to attract his attention.
It's difficult to follow people in cities. You also may not know you were being followed. Shows the busy streets
I observed an order of men somewhatdifferent in habits, but still birds of a kindred feather.
observing the variety of individuals is something Moses overlooks
The old manner of the stranger re-appeared.
in cities were surrounded by strangers constantly- goes back to the idea of anonymity
modest young girls returning from long and late labor to a cheerlesshome, and shrinking more tearfully than indignantly from the glances of ruffians
Links to our discussions of what a woman did in a city before it was common to be a single woman living in the city alone - was basically a mixture between going to work and returning home
Icould frequently read, even in that brief interval of a glance, the history of long years.
Connects to the idea of reading versus writing the city. For some reason, in only a peculiar state, he gained the power to read the city and indulge in its history. He gets to be a spectator of this city's individuals.
There were many individuals of dashing appearance, whom I easily understood as belongingto the race of swell pick-pockets with which all great cities are infested.
Reminds me of the Confidence Man, but also the Young Man's Guide----Both the Confidence Man and this excerpt describe how the men of "dashing appearance" are crafty and know what to do to steal from you. ----Both the Young Man's Guide and this excerpt discuss the dangers of the city and how one cannot trust everyone.
Still all were distinguished by a certain soddenswarthiness of complexion, a filmy dimness of eye, and pallor and compression of lip. There weretwo other traits, moreover, by which I could always detect them;
Unlike the protagonist of the Benjamin Baker story, this narrator has been around for awhile, and can recognize the threats of the city
By far the greater number of those who went by had a satisfied business-like demeanor, andseemed to be thinking only of making their way through the press.
Reminiscent of De Certeau--navigating a city is repetitive and unconscious
For some months I had been ill in health, but was nowconvalescent, and, with returning strength, found myself in one of those happy moods which are soprecisely the converse of ennui—moods of the keenest appetency, when the film from the mentalvision departs
Reminds me of Alcott's warnings of catching disease's from, the masses
It was the most noisome quarter ofLondon, where every thing wore the worst impress of the most deplorable poverty, and of the mostdesperate crime. By the dim light of an accidental lamp, tall, antique, worm-eaten, woodentenements were seen tottering to their fall, in directions so many and capricious that scarce thesemblance of a passage was discernible between them.
interesting to see the layout of London. I feel like poe is giving his own cultural map of the city like in unfathomable city. As the text continues (which hypothesis didn't let me highlight for some reason) he mentions the transition from a run down area to the more livley human populated area where "human life revived" and he comes to a temples and palaces. This is interesting to the layout of the city and the proximity between developed and underdeveloped.
This old man," I said at length, "is the type and the genius of deepcrime.
Poe seems to admire the genius mind of the characters he creates. This genius contrasts the genius of Dupin in "Murderers of the Morgue". How does the way Poe displays the genius of a character reflect modernism or realism in his art?
As he proceeded, the company grew more scattered, and his old uneasiness and vacillationwere resumed. For some time he followed closely a party of some ten or twelve roisterers; but fromthis number one by one dropped off, until three only remained together, in a narrow and gloomylane little frequented.
This makes me think of all the people that surround me when I walk on the street everyday. Poe does a good job of envisioning social groupings on the street in a realism sense
The wild effects of the light enchained me to an examination of individual faces; andalthough the rapidity with which the world of light flitted before the window, prevented me fromcasting more than a glance upon each visage
Stole the anonymity of the ones being observed.
modest young girls returning from long and late labor to a cheerlesshome, and shrinking more tearfully than indignantly from the glances of ruffians,
Relates to Collie's analysis of de Certeau - the dangers of the city for a woman.
as if feeling insolitude on account of the very denseness of the company around.
Is this an example of or a coutnerexample to the idea of anonymity?
At no moment did he seethat I watched him.
The anonymity of the city serving as an advantage when observing and speculating.
The street was a narrow and long one, and his course lay withinit for nearly an hour, during which the passengers had gradually diminished to about that numberwhich is ordinarily seen at noon in Broadway near the Park—so vast a difference is there between aLondon populace and that of the most frequented American city.
The comparison of city populations and the ways that the city inhabitants behave in their differing cities. Is London more restless than New York? What does that say about the British and about the Americans?
"How wild a history," I said to myself, "is written within that bosom!"
The experiences people have stay with them as they "write" the city, and inadvertently affect and influence how others "write" the city, too.
With my brow to the glass, I was thus occupied in scrutinizing the mob,
Seems like a sort of wordplay, where he is scrutinizing the "mob" under a magnifying glass, since he picks them apart by placing judgments upon them based on every aspect of their appearance.
As the night deepened, so deepened to me the interest of the scene; for not only did thegeneral character of the crowd materially alter (its gentler features retiring in the gradual withdrawalof the more orderly portion of the people, and its harsher ones coming out into bolder relief, as thelate hour brought forth every species of infamy from its den,) but the rays of the gas-lamps, feebleat first in their struggle with the dying day, had now at length gained ascendancy, and threw overevery thing a fitful and garish lustre. All was dark yet splendid
I have observed firsthand that at nighttime, the city transforms - everything looks different. The fact that this is a common and somewhat startling and exciting observation is really interesting to me.
I looked at the passengers inmasses, and thought of them in their aggregate relations. Soon, however, I descended to details, andregarded with minute interest the innumerable varieties of figure, dress, air, gait, visage, andexpression of countenance.
A modernist method of looking at people... then an anti-modernist view of looking at people.
At this particular period of the evening I had never before been in a similar situation, andthe tumultuous sea of human heads filled me, therefore, with a delicious novelty of emotion.
This overwhelming emotion that overcomes a person who has never seen so many people in one urban setting - similar to how most people feel when they visit NYC for the first time.
With a cigar in mymouth and a newspaper in my lap, I had been amusing myself for the greater part of the afternoon,now in poring over advertisements, now in observing the promiscuous company in the room, andnow in peering through the smoky panes into the street.
He has been entertaining himself by being a spectator for most of the afternoon.
And, as the shades of the second evening came on, Igrew wearied unto death, and, stopping fully in front of the wanderer, gazed at him steadfastly inthe face. He noticed me not, but resumed his solemn walk, while I, ceasing to follow, remainedabsorbed in contemplation.
Step back from modernistic thought. Creates an old scene
His clothes, generally, were filthy and ragged; but as he came, now andthen, within the strong glare of a lamp, I perceived that his linen, although dirty, was of beautifultexture; and my vision deceived me, or, through a rent in a closely-buttoned and evidently second-handed roquelaire which enveloped him, I caught a glimpse both of a diamond and of a dagger
What is the diamond and the dagger here? Meticulous examination is seen through the narrator. Modernist interpretation seen
Setting aside a certain dapperness of carriage, which may be termeddeskism for want of a better word, the manner of these persons seemed to me an exact fac-simile ofwhat had been the perfection of bon ton about twelve or eighteen months before. They wore thecast-off graces of the gentry;—and this, I believe, involves the best definition of the class.
