Choose a route that you take normally. Write out every step in that route: how
far you travel on each leg: where turns are made and how many degrees the are
in the turn for example. Provide enough detail that the route may be mapped
independently of the environment. Walk the same path in a different place which
will not be named in the subsequently produced text. Make the necessary and
consistent changes to the path to facilitate remapping. Describe the new path
qualitatively. Repeat in multiples of three. Collect every text together.
This operation will utilize an everyday route as a means of taking a section
through a different everyday environment. By bringing subsequent repetitions of
this operation together, inter-landscape relations will emerge through
juxtaposition while simultaneously remaining located and scaled by the base
route.
Eg: Going to a Class
Base route: on campus
Start outside the entrance. Walk straight ahead until you have reached the
curb. Cross directly across the street. Turn 100 degrees to the left. Follow
the sidewalk until you have reached the second break in the buildings. Turn 90
degrees to the right. Walk until you are centred on the next street
intersecting your current path. Turn 90 degrees to the right. Move straight
ahead until you have spotted, on the left side of the street, the third
building's second entrance. Turn left 90 degrees once you have aligned with
that entrance and walk towards it.
Transposition locations:
1-Downtown (start at city hall)
2-The Exhibition grounds (start at The Better Living Centre)
3-Midtown (starting at fiddler's dell)
Three Transpositions Across a Single Built Environment
1
Start at the top. A high-rise building is assembled of two towers which
terminate in the same base. They are each the same height and curve slightly
towards each other. The back side of these towers are completely of bush
hammered concrete with nary a window breaking through the continuity of the
wall. This continuous surface is broken into thirds by a line of concrete
slightly recessed from the peaks of the bush hammered elements. On the other
side of each tower, the sides which face toward each other, entire facades of
windows. Each tower's top two floors are glazed with dark spandrel panels.
Below are 12 levels in which there are 30 windows each constructed of single
panes of glass. Behind each, a white blind, some closed and some open. Between
each level, a layer of concrete which connects on each tower's left and right
extremities to a large vertical concrete element in the façade which begins at
the roof line and terminates at the base. The base too is completely of
concrete. With windows in the façade under an overhang, itself held up by 10
pairs of double-height cylindrical concrete columns. Behind these, a window
wall with thin aluminum mullions which continue from the floor to the ceiling
of what is an interior double-height space. A large ramp on the building's far
right extremity provides access to the roof of the building's base. In order to
reach the curb, a large square must be crossed. Its ground plane is constructed
entirely of large square concrete pavers, friction fit to each other with thin
joints visible between them. In the centre of the square, a large square
skating rink around which are 12 benches of two types: backless and with-back.
The backless benches are simply three wooden slats affixed to two large
concrete blocks. The benches with backs consist of three wooden slats affixed
to two large wooden blocks; affixed to the wooden slats via a metal L-bracket
are three more wooden slats which make up the back. Beyond the skating rink is
a raised walkway which surrounds the square on all sides. It is of concrete,
the same colour as the large building present on this square and is the same
height as the accessible roof of that building. It is held up by large
cylindrical concrete columns which are affixed periodically along the centre of
the walkway. Under the walk way, more instances of the benches, both backless
and with-backs. Beyond the walkway, 12 large trees are arrayed in two lines of
six. Between the fourth and fifth pair, counting from the left, is a concrete
path which connects the sidewalk to the square. The sidewalk is thick.
Requiring approximately six steps to cross. It is of concrete cast into a small
grid of thin control joints which is broken by a single large metal grating
through which a whoosh may be heard periodically along with the ejection of a
small gust of warm air. Beside this grid, nearest to the street are a line of
low concrete boxes, approximately (1/2) metre in height above the ground. Their
tops are angled toward and away from the street in an alternating pattern. On
the right, two white trucked parked on which are arrayed images of: hot dogs,
French fries, hamburgers, chicken strips, chicken sandwiches, onion rings, ice
cream, sausages and poutine. In the side of each is a small window with a
sliding Plexiglas pane which is approximately a metre-and-a-half from the
ground. Both trucks are nearly identical, but for the combination of images and
text arrayed across their exterior surfaces.
