Specht_N R07&08

In the essay, The Rendering and the Reality, the process of ideation through construction is examined for the proposed New York City High Line. The author talks about the architectural rendering that was created in order to have such an expensive project funded. Thus, initially a group of people came up with the awesome idea to reconstruct the skyline in New York City, essentially rebranding and revamping the area. I imagine, when brainstorming they decided on the generalized conceptual architecture of the space, how people would interact/react to the space, and what exactly they wanted the space to say about that particular area of New York. The author talks about film, athletic, and fine arts imagery that would become part of the skyline and that they are shown in the rendering. The rendering also depicts the loose architectural structure of the space. I say loose in that many physical supports are missing from the imagery. Why would one decide to emit information from the viewer in this particular case? In order to depict the New York City High Line in it’s best light with very little flaws in order to attract investors. Emitting information such as support structures makes sense since the investor’s main part in building the actual space is funding it, not constructing it. On that note it would be interesting to see the rendering juxtaposed to the blueprints that I imagine were eventually drafted. It is up to the artists and architects to translate something in the imaginary world into the concrete.


The Information Design and the Placebo Effect essay discussed how as people we tend to accept the information that is given to us blindly when in the right environment. The essay specifically talks about the buttons used to seemingly initiate the walk signal and how 2,500 of the 3,000 buttons hadn’t been function for 15 years. With that being said I think there are quite a few fascinating discoveries/inquiries that emerge from that information.
With anything that’s designed, there is a creator and an intended audience. Now the creators of the buttons must have installed the buttons onto the poles initially for their intended purpose. By not replacing one has to assume that they decided that pedestrians could decide to cross the road safely when the deemed fit. The fear of getting hit by a car is a fantastic motivator just in case that button doesn’t work. The fact that over 50% of the crossing signals don’t work and it’s been over 15 years had to have created a lack of confidence in the lights. The signal takes away the responsibility and awareness needed to cross the street safely, thus when the lights don’t work the former is in the hands of the pedestrian. Lastly, I imagine since it’s New York that this discovery was made, I would imagine the waves of pedestrians can stop traffic even if the light is green anyways.
This essay acts as a means of revealing how an audience can react to standardized information and what happens when it is taken away. Such as the elevator’s door closing button that is basically in place for anxious elevator riders trying to avoid whatever’s heading towards that elevator door. If anything it goes to show how pushing a button can act as tranquilizer for the socially frustrated.