Observing the characteristics of the young men allows the narrator to make judgements and generalizations about their manner
Descending in the scale of what is termed gentility, I found darker and deeper themes forspeculation
Finds more negative aspects and people as he looks and describes more closely. He's painting a picture that the reader would have a negative feeling towards, but he seems to feel indifferent about it
I descended to details, andregarded with minute interest the innumerable varieties of figure, dress, air, gait, visage, andexpression of countenance.
Is able to observe the people more individually, after just looking at them at them superficially.
Luckily I wore apair of caoutchouc over-shoes, and could move about in perfect silence. At no moment did he seethat I watched him.
speaks to animosity in the city. Somebody can easily blend in to the crowd
Therewere the junior clerks of flash houses—young gentlemen with tight coats, bright boots, well-oiledhair, and supercilious lips.
interesting how people can think that they know someones life story by people watching. Based on the clothes they wear.
I looked at the passengers inmasses, and thought of them in their aggregate relations.
I think this is similar to the way that Moses looks at the public.
It will be in vain to follow;for I shall learn no more of him, nor of his deeds.
to me, Poe's tactic of following people in order to understand them emerges as a more active way of reading the city. Instead of viewing the city from a distance he immerses himself in it.
The gamblers, of whom I descried not a few, were still more easily recognisable.
The structure of the story so far is reminiscent of Alcott's The Young Man's Guide, as he lists the kinds of people he sees.
This old man," I said at length, "is the type and the genius of deepcrime. He refuses to be alone. [page 228:] He is the man of the crowd.
This is kinda dope. Usually we think of criminals being good because they can get away from the scene of the crime really fast, but this man was good at what he did because he always made sure he was covered by a blanket of strangers, as to ensure that he's always an unknown and anonymous no matter where he is. One of the benefits of city life: anonymity.
The division of the upper clerks of staunch firms, or of the "steady old fellows," it was notpossible to mistake.
So far, we can see that Poe is a true realist, describing the events and attire of what is around him, instead of trying to get the reader to conform to his own thoughts
This change of weather had an odd effect upon the crowd, the whole of which wasat once put into new commotion, and overshadowed by a world of umbrellas.
How does weather affect the city and city life? Not just through function, but also appearance (light, etc.)?
still it seemed that, in my then peculiar mental state, Icould frequently read, even in that brief interval of a glance, the history of long years.
he is reading the people as a way of understanding their past and the past in general. is this actually possible given the short intervals at which he sees these people? I do like the idea that there is more to a "glance" at someone, but maybe this is looking a little too closely at something? He could falsely interpret someone?
I descended to details, andregarded with minute interest the innumerable varieties of figure, dress, air, gait, visage, andexpression of countenance.
Poe is a spectator here, but because he is involved with and at the level of the people, he also serves as part of the spectacle.
the tumultuous sea of human heads
viewing the streets as the sea; there is an order within the disorder of the movements, or waves, of people
As the night deepened, so deepened to me the interest of the scene; for not only did thegeneral character of the crowd materially alter (its gentler features retiring in the gradual withdrawalof the more orderly portion of the people, and its harsher ones coming out into bolder relief, as thelate hour brought forth every species of infamy from its den,) but the rays of the gas-lamps, feebleat first in their struggle with the dying day, had now at length gained ascendancy, and threw overevery thing a fitful and garish lustre. All was dark yet splendid—as that ebony to which has beenlikened the style of Tertullian.
I find the night in the city description really interesting. I think it's one of the more romanticized but also feared aspects of urban life. His diction and tone contradicts itself through out the passage, maybe reflecting that tension?
There were many individuals of dashing appearance, whom I easily understood as belongingto the race of swell pick-pockets with which all great cities are infested. I watched these gentry withmuch inquisitiveness, and found it difficult to imagine how they should ever be mistaken forgentlemen by gentlemen themselves. Their voluminousness of wristband, with an air of excessivefrankness, should betray them at once. The gamblers, of whom I descried not a few, were still more easily recognisable.
Like the confidence men depicted in the 19th century texts we looked at (pickpockets and gamblers); Poe doesn't seem to look at it super negatively though, more just as a reality of urban life that you have to accept
London. For some months I had been ill in health, but was nowconvalescent, and, with returning strength, found myself in one of those happy moods which are soprecisely the converse of ennui—moods of the keenest appetency, when the film from the mentalvision departs
kind of like Didion; she was sick when she first arrived in the city but her health improved as she grew attached to it
He moves about like someone who knows his way around the plac
why would he know his way around the place so well? makes him suspicious
It does away with all the drapery that a crime represents. Only the armature remains: the pursuer, the crowd, and a~ unknown man who manages to walk--throu-gh 'Lonero; in sucl\ a way that he always remains i~th;;-;;;:acile~O:fihe"crowd'
this x-ray view makes the detective story a bit more interesting. it makes it more mysterious
n times of terror, when everyone is something of a conspirator, "'.}1 "'"~~-'everybody will be in the position of having to play detective.
shows the human nature of distrust in times of terror. could be related to what is going on in the world today. people are scared and want to find the person to blame
On the other hand, if a loud noise or a whistle from a distant factory happens to hit his ear, if he so much as hears the monotonous clattering of the machines in a fac-tory, his face immediately brightens.
The instinct and mind of the worker never changes, even if you take the worker out of the environment. You can take the worker out of the work but not the work out of the worker.
The arcades are something between a street and an intCrieur. If one can say that the physiologies~employ;.--n-.r!isti~-device;itisthe proven device of the feuilleton-namely, the transformation of the boulevard into an int&k~·'y~~~QecOmes a dwelling plac;&;r the flineur; he is as much at home amongJ~.-~es as a citiz;n is within hi£follr walls.
Creating a parallel between public space and home. Common emotions and mindset in both locations.
nterpersonal relationships '~ ,j~ /!. fl in big cities are distinguished by ?-marked preponderance of visual ;} .; activity over aural activity. The main reason for this is the public ~ ·,.-J, me;:~SO£ transi)or-t.itlOil. Before the development of buses, railroadS, Jr.::?:i and trams in the nineteenth century, people had never been in situa-.;.~ j tions where they had to look at one another for long minutes or even hours without speaking to on~ther."
Although big cities like NY have public transportation which places strangers together for long periods of time, people usually do not converse on trains, buses, etc. The city provided us with these machines that gather people of all classes and backgrounds together, but people still choose anonymity over interpersonal connections.
he occupation is often full of interest; and he whoattempts it for the first time is astonished by the apparently illimitable distanceand incoherence between the starting-point and the goal.
reaching the goal always has obstacles and takes longer than you thought. Reminded me of what people anticipate about making it in the city. They have a big dream and think it's going to be easy, until they see how many other people just like them are trying to make it too
Yet to calculate is not in itself to analyze.
calculating only brushes the surface, but does not go into depth
This young gentlemanwas of an excellent —indeed of an illustrious family, but, by a variety ofuntoward events, had been reduced to such poverty that the energy of hischaracter succumbed beneath it, and he ceased to bestir himself in the world, orto care for the retrieval of his fortunes.
reminds me of the question about moving to bade neighborhoods. reverse gentrified
At the first dawn of the morning we closed all the massy shuttersof our old building; lighted a couple of tapers which, strongly perfumed, threwout only the ghastliest and feeblest of rays. By the aid of these we then busiedour souls in dreams —reading, writing, or conversing, until warned by the clockof the advent of the true Darkness.