Crossing this four-lane street requires waiting for a break in traffic. The
street's outside lanes are of asphalt and are crossed, here by two sets of
parallel cracks which branch off into sub-cracks, sub-sub-cracks and
junior-sub-crack-interns. In two instances, a horizontal crack of the same
caliber will pass through one or the other parallel crack. The inside lanes are
both surfaces with concrete into which two parallel metal tracks are embedded.
These are periodically crossed by horizontal parallel cracks in the concrete
substrate which are visible as a nearly periodic rhythm into the distance.
Between the two sets of tracks, the yellow lane divider. Subdividing the
divisions produced by the yellow line are two sets of white dashed lines to
produce the entire four lanes of the street. The curb on the street's far side
is yellow. The building on this side of the street is five levels. The entire
building is of bush hammered concrete except the five rectangular sectioned
concrete columns and the four rectangular sectioned engaged concrete columns
which span from the fourth level's ceiling to the ground, producing an overhang
condition over the sidewalk which is double-height nearest to the building and
steps up to triple-height as you move closer to the street. The top level is
windowless. The fourth level consists of a downward-angled window wall with
vertical, black mullions. The window walls span between the large columns. The
third level is windowless. The main and second levels are entirely window wall
and are separated by a continuous spandrel line. The mullions and spandrel
panels are all dark brown painted. Every main floor storefront is empty but for
one whose name in white lettering is affixed to the spandrel panel above the
door, itself entirely of glass and recessed from the façade. In the windows, a
myriad of objects: wide-brimmed hats, a red sweatshirt, three stuffed polar
bears, a pair of novelty underwear on which is depicted a grizzly bear, ten
snow globes, five coffee mugs and a rack of postcards that depict the city and
its surrounding tourist attractions from various views. The building ends with
a large vertical mass clad in bush hammered concrete on which two signs are
affixed. Both are black with white lettering. The next building over is a
tower. It has 25 floors in a straight vertical extrusion of a square upwards.
It is vertically striped on all sides, alternating between stripes of concrete
with window-spandrel stripes. These appear dark against the brightness of the
concrete. The top level's windows, however, are replaced with black-painted
vents while the main floor is double height. Over the entrance, which is
centred on this façade of the building is a small metal overhang which sticks
perpendicularly out of the façade in an arc. The visible edge is moulded into
an ogee. The three glass entrance doors fit between four concrete stripes; the
middle door revolves while to two flanking doors are double hinged. Each have
bright aluminum jambs. Affixed to the concrete stripes and aligned to the
bottom of the second level's window frames are 12 upward facing lights with
conical shades, one per stripe. In the windows of the main floor: three orange
glowing lettered signs and three portraits of people in glasses along with a
brown sign with red neon and two images of coffee cups. Beside this building, a
low single-level building on the corner. It has a flat roof with a deep soffit
which is clad in green on the exterior. Here, at its corner nearest to the
street corner is a small white sign. Below, enclosing two-and-a-half of the
four sides of the building is a rectangular glass curtain wall. The glass is
held together by small black spider clips and sealed with translucent white
silicone sealant. Where this meets the ground, a thin metal band. The other
walls of the building are solid and painted white. These are nearest to the
next-door buildings from which this building is offset by about three metres or
so. At the corner the roof overhangs and is held up by a grey faceted column.
Around the corner, with this green-soffit building still in view, reveals a set
of stairs which dives down below the sidewalk. It is surrounded on three sides
by permanent concrete barricades on which are emblazoned a line of square
diamonds in which are bush-hammered stripes. The stair has three metal tubular
bannisters: two on each side and one which runs down the middle. All steps are
concrete. The barricade walls are slightly undercut where they meet the ground.
