{"id":47,"date":"2016-08-30T13:50:04","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T13:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/?p=47"},"modified":"2016-09-13T00:57:21","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T00:57:21","slug":"street-and-alley-as-museum-and-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/street-and-alley-as-museum-and-theater\/","title":{"rendered":"Street and alley as museum and theater"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The whole concatenation of wild and artificial things, the natural ecosystem as modified by people over the centuries, the built environment layered over layers, the eerie mix of sounds and smells and glimpses neither natural nor crafted\u2014all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it, take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it.”<\/p>\n

\u2014John R. Stilgoe<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things that interests me about my neighborhood in Richmond is the contrast between the stately facades of the Edwardian row houses facing the street and their counterpart, the visually chaotic alley behind, filled with weeds, unruly vines, litter, and unremarkable graffiti. On foot from Franklin Street proper, we reach our apartment by sliding through a narrow opening between houses, snaking our way back to what used to be a carriage house. Though we share the same address as the people in the main house, our view is significantly different. Following in the footsteps of John Stilgoe, the legendary Harvard professor of visual and environmental studies, I spent time carefully observing both sides of the block. What I encountered confirmed a few initial thoughts, but a few surprises emerged.<\/p>\n

Franklin Street, 1000\u20131030<\/p>\n

MOVEMENT (Number\/5 mins)
\nPedestrians: 14
\nMotor Vehicles: 31
\nBicycles: 3<\/p>\n

ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS
\nGabled roof detail
\nBay windows
\nVictorian\/Edwardian cone-shaped domes
\nBrick, various colors<\/p>\n

PAVING METHODS
\nSidewalk: slab concrete
\nStreet: asphalt<\/p>\n

PLANTS
\nTrees
\nGrass
\nShrubbery
\nFlowers<\/p>\n

LITTER
\nTube socks
\nShattered glass
\nChick-fil-A bag
\nCigarrettes<\/p>\n

GRAFFITI
\nPublic property: On street signage
\nPrivate property: Mostly found in the entry way of the abandoned building near Harrison<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Franklin Street Alley, 1000\u20131030<\/p>\n

MOVEMENT (Number\/5 mins)
\nPedestrians: 7
\nMotor Vehicles: 3
\nBirds: 3<\/p>\n

ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS
\nSeveral boxy brick buildings detached from main houses\/buildings, presumably former carriage houses like our apartment.
\nStairways and fire-escapes on buildings higher than three stories
\nCrude wooden stairways<\/p>\n

PAVING METHODS
\nBrick\/cobblestone. Difficult to traverse.<\/p>\n

PLANTS
\nVines
\nWeeds sprouting through the cobblestone<\/p>\n

LITTER
\nThis is where garbage cans for the block are stored.
\nDirty couch
\nMattresses
\nCardboard
\nFast food bags and cups
\nBroken glass
\nCigarrettes<\/p>\n

Many of these same pieces of litter are found on Franklin Street proper as well. They are much more glaring in contrast to the more manicured appearance of the main street front.<\/p>\n

GRAFFITI
\nSurprisingly more orderly than on the street-facing side. Frequently graffiti writers\/artists would use architectural elements such as the grids on garage doors to arrange their work. “Greasy” makes numerous appearances here and on the street front.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The whole concatenation of wild and artificial things, the natural ecosystem as modified by people over the centuries, the built environment layered over layers, the eerie mix of sounds and smells and glimpses neither natural nor crafted\u2014all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it, take it in, take in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86,"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/86"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drewsisk.com\/workshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}