Society and our streets

After receiving a brief to write about "My Street", I chose to consider the connection between society, architecture and the pavement.

I wanted to show how the building's windows, bricks and walls reflect how we live : both inside our homes and on the street.

Where does the threshold between the sanctuary of our homes stop?

The interior of our homes are private, yet the second you step out onto the street you join the public realm. 

Here: "micro" is shown through the walls that surround you and the memories you make in your home, "meso" is presented in the community and collection of people on your street,

and finally "macro" is reflected in the many networks of streets which join together the society and civilisation.

My written response is shown below:

Quick watercolour of the window from the outside,
 reflecting the houses opposite but still showing the lace curtain for privacy to the home.

The route to my peregrination,

agleam amidst the winter sun.

Diaphanous and bright it's replica echoes across the panes.

The gentle reverberations of a harmonious suburb,

where the discrete lace cloaks the internal and an azure stretched out above plays the tune of elation.

Structures personified stand in front of the mirrors,

portraying the curve in the street,

and the quiet Sunday morning slumber of it's inhabitants:

A congregation of the introverts,

animal lovers,

decorators,

families,

newly-weds,

the retired

and the ghost-like people who you know exist but never catch a glimpse of...

where they all correspond to depict a fragment of our diverse society,

a customary piece of our everyday lives,

which sings it's song silently.

The segments of our domestic dwellings present to us their strength and safety,

as they create a sense of stability within the shelter of those tenacious bricks and mortar.

Coherent and sturdy,

holding itself up as well as cradling our memories;

collecting frozen frames of time within the expanse of the well-worn walls.

Our streets are as alive as we are.

Their design imitates the blueprint of the anatomy:

our streets acting as arteries within a vast network;

providing a passage to a connected system embraced by a monumental amount of branches to explore.

Figure ground images to show the connection from buildings, roads and the spaces in-between.

London's arteries, connecting people and society.

If you are interested in mapping artistically you will really enjoy 

Works by Stephen Walter and Sohei Nishino,

Sue Beyer's Artwork,

Works by Stephanie Costello

where you can find some amazing drawings!