Past the stairs, the sidewalk changes: it remains concrete, gaining a small
section of black pavers between the curb and the sidewalk proper, in the area
where streetlights and signage are installed. Right before this change, a black
metal garbage collector is present. Its top is arced slightly and stippled with
multiple small divots. (3/4) of the way up its body, a grey stripe surrounds on
which is white text. There are three openings on the collector, two round and
one slot-like. All are covered by spring-loaded covers. There is a small hole
in the grey stripe zone in which three cigarette butts are crammed. The ground
under the collector is slightly rusted with a long crack present nearest to the
street which bridges two control joints in the concrete sidewalk. The next
building over, which also borders on a street corner, is identical to the
previous striped tower in all ways but one: its street corner side has been
clad entirely in granite. A black granite lintel terminates the movement of
five stripes on the two corner sides. Below that, the stripes become five
columns. The outside two columns are of concrete with a black granite base. The
middle three have a stylized leaf embedded at their highest point and a brown
inverted pyramidal stripe running down their centre point. Behind this
colonnade is an open space over which the building overhangs. The enclosure,
here, traces a hexagonal enclosure under the square mass of the building above
with a glass curtain wall with bright aluminum mullions.
Around the corner the building continues. The sidewalk is, here periodically
broken by horizontal metal grates on which are cast foot-shaped pieces of metal
on which a diagrid pattern has been stamped. Crossing the street only requires
passing three lanes which are delineated by white dashed lines painted on the
asphalt of the street. The nearest lane has a continuous concrete strip
embedded within it and within that two parallel metal tracks. Across the street
is a metal pole on which are hung a yellow plastic street light above a yellow
plastic crosswalk signal. The signal shows the silhouette of a very angular
walking person lit up with white LEDs. The building at this corner is also a
square extrusion upwards, however, near the top it facets. The first three
levels are clad in ruddy stone. Six columns are present which terminate at the
top with ornate byzantine square capitals. These span the first and second
level. A single window is between each column. On the third floor, 12 windows
are arrayed under an ornate line of relief carvings. Above, 13 levels of grey
stone in which are 12 windows on each level. At this point the buildings
corners are filleted for two levels with windows in the filleted edges. At this
point the building becomes cruciform for two levels with windows in each new
surface. The next building consists of seven levels. The bottom two levels are
of grey concrete. The main floor has seven columns between which are window
walls with thick metal mullions. The centre two columns contain the door which
is brass with embedded glazing. The door jambs and lintel are of black granite.
On the lintel three brass letters. Above the door area, an overhang attached to
which is a line of bent brass tubing which approximates a Grecian square
pattern. Above each section of window wall, a sign or awning. The first sign
are yellow and white letters; the second black lettering on grey ground; the
last a black awning with white lettering on the front edge. The floor above has
ten windows. This is consistent for every subsequent level. The right and
leftmost windows are recessed into the façade. This is consistent for every
subsequent floor. The middle windows have frames which just out slightly from
the façade. The next four levels are clad in brick except for the end windows.
The final level reverts to concrete.
The next building has an indeterminate number of levels since there are only
windows on the bottom section of the building. In height it reaches the bottom
of the third level of the neighbouring building. Its façade is of concrete with
traces of blue paint, faded, to reveal the substrate below. Its lowest metre
has been painted bright blue. The door is on the rightmost portion of this very
thin building and is a deeper blue. It is surrounded by a thick white brick
border to the right of which is a line of two thin, horizontal windows. Around
the edge of this entire building is a dilapidated edge of shiny metal flashing
which has tarnished. The same can be said for the wavy metal stripes which
cross the windowless façade. A step leads up to the door. The destination.
2
Start from the top. The roof line is continuous the length of the entire
block. It begins with a thin line of grey flashing which turns the parapet
wall. Below, the rest of the building is clad in white brick with a small line
of grey flashing where the walls meet the ground. it has a single level. The
door here is flush with the façade. It is a white double door with two windows
embedded within each leaf of the door. Before the door is a single step which
becomes a small platform, whose riser is covered in scuffed yellow paint. There
are six scuffs the three on the left side nearest to the large tree which is in
the grass before the building are very small, vaguely ovoid and end halfway
down the riser. The next scuff over is large and reaches all the way down to
the ground. The next one is a small, skinny line while the last is half as wide
as the largest scuff and also reaches the ground. On two sides of the platform
are metal bannisters with three vertical elements which is anchored into the
brick wall via a mass of welded metal. To reach the sidewalk a small section of
concrete is present to connect the platform threshold to the concrete sidewalk.