Very descriptive of how they avoided daylight - refers back to the book nature of Paris (mentioned in previous comment) and getting lost in time - need clock to bring them back to reality.
On the hearth were thick tresses —very thick tresses —of grey human hair.
Why wouldn't you mention that at the beginning??? That is so crazy incredibly important??? Like, obviously it was personal because she wasn't robbed (of valuables at least) and she was literally decapitated, but finding DNA (I kno they didn't really know what DNA was back then because it was discovered in the very late 1860s) of ANYONE who was at the scene is DIREEEEEEEE.
Could not make out what was said, but believed the language to beSpanish.
Diverse, like cities encouraged!! They encouraged the intermingling of different cultures, which is reflected right here! It'd be immediately strange to hear a different tongue than what you're used to in a small town.
two bags, containingnearly four thousand francs in gold
interesting.........it wasn't a robbery because they left so much money on the floor......so what was the cause of the muder!??!?!?!
He considers the mode of assorting the cards in each hand
It's really kind of cool to read this, and realize that cities obviously had a huge impact on the life of people across the world, but also see that cities created so much new culture that didn't exist prior to them, such as the detective story. I would've thought that this genre was muchhhhh older than it actually is, and it's the anonymity of the city that led to this style being established and so prominent in society, today.
His manner atthese moments was frigid and abstract; his eyes were vacant in expression; whilehis voice, usually a rich tenor, rose into a treble which would have soundedpetulantly but for the deliberateness and entire distinctness of the enunciation
I feel like the analytic ability of Dupin could be related to modernist or realist art. It seems as though he is so analytical and notices the little things that he sees all of life in a realist (simplistic) way, even if a situation is hard to decipher and details usually go unnoticed, such as a modernist painting or the situation of the murder later on in the story. I think when living in a city, there is a higher degree of analytic ability people have just from naturally seeing so many details around everything almost every second of the day.
The Frenchman supposes it thevoice of a Spaniard, and ‘might have distinguished some words had he beenacquainted with the Spanish.’ The Dutchman maintains it to have been that of aFrenchman; but we find it stated that ‘not understanding French this witnesswas examined through an interpreter.’ The Englishman thinks it the voice of aGerman, and ‘does not understand German.’ The Spaniard ‘is sure’ that it wasthat of an Englishman, but ‘judges by the intonation’ altogether, ‘as he has noknowledge of the English.’ The Italian believes it the voice of a Russian, but ‘hasnever conversed with a native of Russia.’
I find this to be a very true aspect about society that Poe points out. So many people will assume cultural traits without any background knowledge. True that people think they know more then they do, and make pre-existing assumptions without all the evidence of a situation or background of a person
The impossibility of egress, by means already stated, being thusabsolute, we are reduced to the windows
The story keeps narrowing it down, however is written in such a way that the curiosity of the reader keeps building. It is interesting to see how a story is unfolded backward through clues.
Our first meeting was at an obscure library in the Rue Montmartre, where theaccident of our both being in search of the same very rare and very remarkablevolume, brought us into closer communion. We saw each other again and again.
We talked about how strange it would be to begin talking to a complete stranger in the city, but at the same time their repeat meetings may make it less odd to strike up a conversation. Is there a difference between meeting someone in an "obscure library" and a park?
dwell
Double meaning of dwell
It was a freak of fancy in my friend (for what else shall I call it?) to be enamoredof the Night for her own sake; and into this bizarrerie, as into all his others, Iquietly fell; giving myself up to his wild whims with a perfect abandon.
Contributes to the narrative that the city is a bizarre place of unusual circumstances and experiences.
Rue Montmartre
I've noticed that city writers are more likely to include the street where an occurrence takes place. Maybe there's something about city living the grounds experiences in location.
It will found, in fact, that the ingenious are always fanciful, and thetruly imaginative never otherwise than analytic
Urban planners exemplify this - both inventive and analytical.
Then we sallied forth into the streets, armand arm, continuing the topics of the day, or roaming far and wide until a latehour, seeking, amid the wild lights and shadows of the populous city, thatinfinity of mental excitement which quiet observation can afford.
An interesting juxtaposition of the roles of spectator and actual inhabitant of the city, "writer" of the street in the terms of de Certeau.
We existed within ourselves alone.
The pair created a sense of community in the city without any true community, just the two of them.
The constructive or combining power, by which ingenuityis usually manifested, and which the phrenologists (I believe erroneously) haveassigned a separate organ, supposing it a primitive faculty, has been sofrequently seen in those whose intellect bordered otherwise upon idiocy, as tohave attracted general observation among writers on morals.
Continued Modernist themes seen here
Our player confines himself not at all; nor, because the game is the object, doeshe reject deductions from things external to the game. He examines thecountenance of his partner, comparing it carefully with that of each of hisopponents
In depth analysis of people in the piece. Modernist views
The necessaryknowledge is that of what to observe.
Modernist thinking seen here
’I am innocent; I ampoor; my Ourang-Outang is of great value —to one in my circumstances afortune of itself —why should I lose it through idle apprehensions of danger?
the ending seems far fetched and slightly humorous..i wonder if Poe intended it that way
Ordinary assassins employ no such modes of murderas this.
Dupin seems to be much more invested in the case then the police. He has very clear thoughts and is able to decipher a situation
“We must not judge of the means,” said Dupin, “by this shell of an examination.The Parisian police, so much extolled for acumen, are cunning, but no more
it does not seem like Dupin trusts the police
in a stylewhich suited the rather fantastic gloom of our common temper
this is an interesting connection to dwelling. We've discussed in class how our surroundings effect our moods and actions.
the chimneys of all the rooms onthe fourth story were too narrow to admit the passage of a human being
is this because of a lack of space?
Our seclusion was perfect. We admitted no visitors. Indeed the locality ofour retirement had been carefully kept a secret from my own former associates;and it had been many years since Dupin had ceased to know or be known inParis. We existed within ourselves alone.
forced anonymity in the city
Books, indeed, were his sole luxuries, and in Paris these are easily obtained.
interesting to think about the function of intellectuals in a city. what cities carry the image of places harboring these types of people? I certainly view Paris and many European cities as locations of intellectuals, but in American cities, I never really think of that.
Never conversed with a native of Russia
I find the multi nationality component interesting, it's kind of darkly humorous. It's also kind of scary how it causes this inability for communication/different understandings of events...
