From nature's landscape to cultural landscape

 

Neighboring images for October 4, 2023 flickr.com/explore

When displayed adjacent to each other, these four images suggest a long arc in the changes between people and their environment. At top left is an image of artificial illumination under an ocean of stars (1-Million-Star Hotel). This could stand for human use of fire for light and heat and cooking and to modify bone, stone, ore and other materials. Next is the prominent soaring geological feature spotlighted by evening sun (Desert Drama). This is a large structure, but one not built by human hands. Compared to the first photo, this changes the scale of meaning from the campfire to something much larger to which stories can be attached and events can be referenced. Turning to the bottom right photo (St Cuthbert's), the sturdy place of worship is made of cut stone for wall and rooftiles. This is the work of architectural traditions inherited from the ancient Romans and the Greeks before them and requires not only knowledge but also logistical trains from quarry to cutter to builder, too. Lastly, there is the multi-colored, multi-storied grove of towers that hearkens to ancient trees reaching far above the ground (Singapore - Garden Rhapsody). 

Viewed from 'campfire' to 'grove of towers', there is a long sweep of change in human interaction and control of the natural environment. The scale and technical sophistication grows across the millennia and this serendipitous sequence of photos gives a hint at just how much things have changed, both in the minds of people but also with regard to the habitats affected by extraction, construction, and ongoing operation of such large artifacts with cultural meaning.

In the eyes of the people whose greatest achievement is the use and control of fire, the giant monument could be taken "as is" for a kind of human worship space; a building that involves no construction technology. In their eyes, the idea of shaped blocks of stone to form a church would be mind-boggling; even moreso the multi-colored, multistoried, glassy towers. Looking through the opposite end of the telescope, from the eyes of 2024 people, the stone church would be recognizable but little more than a rectangle where believers meet, teach and preach, and conduct life rituals. And the geological wonder would be something like a postcard; something recognized and briefly enjoyed for its visual novelty, but probably not a site of pilgrimage or object of veneration to most visitors and viewers. As for the idea of 'campfire' and canopy of stars, for many people today that is beautiful and desirable, but hardly comparable to large scale architectural feats of today.

In summary, by chance these four pictures appeared in the Flickr.com editors' daily selection of images to showcase. As it happens, each one seems to stand for a different stage in the development of human powers of construction of artifacts but also of ideas and attitudes to the surrounding space and time. In this one screenshot of the four scenes framed all together there is a hint of the great scale of change from 'campfire' to skyscraper. And while the size of each subject and processes differs greatly, in the end human habits of attaching meaning or significance is a common thread across the centuries: people see meaning not only in what they do in relationship to each other and the things they make, but also in the space and time they inhabit, thus turning a natural landscape into a cultural landscape closely tied to the language they speak and to the assumptions that go along with it.

Numbers to plan, make, maintain - illustrated on desktop

From Yinka Shonibare March-October 2022 exhibition - Enlightenment

This exhibition embodies in visual form so many themes, such as the Batik origins of Indonesia for the fabric dyed with patterns using wax, later industrialized and commodified for international sales by the Dutch and most beloved among buyers of West Africa. The mannequin has one arm of wood to represent the historical figure of this woman polymath who was known to have an artificial limb. The quill and ink are reminders of literacy and distant or local communication across space but also across time. And the figures on the page show the purpose and power of calculation using numbers and measurement. But for the purpose of this article, it is not the many sides of the artwork to focus on, but instead to think about the functions and powers of math and its applied form in engineering.

A person with training and who has wide and deep experience of designing structures of the built landscape, or to make objects of beauty, including tools, weapons, vehicles, containers, machinery, and so on is able to translate an idea into specific lines, angles, and curves that takes visual form on paper (or digitally these days, thanks to automatic measurement and calculation from CAD, computer-aided design) to communicate instructions to others who will make use of the measurements, but also to communicate this visible record to others implicated in the creation (suppliers, financers, future maintenance and repair experts) and those not yet born who may research the matter in years to come.

Looking at the function and use of such drawings that make possible large and small projects shows its power. But by considering the absence of these drawings, it is also possible to appreciate the value of this visual and numerical technology. Large public works from the ancient world were successfully erected using limited mathematics and record-keeping, and some of them exist still today in full or as trace ruins. Obviously, no CAD was involved, but some form of recording measurements, supplies ordered and materials received was necessary, since the scale and degree of detail was too much for any one person to hold reliably in his or her head alone. In the complete absence of design plans, measurements, and calculations the biggest project would surely be limited: earthen pyramids, stone barrows for burials and other rituals, river weirs to direct migrating fish into traps are examples of biggest limits for design solutions to problems posed when the precision and mathematics illustrated in this photo do not exist.