Crossing the two-lane street requires passing over a set of pristine lane
markings. Two white lines offset from each curb mark the shoulders while a
single yellow line marks the two lanes. Just after the opposite curb, there is
a very patchy grass verge in which small trees are planted in a continuous
order. Here, between two trees are a trio of metal disks covering a trio of
concrete holes. These disks are rusted to a red-brown and are gathered together
in a trefoil. Past the verge, the sidewalk begins. It is very deep with
one-and-a-half metres cast in concrete and just over two metres beyond that
paved with small concrete pavers. These are broken by a long patch of asphalt
which breaks the continuity horizontally. The building on this side of the
street is also a single level. Its roof is a zigzag of peaks and troughs and is
constructed from a thin continuous line of concrete. Metal flashing curves over
the edge. The roof overhangs one-and-a-half metres from the building's exterior
wall. Under each peak of the overhang, a small round light with a yellow
plastic cover over the bulb and at every trough an inverted, white pyramidal
column comes down and terminates at the ground. Between each column the lower
(3/4) of the wall is brick and the upper (1/4) is glass curtain wall with white
mullions. This is the same for every bay of this building until the last two on
this façade. The second last is entirely glass curtain wall and the last is
entirely brick infill. Passing this corner reveals a taller section of the
building beyond as the sidewalk jogs to come closer to the entrance in this
part of the façade. This section has two double-height levels and in clad
entirely in glass between two large pyramidal columns which are oriented
perpendicular through the façade. Above is an overhanging concrete roof with
three lights affixed under it. To the left, past the second column the façade
treatment changes to alternating thin vertical strips of continuous windows
with cream coloured plaster. This section has four levels. At the corner
another column behind a tall White Spruce tree. As the sidewalk continues to
curve around this building, the roof's zigzag pattern is revealed again above a
glass curtain wall which surmounts two levels of brick cladding in which are
vertical window elements. Four bays of this condition are present behind large
trees until a path appears which leads from the sidewalk to another entrance of
this building. The path is of small light grey pavers with lines of large dark
pavers crossing this field periodically. These is a black cast-iron bench to
the left of the path, a plastic faux-wood garbage can with an angled top and
two flag poles on which there are flags. The double glass doors of this
entrance are under a large concrete cantilevered overhang. Along this stretch
of sidewalk there are two tall streetlights in stylized sweeps of metal tubing.
As the sidewalk continues around the corner another entrance becomes visible
which is accessed via six stairs. There is also a green rectangular dumpster
and a small garage grafted onto the building at an angle beside which is a
small asphalt laneway between this building and the next one over.
The building on the right remains brick clad until the laneway ends with a
resumption of its bay condition and the zigzag roofline. The building on the
right is surmounted by faded blue ogee moulding below which are three windows
between concrete-block columns. Below the windows and between these columns is
red brick infill. This building ends as the laneway emerges from its tightness.
The bay façade continues in the same pattern of brick and glass and pyramidal
columns until it turns a corner and the next building begins: an open-air
arena. Between the two buildings is a lawn, broken up by two perpendicular
concrete pathways and three deciduous trees. This building has a long base of
beige brick above which the seating structure is visible, held up by large
steel tubes pinned periodically under the seating elements and bolted into the
vertical structure below. The beige façade slowly steps down in three steps to
reveal a large set of concrete stairs which lead up to the roof. At this point
the undersides of the stands are visible in the middle of which is a huge LED
screen which is raised above the highest edge of the stands on a large tubular
metal column which is bolted into the ground atop a deep shear plate. Passing
this building reveals another large stretch of street. Following the sidewalk
passes four enormous parking lots, mostly empty with yellow lines delineating
the parking spots. Mediating the sidewalk and the parking lots are a verge of
extremely patchy grass. A building rises, a large four level building above
which a tower is hidden. This façade here is assembled of various rectangular
prisms with different surface treatment. On the left are a pile of concrete,
windowless blocks stacked upon each other. In the middle a glass curtainwall
box surmounts a long box with vertical engaged columns between which are glass
window-wall infill. In the middle, a double door. The destination.
