Location: the surroundings on which our lives are focused
To feel located people have to know where they are in relation to the world around them and to gain that knowledge through their senses over a period of time. To do this they need to explore the things that give a place an identity, to understand what the place has to offer them and what they can bring to it in return.
Even with the technology at our disposal today it is still the sensory experience of place that allows people to go below the surface of their first impressions.
Modern life has brought with it an idea that all urban locations are very much the same but every site has the potential to be unique. It is difficult for people to feel located in cities if urban living is presented more as a design commodity that they buy into than a context that they respond to. Where the built environment is planned and designed on a macro scale it leaves few places where the lives of people can have an identity, make an impact and can become creatively engaged.
Modern life has brought with it an idea that all urban locations are very much the same but every site has the potential to be unique. It is difficult for people to feel located in cities if urban living is presented more as a design commodity that they buy into than a context that they respond to. Where the built environment is planned and designed on a macro scale it leaves few places where the lives of people can have an identity, make an impact and can become creatively engaged.
