Tag Archives: Mapping

Mapping for Informal

Posted on by
Reply

Corner regards the agency of mapping as speculation, critique and invention. By introducing terms and techniques about his understanding of maps, Corner develops the idea that formal expression does not evolve quick enough to be relevant as long as the informal settlement starts getting more demand and rights.

Conventionally, neutrality is one of the conventional characteristics of “mapping”. However, the position, orientation, and differences of focus in maps all indicate certain socio-political statement. In Corner’s opinion, the abstractness of the map already brings in a subjective position of the mapmaker. “The application of judgment, subjectively constituted, is precisely what makes a map more a project than a ‘mere’ empirical description.”(Corner, 223)

The subjectivity of mapping leads to the re-thinking of the perspective in mapping. Banham, mentioned by Corner, suggests more attention on the problem that some mappings “adopt a somewhat naïve and insular, even elitist, position.”(Corner, 226)
“ The implications of a world derived more from cultural invention than from a pre-formed ‘nature’ have barely begun to be explored.” (Corner, 223) The mapping for the Watery Void project discovers the potential and pushes the design into a level with reconciled metropolitan and local scale. (Franco, 85)

As Corner mentions in the essay, he discusses “mapping as an active agent of cultural intervention.” Mapping is more like a creative activity that is not only a simple mirror of the existing reality, but also the design process for disclosing new reality. Comparing to “tracing”, mapping is a process of discovering and adding new elements in design.

Another comparison of concepts in Corner’s article is “mapping” and “planning”. He uses Harvey’s idea of “utopia of form” vs. “utopia of process” explaining the difference between “mapping” and “planning”. According to Corner’s description, mapping is definitely more useful and suitable for informal settlement, as mapping entails searching in the existing milieu instead of top-down imposed idealized formal project. Corner believes that various hidden forces underlie the workings of a place, which makes the reality more complex. Mapping of Sao Paulo’s infrastructure should not only be considered as a “technical and functional artifact”; but instead, the interrelationships and interactions between the rising middle class, the new demands coming together, as well as the interest of both central and peripheral residence cannot be ignored any more. One main concept of the Watery Void project is to use and serve for these interrelationships that form the complexity of mapping. Water, more than a nature resource in planning, becomes one main element bridging favelas with formal sector of the city.

James Corner: Agency of Mapping
Franco de Mello: Filling Voids

Participatory Mapping

Posted on by
Reply

As James Corner notes in his essay, The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention, maps are often static expressions of an area that do not take any sort of change or time into account. In order for maps to become useful tools that can encourage change, they must begin to address the actual conditions within a location. While it is often easy to be reductive when mapping, it is far more valuable to dig deeper into the possibilities that a map can reveal (Corner 213).
Since mapping is never a neutral exercise, and it will always be seen through a particular lens, what is the most productive way to depict a given location, and how can designers question mapping conventions (Corner 221). In such a rapidly changing world, it is necessary to include time in almost any map that is meant to enable change (Corner 226). Additionally, representing a population on a cultural level, which can only be achieved with community participation, will provide an invaluable tool for any designer. There are numerous projects that demonstrate the success of community input in architectural and planning projects, and if mapping is supposedly what is generating these designs, it only makes sense that it would also be driven by local knowledge (Corner 241). By producing a “game board” map, as Corner refers to it, architects would be able to discuss a large variety of concepts proposed by any number of people using one single image as a base. Allowing it to be an open system with a factual base that can be altered depending on need, or desire would invariably create productive designs that consider the culture, and its future.
In places such as São Paulo, there is a desperate need to accurately, yet inventively record the conditions of the informal areas of the city. A simple, aerial view will not suffice, since it cannot accurately represent the character of any given neighborhood. Tracings from satellite images of favelas would simply appear as a jumbled mass of lines with no boundaries, and would not give any insight into the culture or atmosphere. In a location that is in a time sensitive situation regarding urban renewal as well as addressing the ever worsening flooding problems, an accurate and future oriented map is essential to create any new designs.
In the case of São Paulo’s flooding problem, it has become increasingly necessary to divert flood waters to reservoirs throughout the city’s periphery (Franco 2). In order to best decide where reservoirs and accompanying canals and widened streets, designers should create maps that address concerns in each specific neighborhood that will be effected. By doing so, this will allow architects to address specific concerns of the entire community, not simply a government official who has never even stepped foot in the favela before. Architectural interventions in informal settlements must take into account the vast variety that exists even from one neighborhood to another, in addition to the creation of accurate maps that take both the comments of the community as well as the physical and temporal aspects of the area.

James Corner: Agency of Mapping
Franco de Mello: Filling Voids