Ghent, Belgium.
The silent dialogue was Ghent was very welcoming! The city offered a lot for its
citizens as it does not have a strong dominant stamp. Either a historical or
financial one. The city can be easily understood as a home for different categories.
Nature is relatively existing inside the urban fabric, especially with the canals
in harmony with streets. Ghent says that warmly with its human scale based
streets and center! The initial feeling I got from Ghent was Warmth! It’s welcoming
and ready to offer some kindness! The built environment is diverse yet in unique
harmony with each other and space in between! I find it hospitable!
New York, USA.
Wandering the built environment of Manhattan New York as my first field of exploration. After a throught review of vloggers. We can grasp certain basics about New York. In my silent dialogue with New York I try to collect all these data in a matter of seconds through non verbal communication! Thanks to media ecology we can represent the built environment of NY City and have silent dialogue with it! My initial thoughts from NY were quite sharp, NY is dominant for the city scale not the human scale. Not really much to tell about its inner space, just a simple grid with huge competition in building heights to show more importance. It’s always busy, noisy with cars and horns. Mixed use building might add some fragile social infrastructure. Therefore some skyscrapers are just famous for tiktokers with half empty. The block scale is about showing wealth, prestigious facebook stories, and power… I find it abusive!
Kyoto, Japan.
A smooth dialogue full of information. Nature appears before the city. After a tiny while architecture gives a harmonious appearance with nature. Both the built environment and nature give a smooth impression. It’s not a surprise then to know that the city has 1,600 Buddhist temples scattered around! In addition
the city is vibrant all 4 seasons of the year with different aspects to discover each
time! With a rich history to discuss, telling stories about philosophy, wars and religion I find it peaceful!