Residing in Paris during the spring and part of the summer of 18__, I therebecame acquainted with a Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin
the story is set in Paris so maybe it's not that the detective stories have to be set in the US...maybe Poe's experiences with American cities though informed this form though (He lived in Baltimore in NYC if I'm not mistaken)?
Considered the first detective story, this work made Poe the only American toever invent a form of literature
I find it interesting that detective stories originated in the US/in American cities; we haven't really looked at European cities but Iwonder if there's a difference in the ambiance/history that caused these narratives to emerge
~~nderstood the ~~111-~~l~l'.llb!ic wo':!;~ public spectacle.
this goes along with the theme of utopia
Moses was destroyin~-.. 2?~.-~ld, yet he seemed to be Working in tlie name of values that we. 0'-;'.E,----~--c--d ---~ Selves em~
he may have been working in the name, but not each name, just the collective name
modern men
gender specific; enforces the question of who the subject of the text is supposed to be
It is easy to dwell endlessly on Moses' personal power and style. But thiS emphaSis tends to obscure one of the primary sources of hJS vast authority: his ability to convince a ma~s public that.he was (It!'" vehid.:.,?f impersonal world-h!storical forces, the mq_yl!,1g. "ii??rit 1.?1 mOde~':uty. For forty yean, he was able to pre-empt the vision ol the mOdem.
In result, Moses did achieve success and get his ideas across to the public through his modernistic views
M_<:>s~~ di!!.llil'.J:>~st,':'>_,!aiseJlJ.'!!.se!f t~mnti~ stature, and even_~_am~~ .. --!9_£!!iqy_his increasing r~tat~on as_? i11Q~. Which lie'bebeved would intimidate the public and keep potentialOppo-nents out of the way.
Moses believed his skill and ability to create modernistic plans for cities would allow him to come out on top
They looked numbly at the wreckers, at the disappearing streets, at each other, and they went. Moses was coming through, and no temporal or spiritual power could block his way.
Moses' influence and ideas were not to be combatted or attempted to be turned down
dwell
Funny how he accidentally stumbles on our conversation about the two definitions of the word "to dwell."
j_:.,_~ (You had to an . . . . ._h_h .. e ...... r-e t()'01fsCti1ie destrucuon. humanistic tnump . -...... --------------:---------__ ... __ _
Emphasizes the dehumanizing aspect to the modernist movement.
cally as ~.b_Qlic expressi9n~_()f ... rnQd~r.o.ity: Central Par
Its interesting to think about Olmstead and Vaux' perspective as modernity. I don't think they would have agreed with the modernist movement in urban planning, especially as it moves away from the individual and focuses on the masses.
j:uts_;;Jte nourished nOt only a renewal of feminism but also an !(1_::!~~-~mgly ;id~~read male. realization that. yes. women had s~:a!l.s:Jh.lng to tel!' us about~ the city and the life we shared,_ an!!__th;>!_~J!;:d i~~hed ou~ own· lives as well as thein ... QLJI_?!Jislef.!ffi.&. to !11emUJinow~
Jacobs changed the way women were seen in many eyes in regards to dwelling in the city.
Thus we had no way to resist ~~e_wl!eels~~ove the American-dream, h~ause.•twasdnv~il_g us ()Uj:~_s!Y.,~n t.!!_ough we knew the whe~ls mtght br~. us.
"The wheels might break us" the risk of leaving where you came from---losing/sacrificing part of oneself to achieve the "american dream"---"we had no way to resist" as if leaving humble beginnings is a requirement to succeed
because they had some vis!on of the work as a w,li~a!'laTlclkved in its value to the community~o~ wnlcn_!Oey w3~_!!J?irt·:
idea similar to Mose's---working hard, not because the physical work was enjoyable but because it would lead to bettering the community, "of which they were a part of it". Instead of being a spectator, they rather be a part of the creation of the spectacle.
"You can't make an ome-lette without breaking eggs
is it possible to develop a successful neighborhood, city, or society without breaking anything? This relates back to the quote about nihilism at the beginning.
n th~ fate of "all mism of the modern econom -met mto air. The Innate dyna-this economy, annihilates ev:; ~~d of the ~ulture that grows from vironments, social institutions y m:~gp~ha~ ~~ ~~eates-physical en-moral values-in order to ' ysica 1 eas, arttstic visions h create more to go 00 dl 1 ' t e world anew. This driv d II '.' en . ess y creating I. b. .
What does this say about our world today? How does development effect the natural world and people? Is it a god thing that everything gets destroyed to be rebuilt?
If we compare New York with Istanbul, we may ~y that the one is a cataclysm, and the other a terrestrial paradise: New -York is exciting' and upsetting:....S_o are.th~ ~Ips;~:?~ a tempest; so is a battle. New York is not be~andlf it stimu· lares our practical activities, it wounds our sense of happiness ....
Paradoxical; New York can be exciting and upsetting at the same time
Moses seeme , d' completion .. if urban e~_ess-. f th Cross-Bronx roa s ' ~·--~·""_, __ : . shonlv a ter e ------~,-.,..r~---=0 e-m·-, he rephed •m---~------··-;--~ ,p snPctat numan pr{}uu , ~--~ ways hke th1s dtan t P'!~~-~-----~----=-=-=--There'· a ~-------· -h--' , little hardship m tue tum g. , patiemly _t.l!.a.tc.:~e...s.."..~-. -~-·-:-. d "corripared with fiis ,.-,-.....,..-f . d ven that IS exaggerate . uule diScom _()1'.'._<1!1...::---·--h.-l---; the onl
Moses did not care who he harmed along the way, only for the greater good
Robert Moses is the man who made all this possible.
the innovator, the modernist
Ten minutes on this road, an ordeal for anyone, is especially dreadful for people, who remember the Bronx as it used to be: who-remember these neighborhoods as they once lived and thrived, until this road itself cut through their heart and made the Bronx, above all, a place to get out of. For children of theBronx Uke myself, thts road bears a load of speci .!!_o'!y: s we race throu h our childh,ood world, rushin to et o , teved to see ~nd in sight, we are not merely spectators but active partici-pants in the process of destruction that tears our hearts.
the parkway can symbolize the emotion and physical desires or capabilities to leave a city.
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How do people perform within this "theater?" How does New York influence how we conduct ourselves?
he entire-city became a 'abricated by man, o live inside fantasy. )• · d -r · .~. ..~-~ence w e real and nat
This is an interesting connection with our discussion of city planning and the idea of designing places. Considering the influence of city planning, do we have complete control of our emotions in a city?
llustrate the volatile behavior that is character-istic of city parks.
How do parks like Logan circle, for example, illustrate volatile behavior. It is thought in a way as the center and base of city, including Love Park, the fountain, and the art museum. It's an area that almost every Philadelphian has been to which shows that it links community in such a busy area.
More Open Space for what? For muggings? For bleak vac-uums between buildings? Or for ordinary people to use and en-joy? But people do not use city open space just because it is there and because city planners or designers wish they would.
people don't use the space as it is meant to be used. they tend to make it their own place. parks are used for many different things.
