Detail and delight captured at Linden Alley.
This is Where I Walk, Rest, Eat, Perform, Live, Shop, Work, Nap, Read, Chat...
Density diversifies the public realm. At any given moment, a sidewalk can transcend its primary function to become something else—a stage, a phone booth, a cafe, or even a gym. Each city dweller defines his or her own urban room.
These temporary and simultaneous changes of use are sometimes elusive at first glance and can only be seen with a closer look.
This is a selection of moments—first photographed and then further studied through a hand-drawn lens—that articulate the vibrancy of a particular time and place within the urban fabric.
Amanda Loper, AIA, LEED AP, is an architect and urbanist who has been turning a creative and discerning eye towards cityscapes since college. This Field Notes is an extension of her prize-winning Auburn University thesis project “This is What Eye See,” which deconstructed rich urban moments and infused them into derelict area to create “city collisions,” innovative and surprising proposals to resurrect unsuccessful public spaces.
Amanda is a Senior Associate at David Baker Architects and also contributed the SPUR Urbanist's June issue’s photo essay, “The First 20 Feet” with colleague David Baker.