site explorations :: ANALYSIS

what is understood_

As a starting point for an understanding of the site, analysis of the aerial mosaic quality of the landscape will be combined with a geometric analysis of the plots of land and road layout.  

beginnings of site analysis

site :: SOUTH DAKOTA PLAINS

what is understood_

The linear, gridded division of the agricultural landscape is the dominant expression of form when viewed from the air.  These divisions represent the rational separation of property and impose regularity on the landscape. 

But this grid breaks down in the face of natural patterns in the landscape.  This particular area of prairie outside Sisseton, South Dakota is characterized by an irregular pattern of lakes.  The curvilinear form of the the lakes violently puncture into the rational mosaic grid of the agricultural land. 

what is perceived_

While an aerial view of the site speaks strictly of boundaries, the observer in the landscape is instead exposed to an environment with virtually no boundaries.  Endless fields are only interrupted by scattered rows of trees or the occasional deserted barn.  Hills are nonexistent; there is nothing to separate the observer from the horizon. Visually, this landscape of distant horizons is alienating, perhaps even overwhelming in its vastness.

Accounting for a change in season vastly alters perception of landscape as well.  The summer landscape possesses visual variation in the form of texture and color.  But the winter landscape is simplified to a pure, white blanket of snow that eliminates all contrast in the landscape, accentuating the vast visual language of the prairie.

what is experienced_

Though the larger visual experience of the site is isolating, elements of the landscape that are approximate to human scale and physical engagement with the landscape bring the observer's experience into the realm of phenomenological understanding.

Movement through the landscape is the paramount to its experience. Linear movement is the primary method of travel, and the prairie is often viewed from the window of a car.  But physically walking through the prairie becomes a more personal, interactive experience as the observer comes into direct contact with elements of the landscape such as boundary fences, tall grass, corn crops, and the weathered structures that punctuate the plains.  Only at this scale of the landscape does the observer feel a connection to a place that is otherwise beyond the measure of human scale.

experiential | phenomenological categories of exploration_

vision :: hapticity (touch + the telluric) :: sound :: movement :: memory?

midreview_thesis

revised methodology

exploration_movement