The words 'accounting' (tracking of numbers) and 'accountability' (responsible for one's actions or inactions) clearly are related. And while one is more literal (records of income and out-go) and the other is more figurative (of one's title, authority, expectation, liability) there is clearly a shared forensic element of measuring results against a standard, an existing record, or a point of reference. Looking, again, at the above photo, it is easy to imagine the use of plans to accomplish a project that meets the stated measurements.  But in a larger sense, too, there is a kind of gestalt or way of seeing the world for a person who is accustomed to measuring resources and accounting for them. Colonial governors, military officers, and corporate managers all rely on record-keeping and numbers more generally, not just to accomplish the stated plan, but then also to maintain that finished plan in good working condition so it is fully operational; or if less than fully working, then studying the plans to discover what changes to make in order to resume the full functionality as envisioned and designed.

Although this picture is part of an exhibition piece from the Nigerian-British artist, Yinka Shonibare, it also illustrates this peculiar development in social life of using numbers and mathematical manipulation to engage with countrymen and foreigners. It is a kind of language that expands and amplifies the verbal kind of language that comprises social life.

Traces of earlier lives and livelihoods

The cultural landscape not only mirrors the present moment in the flow of events and personalities, but it also fits into the quote attributed to science-fiction writer, William Gibson; that "the future is already here, but it is distributed unevenly." By extension the cultural landscape is also the place where the past is still here, but it is distributed unevenly.

Fulton and Jefferson Streets, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

This photo shows a variety of buildings in downtown Grand Rapids, each with a different origin story. A closer look at the physical expression of the historical moment that each one dates to will reveal some of the desirable design elements of the time, the state of the (then) art installed and contractors' standard of practice in craftsmanship, the functionality and features of the time, and the purpose it was meant to be used for when first opened. Apart from the church steeple barely visible over the treetops on the right side of the horizon in this photo, most of the other buildings have tenants or owners much different to the people who dreamt of the building and then brought it to completion. 

Just as the assemblage of buildings from different eras all jostle side by side in the present moment, the same can be said of people of different generations, social-economic status, ethnic origins, and so on who comprise today's nation and this particular municipality. Likewise of books in the lending collection on the nearby library shelves; of trees in the park of different ages and origins; or words found in conversation or present in this sentence. What is common to all these examples is the co-incidence or coexistence of subjects with origins of different years and possibly of different geographic setting. No matter what the roots are and what the path was that brings the things together in the present moment, they all share the space and time right now: the future is already here, but also the past is still here. This mix of dates and styles is what makes it so engaging and rewarding to read the cultural landscape. Even with incomplete knowledge, it is possible to see in the photo a Chinese buffet across the street in a sturdy and stylish brick building with decorative ceramic elements. Surely, the original owners did not envision the series of businesses that have filled the premises across the generations since it was built and opened for business decades ago.

Without expertise, deep memory, or local knowledge it is hard to know with confidence the meanings, uses, and chronology of personalities and events connected to a given building and surrounding location. But even approaching the cultural landscape with much ignorance, there is some satisfaction that is earned upon starting the adventure by paying attention; noticing details, patterns, and surrounding conditions that may contribute to the design, siting, and features visible in the durable structures of years ago.

In contrast to mass produced features of the cityscape like clothing, vehicles, and functional parts of the infrastructure like signage, traffic rules, and public safety services like police and fire, the creation of a building is usually one-of-a-kind. So whereas these other elements of the present moment might reflect something about the purchaser and user, in the case of buildings the massive scale and the long lifespan allow curious observers to imagine some of the considerations of the designer, builder, and owner at the original creation of the architectural form created. Later developments in technology, economy and consumer relations, and trends in people's lives play a part in the second and additional chapters in the each particular building, but traces of the original decisions baked into the structure can still be read into what we see there today. Perhaps there was a degree of pride, fashionableness, or ambition to present the latest services and products. 

Generations later those faint echoes from the original time of opening perhaps remain for those who seek them, but even without turning an eye to "the past is still here, but it is distributed unevenly," it is possible to appreciate the diverse eras all buildings present here within walking distance in the city center. Then after exercising one's imagination of the past that lives on, it is natural to continue the process and look ahead through the mists of time to suppose how these same durable structures may carry on as time travelers to the future, under the management of new owners or tenants who continue their livelihood among the lives of those future people who only now being born.