Day 1 ll 8th October
Canal(Railway) / Railway(Canal)
Method ONE : Drawing Borders
My whole process was followed the flow of the investigation,
and all the methods are also followed the progression of my thoughts.
At first, during the investigation, I found that this place is a kind of ‘Border’.
> Commercial area / Residential area
> Energetic area(Railway) / Static area(Resident)
> Way for the train / Way for Cars(Underneath the cannel)
> Natural elements(Upper side of the railway) / Artificial elements(underneath the cannel)
Based on this approach, I photographed lines dividing borders(boundaries) in this canal/railroad. Then I traced the borders.
However, throughout this method, I realized that this is not the best way to understand this place.
Method TWO : ‘Movement and Non-movement’
So the next time, I took the train that traveled this section several times. Above this canal is the middle point between ‘Camden Road’ and ‘Caledonian Road and Barnsbury’ station(both are overground).
The railroad tracks from the outside looked very active, but the inside of the train was more quiet and static than expected. People didn’t move that much. They were just looking at their smartphones, reading books, or gazing at other people in the train.
The most impressive point was that people were sitting or standing in the same posture or making minimal movements on a train running at abnormal speeds.
Furthermore, the apartments and residential buildings right next to the railroad tracks were seemingly very static, contrasting with the actively moving trains. Also, since the residential building is a very private space, it presented another contrast that people could move as they wanted, unlike in the train
This contrast was very interesting, because the railway and residential buildings are just next to each other.
Focusing on these findings, I thought I could visualize it in a diagram.
I used a Venn Diagram which can contain both of the contrasts and similarities.
Method THREE : ‘Perspective from a stranger to a resident’
I recorded changes in perception of this space over 10 days.
When I first came here, I was an outsider who came to look for a house. And in 10 days, I became a resident of this place and was able to look out over this place from my room.
The brief of the record is :
1. I was feeling unsafe
2. I realized that there are two railways
3. The noise of trains were much better than my worries.
4. The noise became part of my daily life.
5. The noise sounded quite energetic and made me to realize that someone somewhere had already started their day.
6. The railway is dividing two areas(busy/commercial area and residential area)
Feedback :
> Needed to observe more people(need more cases) in both the train and residential buildings.
> Images and videos from different locations could be gathered in a row so that we can see the differences between the places at once.
> The point that I can see the train from my room, but can’t see my flat on the train is interesting.