3
Start from the top. A keystone-like parapet wall over which is turned beige
flashing, thicker than the two adjacent buildings. The plaster which covers the
façade below is also beige and the plaster is rough in the manner that only
plaster can be rough. The façade then undercuts slightly to produce an overhang
under which is a single window with three panes. The largest pane takes up 2/3
of the window while the two smaller panes subdivide the 1/3 left in half. The
mullions are dark brown. Around the window is a thickened frame, also covered
in plaster; however, it is a slightly darker shade of beige. At the top,
centred, is a fake keystone. The window rests on a line of darker plaster which
stands out from the façade and bridges between two vertical elements. All three
of the formers are in that same, darker-beige plaster. Below that is the
bar-and-grill's sign: blue with yellow letters. It is assembled from eight
metal ribs over which is stretched a length of custom-fit plasticized sheeting.
Arrayed just above this awning are three lights with conical shades to direct
the light downward and illuminate the sign at night. That sign-awning shelters
the façade below: the three windows which begin just below the awning's bottom
edge and terminate about 750 centimetres from the ground; the bar-and-grill's
wooden door which is inset into the façade to one side of the windows; and a
second door on the other side of the windows which is flush to the façade.
Where the building meets the ground, about 750 centimetres of stone cladding to
make the transition. Before the building are two sandwich boards with text on
them. They are both different shades of green with the taller one in forest
green and the shorter one in a kind of almost-neon green. They both sit on the
sidewalk, itself concrete which is cast in sections which extend lengthwise
away from the building towards the curb.
Crossing the four-lane street involves following the path of a telephone wire
which spirals on itself above, connecting two poles together. The first is of
wood and is constructed of a single tree. On its surface a series of small
incisions, the second of metal with a streetlight attached which extends over
the street on a thin ogee of metal tubing.
On the adjacent sidewalk is a single building which must be passed. Start from
the top. The roof of this building is peaked and finished with terra-cotta
tiles. It hangs over slightly. On its top floor are two bay windows, five
smaller windows and a single very small window. The bay windows are clad in
wood and are assembled of operable windows which may opened vertically. The
smaller windows also open vertically and are portrait oriented. The smallest
window is a single landscape-oriented pane. The order of the windows are as
follows: bay window, smaller window, smaller window, bay window, smaller
window, smaller window, very small window, smaller window. This entire floor is
finished in brick with two horizontal lines of light stone which run through.
The bottom line is aligned to the bottom of the smaller window frames while the
second line passes across the centre of each smaller window, aligned to the
mullion. These mullions are painted black. A line of ogee moulding marks the
transition to the main floor. Below this, under the first bay window is a white
sign with red lettering for the smoke shop, under which is a green and white
striped awning which cantilevers over 1/4 of the sidewalk. The windows in this
storefront begin at the awning's anchor point on the façade and terminate one
metre off the ground. From here, the façade is wood-clad. However, that is
hidden behind racks of news papers: The Star, Star-Metro, The Post, The Globe,
24 Hours and Now Magazine. To the left, there is a wood pilaster, then the
façade becomes red brick again. Embedded therein is a single door flanked by
two sets of small-paned windows, arrayed vertically. The door also has 12 small
windows arrayed in a grid embedded within. Above is a sandstone lintel. To the
left of this door, the façade becomes grey-painted aluminum paneling whose
seams are hidden behind the lines of aluminum encased wires which subdivide the
façade vertically. Along the top, near the moulding which marks the level
change is a copper sign which announces that here is a coffee shop. Above the
sign are six lights, offset from the façade by curved metal tubes and with
conical shades to direct the light downward. Below the sign are three large
windows, subdivided into six panes of glass: three in the horizontal and two in
the vertical. Behind the glass are half-closed white blinds.
At the corner, the sidewalk briefly becomes asphalt before returning to
concrete. The curb, here, gradually lowers to meet the street. On the right is
another metal telephone pole which is rusted to the point of being completely
red-orange-brown. Only the stainless ties that hold the street sign, crossing
indicator and streetlight are un-rusted and bright. The crosswalk is painted
white against the dark asphalt and has 13 horizontal elements. It is raised
slightly from the street surface by the thickness of its paint. All other
street markings end 24 centimetres or so from the edge of the crosswalk.