People ~r. uses. with mo~e money at their command, or greater respectability (m a credit society the two often go together), can fairly easily supplant those less prosperous or of less status, and commonly do so in city neigh. borhoods that ac?ieve popularity.
Class division and wealth affects the role people have in their own neighborhood
One of the bitterest disappointments in housing project history is the failure of the parks and open grounds in these establishments to increase adjacent values or to stabilize, let alone improve, their neighbor-hoods.
Parks don't add value to the surroundings but create a space for delinquency
Far in the past, Washington Square did have a good population of users. But although it is still the "same" park, its use and es-sence changed completely when its surroundings changed. Like all neighborhood parks, it is the creature of its surroundings and of the. way its surroundings generate mutual support from diverse uses, or fail to generate such support
users are constantly changing with time
nd consider also the parks that go to waste most of the time, just as Baltimore's beautiful Federal Hill does.
People may not utilize parks to their full advantages
The reason neighborhood parks reveal certain general prin-ciples about park behavior more clearly than specialized parks do is precisely that neighborhood parks are the most generalized form of city park that we possess.
Why would neighborhood parks be generalized? Wouldn't they be more specific to the neighborhood?
The ability of a neighborhood park to stimulate passionate at-tachment or, conversely, only apathy, seems to have little or noth-ing to do with the incomes or occupations of a population in a ~stri~t. ~s is an inferenc.e which can be drawn from the widely differmg mcome, occupanonal and cultural groups who are si-multaneously deeply attached to a park like New York's Wash-ington Square. The relationship of differing income classes to given parks can also sometimes be observed in sequence over time, either positively or negatively.
"How to Live in a City" really connects to so many parts of this text. Yet another quote that relates: "Why Washington Square Park is successful as an urban open space: so many different kinds of people find so many different things to do there." Washington Square Park values these differences and plays upon them with its location. It abides by the guidelines that a city is built around, "For the city is not built for one person, but for great numbers of people, of widely varying backgrounds, temperaments, classes and creeds..." according to Obraz Miatsa/Kevin Lynch's video, "Image of the City."
Every fine summer night, television sets can be seen outdoors, used publicly, on the busy old sidewalks of East Harlem. Each machine, its extension cord run along the sidewalk from some store's electric outlet, is the informal headquarters spot of a dozen or so men who divide their attention among the machine, the children they are in charge of, their cans of beer, each others' comments and the greetings of passers-by. Strangers stop, as they wish, to join the viewing. Nobody is concerned about peril to the machines.
Another connection to a quote from the video "How to Live in a City:" "Nobody has yet designed a city open space quite so universally used and appreciated as the stoop. It is both public and private. You aren't missing anything. By just sitting there, you have the feeling that you belong to the neighborhood, and it belongs to you." I find this interesting that people do not want to gather together indoors to watch television, but gather outdoors to involve their neighborhoods, too. Parks are very formal gathering spots and I believe that this is why the stoop works - it is informal and cozy and very friendly.
Conventionally, neighborhood parks or parklike open spaces are c~nsidered boons conferred on the deprived populations of cities. Let us turn this thought around, and consider city parks de-prived places that need the boon of life and appreciation conferred on them.
Connected to a quote in the video "How to Live in a City" from earlier in the semester: "People in the city have a desperate need to be a part of their surroundings, to personalize them... Neighborhood identity must be found beyond these bleak facades." People rely on these spaces just as much as the spaces rely on them; it is a very dependent relationship.
here is, however, one important exception to the rule that 1t rakes a ~ide functional mixture of users to populate and enliv~n a neighborhood park through the day.
Central Park fulfills this role, I think.
Does anything about this physical arrangement of the neighbor-hood affect the park physically? Yes. This mixture of uses of buildings directly produces for the park a mixture of users who enter and leave the park at different times. They use the park at different times from one another because their daily schedules differ. The park thus possesses an intricate sequence of uses and users
This is really interesting, I hadn't considered this before. An example of this could be the way in which socio-economic differences in neighborhoods affects visitation.
a lovely place of shade
It's interesting how the idea of shade has been repeated in our readings about parks: Olmstead and Vaux described their ideal Promenade as being shady.
"restoring the land to park use."
This is comparable to our class discussion of structure and landscape in parks. Although parks intend to reflect nature, the design of nature is always manipulated for a purpose, therefore it isn't completely natural and needs to be "restored"
In effect, this ts a crrcular arena, a theater in the round, and that is how it is used, with com-plete confusion as to who are spectators and who ar~ the show.
It is interesting how everyone in a park is on display for everyone else. This reminds me of De Certeu's Concept of Readers and Writers. The center of an Intricate park allows for many different stories to be told in different instances, just as people are writers when walking the street.
~e reverse seldom happens. People or uses W'lth less money at therr command, less choice or less open respectability move into already weakened areas of cities, neighborhoods that are no longer coveted by people with the luxury of choice, or neighborhoods that can draw for financ. ing only upon hot money, exploitative money and loan-shark money. The newcomers thereupon must try to make do with something which, for one reason or another, or more typically for a complexity of reasons, has already failed to sustain popular-ity. Overcrowding, deterioration, crime, and other forms of blight are surface symptoms of prior and deeper economic and func. tiona! failure of the district.
This is a connection to gentrification on most cities. The rich folks come in, and leave the poorer ones to scramble into areas where they all crowd together. As seen in Unfathomable City, when things like this happen it forces people into poverty which brings out even more overcrowding, deterioration and crime.
They use the park at different times from one another because their daily schedules differ. The park thus possesses an intricate sequence of uses and users
I thought of heavy park traffic like what heidegeer describes as "staying in things". A successful park allows for it to be inhabited at all times.
City people would have to devote themselves to park use as if it were a business (or as the leisured indigent do) to justify, for ex-~mple, t~e plethora of malls, promenades, playgrounds, parks and m~etermmate land oozes afforded in typical Radiant Garden C1ty schemes, and enforced in official urban rebuilding by strin-gent requirements that high percentages of land be left open.
shows how much space is valued in a city. people would have to prove how valuable greenery and land is for them to not build more buildings
iffer much within them-selves from part to part, and they also receive differing influ-ences from the different parts of their cities which they touch
interesting how much diversity can exists within parks. Even in the same city (WSP is extremely different then Central Park)
Therefore, Washington Square, of necessity, is a vacuum most of the day and evening.
From this statement, a park gets a whole new practicality. Instead of them being a nice place to relax or enjoy nature, now, they serve as a way to migrate traffic through cities that would be too crowded to do on regular streets. They're empty space.
Does anything about this physical arrangement of the neighbor-hood affect the park physically? Yes. This mixture of uses of buildings directly produces for the park a mixture of users who enter and leave the park at different times.
I've never thought about it like this, but what's surrounding the park is directly important, because it affects the traffic flow and who uses the park for what reasons at what times
The worst problem parks are located pre.cisely wh.ere ~eople do not pass by and likely ~eyer will .
I'm not sure this is entirely accurate?
