Experiments in walking - 2

The word cloud, or Wordle, is another technique I find effective for representing a collective response to a walking activity.  In these word clouds the more frequently used words are more visually prominent in size and colour.

Below is the Wordle generated from the word-pairs submitted by students in response to a short walk from Laurier to Uptown Waterloo on a cold and snowy Valentine's day.  On this walk I asked students to comment on their walking experience rather than the cityscape they were walking through. 

Click enlarge - x to return

Experiments in walking

This Winter term I have incorporated walking pedagogies into two other undergraduate courses (GG265 and GG461).  Its been instructive and a lot of fun to develop and test a variety of walking activities with these students.  Here is one of the latest experiments piloted by students in GG265 Urban Spatial Behaviour.

In groups of three, students retraced their previous path through Uptown Waterloo, but this time in the reverse direction.   I asked them to write a creative expression for some location or moment along their 30 walk to and fro Uptown Waterloo.  The expression was to follow parameters linked to concepts introduced in previous modules, and determined by the roll of three dice.   Using these three parameters (structure, perspective and activity) the students were asked to write a creative expression of the city characterizing the influence of structure, heightening a particular perspective, and based on the idea of an activity.  

Structure   (black die)	Perspective   (white die)	Activity  (red die)
Nodes	Artifact	Playing
Edges	Wealth	Working
Districts	Place	Moving
Landmarks	System	Speeding
Paths	Problem	Relaxing
Beginnings	History	Walking

Here is what the students came up with:

Roses are red

We wish Silver Lake was blue

But its not

Because its clogged by goo

Rose are red

Violets are blue

We move along pathways

To get different views

The power corner is a landmark representing the place of Waterloo and the people working here.

Frolicking through the snow, without snowshoes, surrounded by edges.

A constantly moving system of roads that come together in a powerful node (power corner).

Moving through the network of interconnected paths of travel allows the mind to perceive a sense of place.

Walking on edges of the past, present and future.

While speeding through the various different edges, one observes changes and differences in wealth.

Calmly distinct boundaries are evident from the distinct hierarchical structures that exist within housing.  The facilities belong luxury and relaxation (cosmetic surgery clinic).

The system of streetlights stops speeding cars when crossing important landmarks such as the power corner.

While following our path we approached a problematic intersection with speeding cars.

The historical landmarks bring a state of relaxation to all who walk by.