Morten Bilde Hougaard: Mapping in Williamsburg

In our next semester assignment, we will be working with a given site in Williamsburg, N.Y.C. During a study trip to New York, I had the change to make some registrations and notations about the area and its people.

I started to map habits, circulation and time, and began walking around in the area while I wrote down my thoughts and the sights I saw.

When I got back to Denmark I started out by re-writing my feelings into understandable words.

The site, Williamsburg

Day one at the site:

The location is in a rather trafficable area. At the corners there are small deli’s/grocery’s, barbershops, dry cleaners and small video/hardware shops. Why it is so trafficable, is because the road is one-way. Because of the traffic it is a bit noisy in this area, but suddenly you get to hear the singing of small birds, which makes you feel welcome in a semi cold area. The chosen site is two demolished building, where a house properly stood, for many years ago. A big metal fence closes the site. You can see it has been closed of for many years, because the trees had starting to grow through the fence. It is a rather fantastic and spectacular sight, and you start to think about that in time the nature will consume manmade things.

In the morning the site will have daylight and it starts to come alive. Site two is in a backyard of other buildings, and therefore the daylight will not fully reach at all time. Through the day the direction of the sun will change and both sites will have no daylight through afternoon.

You see a lot of people passing by (black, white, Spanish talking, Jewish and a small amount of Asian people)

This area is populated by a big amount of people from the Dominican Republic and therefore is talking Spanish, a common thing in this area.

When you starts to walk around in the area you soon starts to notify a few things. In this area you will find no houses, but a lot of apartment complexes. Most building is old and still has the fire staircases outside of the facades. The materials used on the buildings is bricks and concrete tails. Once in a while you find a newer building, but fortunately the architecture is kept in the same tradition. Most windows have iron protection frames outside. I guess it has something to do with buglers. The colours of the buildings are most red and a bit yellow, but then a green building pops of, and changes the image. Most buildings have some kind of ornament or symbolic mark outside, which properly comes from the renaissance or classical area.

School buses passing by which lead you to the local school, located at S2 st.

On your way from the site, Keap st, S4 st, you passing by a small schoolyard, how stupid to build schoolyards were traffic is running. But then you realize that this is a normal thing in this area. If the children want to play at the local playground, they have to pass the most traffic road in the area, Rodney Street. It really don’t make any sense that small children should take any risks just to be able to play.

At the playground you will also find connections to the metro and a big highway runs under the playground. I have to say that this is not a kid zone, and you starts to feel how hard it properly is to grow up here.

If I should take a look again at the buildings you will find different floor levels and therefore you can see the different heighten of the windows.

Every building is places next to the road and leads no space for nature and only small spaces for walking people.

Walking around in the area doesn’t make you experience any new. A common thing here is that there is no really public space, which makes people come together, and therefor is the area a ‘’passing by’’ place, only for small talks and quick discussions.

The only places where you will find standing people is outside the small deli’s or other shops. Here is the unemployment people hanging out, and without judging anyone, it seems to be people with a criminal record on their backs.

You don’t even find small benches for people to sit, even not a trash camp, it really doesn’t make any sense.

After a walk through the area I return to the chosen sites. I think the sites have several possibilities, even though it stands very deserted, at the moment. Once again my eyes turns to the big fence and the spectacular sight of trees growing through the fence. It seems like the nature want to break free and allowing people to enter. Why not turn this two sites into a meeting place for the locals. I see people passing by, why not make a gathering for people. I also starts to think about the kids, it would be an ideal place for a kids zone, without passing as much traffic as at the Rodney street. The site would also be perfect for bringing in the nature and make a contrast to the apartment complex. Then you would have an green zone or some kind of botanic garden next to a district where several ethnical culture lives, and allowing them to make a mark of their own culture.

Some buildings have solar panels installed on their rooftop, I wonder if they actually think about the environment or is it only for saving money?

I wonder what the locals would say if you came up with an plan for recycling and sustainability?

If I had to map my experience here at the sites I would soon come up with several thoughts. Habits, circulation and time is the first thing that pops up, habits for the small meetings outsides the delis/other stores, circulation and time for the people passing by and the different ethnical groups which lives here. Time is for how many people passing by and when you see the different culture in the area.

Revisiting the site.

The area seems to be the same, here you will find no changing. Like my last registrations all gatherings, meetings, conversations take place outsides the deli’s and other stores. The small walking path is used for small spaces, but with any place to sit, it will only be used for small talks.

You will find deli’s at every corner and I starts to see a pattern. I see Spanish talking people hanging outside the deli’s, white and Asian people just passing by, while black people occasionally stop of and have quick discussions, at the corners.

This area has it all, families, different ethnical groups, poor, middleclass people, construction workers, unemployment people, local hillbillies and sports people. But you wont find rich people or people seeming like having success, and once again my thoughts quickly turns to the missing public spaces.

My first mapping is about the deli’s and other small stores at every corner in the area. Outsides those stores you will find the only activity in the area, and simultaneously the only free public space in use. This public space is used for quick discussions and other small talk, but people won't be staying there for longer time.