Unpopular parks are troubling not only because of the waste and missed opportunities they imply, but also because of their frequent negative effects. They have the same problems as streets without eyes, and their dangers spill over into the areas surround-·ng so that streets along such parks become known as danger 1 Ia~es too and are avoided.
Think about the overwhelming police presence on streets surrounding unpopular parks; this is certainly a reaction to the danger they inspire.
But people do not use city open space just because it is there and because city planners or designers wish they would.
relates to our discussion on using space as it was not originally prescribed
They tend to run to extremes of popu-larity and unpopularity
This is extremely true; when walking within a mile of my dorm, I encounter probably 5 or 6 parks, with 3 or 4 nearly vacant and Washington Square and Union Square overflowing with people. I think size and monuments play a part in this, as people are visually stimulated by the arch but do not care for the benches or walkways found in other parks. How much do size and visual stimulation play a part in the popularity of parks?
Too much is expected of city parks. Far from transforming any essential quality in their surroundings, far from automatically up-lifting their neighborhoods, neighborhood parks themselves are directly and drastically affected by the way the neighborhood acts upon them.
haha thats what i said :) Maybe this isn't because of a fault of the neighborhood or the park but the positioning of it within the community/the neighborhood grew out in a way that the park ended up being unable to accommodate?
arks are not automatically anything, and least of all are these volatile elements stabilizers of values or of their neighborhoods and districts. Philadelphia affords almost a controlled experiment on this point. When Penn laid out the city, he placed at its center the square now occupied by City Hall, and at equal distances from this center he placed four residential squares. What has become of these four, all the same age, the same size, the same original use, and as nearly the same in presumed advantages of location as they could be made? Their fates are wildly different.
Ironically, the parks are more informed by their surroundings than they help to inform the area around the; contradicts common urban planning practice
Mr. Moses conceded that some new housing might be 'ugly, regi-mented, institutional, identical, conformed, faceless.' But he suggested that such housing could be surrounded with parks
This reference demonstrates how parks can be used as justification for building aesthetically unappealing cheap housing by urban planners who adopt a top down approach. They believe that any park they create will please that community while Jacobs take a more nuanced approach
More Open Space for what? For muggings? For bleak vac-uums between buildings? Or for ordinary people to use and en-joy?
This is so tru!!! Like, what is the open space for? Why do we need extra open space? What comfort do we find in having more open space around us, especially in such a tightly knit city like New York? These aren't questions generally asked, because this response is usually just accepted silently.
Unpopular parks are troubling not only because of the waste and missed opportunities they imply, but also because of their frequent negative effects. They have the same problems as streets without eyes, and their dangers spill over into the areas surround-·ng so that streets along such parks become known as danger 1 Ia~es too and are avoided.
This reminds me of the question of whether or not streets should be designed for socialization or for buildings considering that socialization can be harmful.
The first necessity in understanding how cities and their parks influence each other is to jettison confusion between real uses and mythical uses-for example, the science-fiction nonsense that parks are "the lungs of the city." It takes about three acres of woods to absorb as much carbon dioxide as four people exude in breathing, cooking and heating. The oceans of air circulating about us, not parks, keep cities from suffocating. •
This offers a more literal reading to the "lungs of the city" statement than the more metaphorical one that could be ascribed.
In orthodox city planning, neighborhood open spaces are ven. erated in an amazingly uncritical fashion, much as savages vener-ate magical fetishes. •
Goes against ideas seen in previous readings that suggest that a large amount of planning goes into the creation of open spaces.
Most of the land around the city was in private hands and closed to them. ~o th~ north, in Westc~ester County, there were indeed public parks, the rollmg hills and green playm~ fields they sought, but Westchester had barred its parks to anyone not a restdent of _the county.
Neighborhoods separating themselves physically, seen through the use of parks
Fo_r m!lhons of New ":'" ork fathers, fuanks to the machine parked near their door, no longer did a Sunday outing have to be to a Bowery beer garden or a hard-surfaced play-ground framed by the grimy buildings that they saw every day. Suddenly, it could be to grassy meadows beneath expanses of blue s~y, perhaps eve~ to white sand and sparkling surf.
Cars resulting from the assembly line expand horizons for people coming from limited means
Before World War I, a seventy-hour factory week had been common; in 1920, the average was sixty hours; in 1929, just before the Crash, it would be forty-eight
Decreased number of hours from introduction of assembly line. Good or bad?
They needed vast acreage in order that their castles could be set far enough back from public roads so that they would not have to see the public
Why do you think the rich people wanted to control so much and hide from everything at the same time? Is their purpose to make others worse off? How does this effect the masses in the city? I'm confused by the rich peoples actions
And if, somehow, the parks were created, how would people get to them? Long highways would be required, and their rights-of-way would necessarily cross hundreds, if not thousands, of different properties, and that meant hundreds, if not thousands, of landowners who would be ready to fight, and that would mean hundreds and thousands of additional con-demnation proceedings. The reformers realized that even in the unlikely event that they won on Long Island, that they actually succeeded in unhorsing the powerful barons, they wouldn't know _'Yhat to do with their victory.
I feel like today's world is the exact opposite of this time. We see so much construction in the city that goes far beyond playgrounds and many parks are developed. It seems as though there is more construction here than in the open land where the rich people live outside the city
Increasingly, the eyes of the city's masses-and of the reformers in-terested in providing parks for iliem-were turning to the east. The east was Long Island
While other cities expand outward and grow, New York is limited by its size and cannot expand further. Thus, the city bleeds over into neighboring areas.
The beach could be reached only by a road that crossed an adjacent privately owned property, but the federal government had purchased a~ easement for public use of that road.
Was this an attempt to make the beach more public, or to control the beach?
Parks had always been a concern of reformers who were fond of referring to the need for "breathing spaces for the slums" or "lungs for the city," and the agitation for increased respiratory facilities in New York-generally for playgrounds in low-income areas-had been long and insistent. But other reform causes had been pressed with more urgency. With so
Relates to our conversation about the true motives for park constructing. They were presented as gifts to the less fortunate but were often built by the wealthy with the wealthy's interest in mind.
Distrusting anyone "from away," the baymen distrusted especially any-one from New York.
How can anyone hate a place they've never been to?
Other matters, it had seemed, should take precedence. There would be time to get to parks.
Why do other matters automatically take precedence over nature?
Their newly acquired leisure time and the mobility to use It to c~nquer space meant, to the urban masses of America, some~h~ng very particular. The countryside was no longer inaccessible.
Before the rise of new technology, including automobiles, to city residents, the countryside, open lands, and beaches were just inaccessible space. However, now that more families own cars, they are no longer trapped in the boundaries of the city and can explore to make those open spaces, places of value.
And the pencil kept sketching. The mind leaped on. It took as its compass not an island but a state.
The motivation and creation of these city "reformers" and planners are highlighted in this passage, as they strive to create something bigger than an idea and change a landscape completely.
