Names vs. The Nothing This is the first site along the tour. In here we have a void. I remember the building that used to stand here, it was painted blue. Passing through it, you can imagine how us, as ghosts – should the building be standing here – would have to actually be invisible to pass through these walls and now it’s the reverse. The building is the ghost and we’re passing through these walls. Graham Coreil-Allen & Roman Mars, 99% Invisible 99percentinvisible.org New Public SitesLocal Code: 3,659 Proposals About Data, Design & The Nature of Cities emptinessnamescities
99% Invisible A Podcast by Roman Mars & Kurt Kohlstedt 99percentinvisible.org The Worst Video Game EverSome Other Sign that People Do Not Totally Regret LifeThe Help-Yourself CityLawn OrderNames vs. The Nothing+7 More designunderstanding
The 99% Invisible City A Book by Roman Mars & Kurt Kohlstedt 99percentinvisible.org urbanismcitiesdesignarchitecturedetails
The Worst Video Game Ever A Podcast from 99% Invisible by Roman Mars & Howard Scott Warshaw 99percentinvisible.org Disorientation
Reading the landscape As we walk about a site and talk to people, we can note our observations. At this stage, we try to store the information we gain in some accurate way, carry a notebook, or a camera and tape-recorder, and make small sketches. The notes we end up with can later be used to devise design strategies. We do not just see and hear, smell and taste, but we sense heat and cold, pressure, stress from efforts of hill-climbing or prickly plants, and find compatible or incompatible sites in the landscape. We note good views, outlooks, soil colours and textures. In face, we use (consciously) all our many senses and become aware of our bodies and responses. Beyond this, we can sit for a time and notice patterns and processes: how some trees prefer to grow in rocks, some in valleys, others in grasslands or clumps. We see how water flows on the site, where fires have left scars, winds have bent branches or deformed the shape of trees, how the sun and shadows move, and where we find signs of animals resting, moving, or feeding. The site is full of information on every natural subject, and we must learn to read it well. Bill Mollison, Introduction to Permaculture The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth ethnography