Underneath a series of cracks are present: one starts at the corner and moves
obliquely across the street before turning left and ending at the street's
centre point; another outlines a square where the asphalt is darker; another
runs parallel to the curbs and continues down the centre of the street in
intermittent bursts. On the opposite corner, a rough stone wall divides the
sidewalk from the half-timbered house beyond. The stone is grey river rock,
various dark shades with lighter grey mortar holding the rocks together into
their final form at a height of about two metres. In front of this wall are two
benches. Their two side pieces, units which collect the armrests, the legs and
elements to hold the seat and back-rest in place are of black-painted cast
iron. Bits of sprew remain slightly sharp at the angles of these pieces. The
seat and back-rest are of long wooden slats, weathered to a grey-brown. On each
are centred a metal plaque. The sidewalk becomes framed. On one side, the
houses which are now continuous along this street, and on the other, a verge of
grass broken periodically by driveway slipways of asphalt and concrete. The
houses and their environs share elements. They each have at least one tree
arrayed before them. They each have a garage with at least one door. They all
have peaked roofs and two visible levels. They each have a grass lawn broken by
a length of concrete driveway which terminates at the one side of the sidewalk
and resumes at the other side to break through the verge. These lawns are
delineated from the sidewalk through an elevation change either gradual or
sudden. They each have at least two windows on the second floor with at least
one on the main floor. Their materials modulate: The first and second houses
are half-timber. The first has a lower level of rough-hewn brown stone, cut
into thin slices and stacked akimbo. This cladding material does not turn the
corner and only covers the street side façade. The window frames are white
painted with numerous small panes making up a single window. The second floor
is half-timbered with brown timbers and white infill. The second house is
entirely half-timbered with green timbers and light green infill. The infill is
plastered over. The top floor has more visible vertical timbers than the main
floor which has none visible. On the main floor is a single bay window that
juts out from the façade as a box. It is topped by an angled roof element
covered in rough wood shingling. The door is recessed under a slightly arched
overhang. The third house is of red brick. Its door is protected by an overhang
which juts out from the façade as a peaked element and is held up by two
columns which begin as white wood and become brick half-way down. The windows
have white mullions and three panes. There are four, including the door which
has embedded glazing. The fifth house is also of red brick; however, its façade
is broken by a vertical band which juts slightly out into bay windows on both
floors. This band is clad in grey plaster. The door is recessed into the façade
under a Romanesque arch. The sixth house is of brick on the main floor and
plaster on the second floor. The corners of the second floor; however, have
brick elements which turn the corner in five lines. Reaching the door, are a
set of concrete cast stairs with six steps beside which is a long, stone
planting box. The enormous tree on the lawn almost obscures the entire façade.
At the corner, the sidewalk dips again to meet the street. Just before the
sidewalk becomes the curb here, a series of brown stippled plates are present.
Each contain raised rounded nodules on which are a rough diagrid texture. There
are ten of these in a row, following the curve of the curb. Crossing the street
to the right, there is no crosswalk present. The yellow centreline of the
street simply terminates at the intersection to re-emerge after on the other
side. Crossing involves following the line of a telephone wire, a single wire
which hangs from the transverse wires via a short length of connecting wire,
bridging the gap between two distant wooden telephone poles. It terminates at
an oblique telephone pole on which are mounted a streetlight and a rectangular
yellow sign on which is black text.
On the right of the sidewalk on this side of the street is a low evergreen
hedge which has been clipped into a geometric pouf. Behind it, another house.
It is of brown brick with while mortar but terminates about 500 centimetres
from the ground in grey, rough-hewn stone. Its top floor has six windows,
arrayed in groups of two evenly across the façade, along with a rooftop balcony
over the garage on the left side of the façade. On the main floor, a single-car
garage port, six windows in groups of three flanking a white door under an
overhang and a large solarium constructed entirely of grey stone. Four stone
stairs reach the door. Beside the garage, the backyard is visible behind a
black-painted metal picket fence. Along its perimeter are amorphous planting
beds in which are three large trees, a series of clipped box hedges and smaller
woody plants. Beyond is a small shed with a grey façade in which are two
windows constructed of small-paned glass. The next house is of red brick. Its
top floor has two windows aggregated from five panes of glass. The main floor
has a section which juts out beyond the upper floor and is faced entirely by
seven windows with white mullions. Beside this house, another with an identical
configuration, the destination.