Now red bricks, like those that had imprisoned the Lower East Side in tenements, were being cemented into walls in Brooklyn's remaining green fields,
"Imprisoned" has negative connotations and exposes the author's tone towards city expansion
Parks had always been a concern of reformers who were fond of referring to the need for "breathing spaces for the slums"
Connects to my point in class on Monday about city planners believing they know "what is best" for the public, and how we are always in search of a solution to dwelling.
e officials they controlled allowed all public roads not needed for their own access to their estates to fall into disrepair to discourage public use.
Another example of how city planning is used to shape how people use a spae.
hese were the men who, during the "Middle Ages of American in-dustry," the half century of unbridled industrial expansion following the Civil War, had harnessed America's vast mineral resources and tapped its long-stored capital to create needed industrial growth but who, to turn that growth into personal wealth, had stationed themselves at the "narrow~" of production, the key points of production and distribution, and exacted tnbute from the nation.
Interesting how it's still like this today - the rich business tycoons run New York and the legislature.
o de~per.ate we~e New York's masses that they made the trip anyway -m steadily mcreasmg numbers.
This is interesting given what we know about the cost of public transportation back then.
e said he would like the job.
i like the ending
ou could play golf there on a k . other golfers on the whole wee end and If there were two calls Robert Hollins the so cou;se, yo~ considered the place crowded," re-empty."
so different from the overpopulated nature of NYC
Less than thirty miles from the borders of New York City, the baymen lived in a world that resembled nothing so much as the remote fog banks of Nova Scotia
interesting how different things are just a little bit out of New York City
The huddled masses of New Y ?rk City had a far more powerful enemy. It was wealth-vast, entrenched, Im-pregnable wealth-and the power that went with it.
How has the concept of wealth played a part in the shaping of New York and other urban cities? How does it aid to the dynamic power structure at play? We haven't really looked at this yet.
They could esc~pe the Cit~, and, mo~e Im-portant, they could free their children for a t~me from Its clutc~es, they could take them boating and hiking and campmg, ~ould. ro~m With them through fields and forests, sprawl with them eatmg picntc lunches on blankets. They could let them do the things that they t?emselves h~d done so seldom when they were children.
Having the potential to escape does not always lead to exercising that opportunity; in actuality, the fact of having that opportunity oftentimes leads to a sedentary lifestyle. "there's always next weekend" comes to mind when reading these sentences.
lungs for the city,
goes along with the idea that congestion and crowdedness in urban environments can cause stress, and that escaping to a natural setting allows for potential relaxation and reflection
Law? What do I care for law? Hain't I got the power?" and J. P. Morgan's "I owe the public nothing."
Points to the not so subtle influence of wealthy interests in urban politics; if this was the mindset of so many of the influential shapers of the urban landscape in its early years, some residue of this attitude must continue to exist
Before the eyes of America a bright new world of mass leisure was unfolding.
It was only a new world of mass leisure from the perspective of those high up enough in the mass production chain; lower level laborers were not afforded the same luxuries ---> limits of the scope of the argument?
he population of New York City had increased from 4,766,883 to 5,62o,o48 between 1910 and 1920, and now, in the Twenties, the rate of increase was accelerating, and most of it was occurring outside Manhattan.
The rapid population increase in NYC caused parks to be put on hold in order to address the need to create residential buildings; he sort of seems to throw this out resentfully...maybe this reinforces the idea of parks as a bourgeois?
everyone was for parks.
It's a little sad that we will never experience the world as it was when it needed parks, because now, even if someone were to look for areas to establish parks, there is literally no territory anymore that's free. Everything has already been taken over.
The North Shore stood impregnable against the importunings of the masses
I like the way this is worded. It remained "impregnable" because there was no way that people could get in, but I'd never think to describe a location as "pregnable" or not. It's funny and i dig it!! Gives the location a humanizing characteristic, which makes it reflect that a place is created by the people who own it.
The northern tip of Long Island's 9!en Cove peninsula was Morgan's estate
dis where my gma live
And to keep such intruders away, their township boards had created, on every piece of publicly owned waterfront property that might con-ceivably attract visitors from the city, "parks" whose exclusive use was by statute reserved to township residents.
I like how this is pretty much the literal origin story for why Long Islanders suck so much. they mad boring & pretentious
F. Scott Fitzgerald would think that "for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity to wonder."
I really like this historical and geographical context of places outside of city, because it's really cool to read about the inspiration and factual knowledge that led to the development of these places, and even established iconic culture like "The Great Gatsby" and such.
They could let them do the things that they t?emselves h~d done so seldom when they were children.
There's kind of this recurring trend amongst NYC, especially, where there's always a need for more and to add things to ensure a "better life" for the latter generation.
There was a reason for the size of their fiefs, for their willingness to buy :-and, year after year, to pay taxes on-hundreds of acres that they kept m woods and never used.
It's interesting that the accumulation of space is still associated with wealth in the city. Today, however, it's connected with square footage instead of land.
They could esc~pe the Cit~, and, mo~e Im-portant, they could free their children for a t~me from Its clutc~es, they could take them boating and hiking and campmg, ~ould. ro~m With them through fields and forests, sprawl with them eatmg picntc lunches on blankets.
I wonder if the parks in the city are actually fulfilling their purpose today? I know that a lot of people make the conscious decision of moving out of the city when they decide to have a family.
arks had always been a concern of reformers who were fond of referring to the need for "breathing spaces for the slums" or "lungs for the city," and the agitation for increased respiratory facilities in New York-generally for playgrounds in low-income areas-had been long and insistent.
This is interesting when considered in conjunction with studies about the emotional effects of living in low-income areas.
Bin, like the English be, stems from the Indo-Germanic bheu, as does the Latin fui (I have been) and the Greek plum (I come to light, grow, engender). But these words also give rise to the German word bauen, to build.
Building then has connotation in the present, past and future. It is more of a continuous process than an action with a clear beginning and end.
Mortals dwell in that they save the earth
We've discussed how building is related to dwelling, so it's interesting to see how dwelling also relates to saving the earth. We often see building as the opposite of saving the earth, so I'm curious to understand how they can both be forms of dwelling.
Earth is the serving bearer, blossoming and fruiting, spreading out in rock and water, rising up into plant and animal. When we say earth, we are already thinking of the other three along with it, but we give no thought to the simple oneness of the four.
This is where we get the concept of the fourfold really explained.
Dwelling and building are related as end and means.
This reminds me of Whyte's exploration of the relationship between the physical paces and the act of living in a space.
Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.
i think that this is a really interesting relationship and point. words are our main source of communication and understanding but there aren't always words to describe everything especially when trying to express what it means to live and experience in a city
The relationship between man and space is· none other than dwelling, thought essentially.
Is that a good thing? Dwelling appears to be of importance, a necessity, so if space is only dwelling, does that give space more power than place?
When we speak of mor-tals, we are already thinking of the other three along with them but we give no thought to the simple oneness of the four.
Part of dwelling is not solely focusing on mortals because they are only 1/4 of the fourfold. In order to dwell and "save the earth", we must always think of the earth, sky, and divinities as well. ----At first, I thought maybe I don't dwell because I rarely think of the earth and sky, but that is not true. The earth, sky, and divinities have a constant impact on my mortal life.
he relation of "building" to "dwelling" and the 1kind of "thinking" that results from attention to that relation.
the idea of writing the city vs reading the city. the word dwelling is really interesting in this case.
How does this hap-pen? In this way, that mortals nurse and nurture the things that grow, and specially construct things that do not grow.
Interesting that anything we can't grow, we artificially construct
dwelling is not experienced as man's Being; dwelling is never thought of as the basic character of human being.
dwelling does not only involve 'being', but also the ways in which a person lives, that person's wants and desires, or where he or she feels safe
The truck driver is at home on the highway, but he does not have his lodgings there; the working woman is at home in the spinning mill, but does not have her dwelling place there
Where we feel at home is not necessarily our dwelling place, there are many other factors
Enough will have been gained if dwelling and building have become worthy of questioning and thus have remained worthy of thought.
Heidegger wants to inspire conversation about ideas of dwelling, where people are aware of their actions and relationships to the urban city. This is the goal of his piece: to bring dwelling to the forefront of discussion, not to press his ideas on the matter, but to spark a dialogue on the unfamiliar topic.
When we speak of man and space, it sounds as though man stood on one side, space on the other. Yet space is not something that faces man. It is neither an external object nor an inner experience.
Then what is it? I cannot seem to pinpoint what Heidegger means by space; he only highlights what it is not, yet there is no concrete example of what space is. Does he view space as purely abstract?
He inhabits them and yet does not dwell in them
Interesting how he points out that we build buildings but do not dwell in them. What would be the point of this?
residential buildings do indeed provide lodgings; today's houses may even be well planned, easy to keep, attractively cheap, open to air, light, and sun, but-do the houses in themselves hold any guarantee that dwelling occurs in them?
This is where I think Heidegger's views on Dwell magazine are shown best. Dwell shows the "open to air, light, and sun" and "well planned" aspects of these lodgings, but ignores the actual idea of dwelling; I think Heidegger's focus is on the dwelling, not the structures themselves, whereas Dwell focuses on the actual structures, not the act of dwelling.
For another, what is the relation between man and space?
This has already been solved. The Equivalence Principle in physics shows that light can be bent by gravitational fields. Now, space and time are completely interchangeable, thus it is a necessity to always connect them as so: space-time. Matter and energy are also interchangeable, so we must refer to the two as such: matter-energy. Now, given that man is a carbon based life form built off of the idea and metaphysical structure of matter, we can place him in the category of matter-energy. Now the relationship of matter-energy with space-time is an interesting one, because using the equivalence principle, that means that light can be bent by gravity, meaning that all space, whether visible or not, is actually curved. So for a real life example, let's say you have a perfectly stretched out bed sheet, and you place a rock on it. It would sink in, and if you put a marble into it, it would orbit around the rock. That is exactly what happens with the sun and the planets in our universe, thus the constant bending of space-time is in direct correlation to the amount of matter-energy that exists in it during the present moment. SO this question is whack and outdated
~um, means a place that is freed for settlement and lodging.
This makes a lot of sense, because I, too, also feel v settled and lodged whenever i drink a lot of rum.
The bridge is a thing; it gathers the fourfold but in such a ~ay that it allows a site for the fourfold.
YOOO IM SO LIT I WAS RIGHT BOIIIIIIII
Always and ever differ: ently the bndge tmtiates the lingering and hastening ways of men to and fro, so that they may get to other banks and in the end as m?rtals, to the other side.
Building may not necessarily be the building of a structure, but rather the connection of the fourfold in an ideological sense
On the contrary: staying with things is the only way in which the fourfold stay within the fourfold is accomplished at any ~me in simple unity.
The fourfold need some type of material unity that keep them together and hold them accountable for each other's existence. Tbh i feel like I'm tripping out a little bit but this is kinda dope
But "on the earth" already means "under the sky."
I absolutely 150% disagree with this. When you are on the Earth, the gravitational shift allows you to never feel the Earth's rotation or the actual position of the Earth in a typical 3-dimensional setting. There are no actual directions in the universe, because they are a tiny, insignificant, 3 dimensional idea that only really helps us move around on carbon based planets, thus when taking this into account, we can either be below the sky, horizontal with the sky, or we could actually be on top of the sky, and above the heavens.
To dwell, to be set at peace, means to remain at peace within the free, the preserve, the free sphere that safeguards each thing in its essence.
I'm not sure how much I agree with this part, only because I do not necessarily think that to dwell means that you're at peace. I think there are many more aspects of humanity and civilization that must be taken into account before making a claim such as this.
To free actually means to spare
I never thought about it like that, but it's true. When you free something, you spare it of the fate that it has left behind, whatever that may be.
anguage withdraws from man its simple and high speech. But its primal call does not thereby become incapable of speech; it merely falls silent. . Man, thougJi., fails to heed this silence.
Honestly, how much absinthe was this guy drinking/how high was he?? I'm getting serious deja vu
What then does ich bin mean?
oh my god, if i wanted a lesson on German i'd go back to my frickin 9th grade vocal technique class and sing frickin German art songs again, thanks!!
Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.
Language doesn't even exist, so technically the only master of man is the universe and it's unrivaled infinity.
The latter, building, has the former, dwelling, as its goal
I guess I'd mark this as a thesis, because once something is built, no matter what you're definition of "dwell" is, it's ultimate goal is to have people there freely
In poetry we are less disposed to manipulate things or reduce them to our own technical-scientific, quantitative frames of reference; we are encouraged rather to let things be what they are and show their many-sidedness.
This quote is kinda cool. In poetry, people are more inclined to use symbolism to make things something that they wouldn't normally be. Yet, in the real world, these things don't always carry out the same, abstract meaning as they do in the poet's head.
Language withdraws from man its simple and high speech. But its primal call does not thereby become incapable of speech; it merely falls silent. . Man, thougJi., fails to heed this silence. But if we listen to what language says in the word bauen we hear three things: 1. Building is really dwelling. 2. Dwelling is the manner in which mortals are on the earth. 3. Building as dwelling unfolds into the building that cultivates growing things and the building that erects buildings.
I find this analysis of language really interesting. It shows how the way we think about dwelling in a place has changed as culture and the way we experience our residences has evolved. Maybe the move to cities has made us feel more alienated from our residences. We don't feel ownership and stability the same way?
Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man. Perhaps it is before all else man's sub-version of this relation of dominance that drives his essential being into alienation.
this is the one of the reasons for our confusion/lack of comprehension of our urban condition. we are alienated because we try to conflate words like dwelling and inhabiting (?)
residential buildings do indeed provide lodgings; today's houses may even be well planned, easy to keep, attractively cheap, open to air, light, and sun, but-do the houses in themselves hold any guarantee that dwelling occurs in them?
this distinction reminds me of the space and place distinction, dwelling being place and the buildings being space