3.19

cultural landscapes

physical landscape

physical landscape

natural physical surroundings creating and shaping places (anything not manmade)

how can the physical landscape be part of the cultural landscape?

richer neighborhoods have more trees (trees are physical, but land use, ideas about privacy, and economic divisions are cultural)

how can economic activities impact the cultural landscape?

they mark the landscape with factories, malls, hospitals, markets, etc. and such generic structures can lead to placelessness

placelessness

lack of distinctiveness resulting from standardization of buildings

example of industrial/economic features symbolizing the landscape

old mills in New England used to be industrial but now symbolize the mill town culture

how do housing patterns reflect the people living in an area?

an influx of immigrants leads to population growth, which can create distinctive architecture forms (ex. row housing, apartments)

how does agriculture impact the landscape?

the most fundamental land use is farming, so regions have distinct agricultural landscapes that show how people use the environment and shape sense of place (ex. rice paddies, tulip fields, fishing docks)

how does indigenous architecture impact/reflect the landscape?

shelter is a fundamental need, so indigenous architecture adapts and is closely related to the environment (ex. Filipino nipa hut is made with local plants and has elements to avoid extreme weather)

modernist architecture

functional, blocky buildings without trims made of steel, glass, and concrete mainly made in the 1900’s (ex. skyscrapers)

postmodernist architecture

dramatic but functional buildings that encourage artists, city planners, and architects to make places more vibrant (ex. nvidia campus)

sequent occupancy

many groups control places over time, reshaping the landscape to leave layers of meaning (ex. an old Pizza Hut building turns into a law firm, leaving the distinctive roof)

city scale sequent occupancy

cities are shaped by many cultural groups over millennium (ex. Jerusalem has been controlled by many empires, leading to the destruction and creation of symbolic places and an intertwined cultural landscape; dome of the rock (muslim) is next to western wall (jewish))

how do architecture and land surveillance methods reflect ethnic groups?

different architecture, land surveillance patterns, and building distribution hint at the presence of an ethnic/racial group

non-visual landscape markers

signs of ethnic/racial groups can be smelled, touched, or tasted (ex. smell of ethnic street food)

landscape symbols

ethnic flags and monuments symbolize landscape

example of a historical monument causing controversy

monuments of civil war generals (especially confederate generals) can be controversial because they remind of a racist past

what elements can murals represent?

religion, history, urban zoning issues

benefits of murals

murals are specific to the local landscape, so they help increase the sense of place/identity

what are some forces that shape ethnic areas?

• urban ethnic neighborhoods are created by internal and external cultural factors

• exclusionary policies can make ethnic neighborhoods safe places from cultural hostility

linguistic landscapes

publicly displayed texts show dominant languages, bilingualism, linguistic oppression, etc.; different writing systems can make landscapes hard to navigate to those who aren’t familiar

religious landscapes

religious groups almost always leave marks on the cultural landscape

sacred spaces

sites possessing religious meaning

secular

less influenced by religions (mainly MDC’s)

significance of secular sites

non-religious sites become secular versions of sacred spaces (ex. NYC Ground Zero)

what kinds of messages do linguistic landscapes carry?

linguistic messages often carry political meaning (power dynamics, domination, subjugation, freedom) and can be friendly or hostile (ex. Quebec discourages English signs and has French as the official language to maintain the original culture)

subculture

a group of culturally distinct people than the surrounding dominant culture (ex. graffiti is a subculture since it has specific symbols that can only be understood if someone knows them

effects of subcultures

not everyone understands/is meant to understand parts of the cultural landscape. so misinterpretation can go wrong

symbolic use of the religious landscape

religious buildings mark landscapes with religions’ values, goals, and identities (ex. Catholicism believes religion is supreme, so Catholic churches are often tall and elaborate)

gendered landscapes

some cultures memorialize their past with female icons’ modern landscapes (ex. street signs) suggest gender roles

what are some things the cultural landscape can show about a community?

agriculture, architecture, industry, identity, ownership, history, who’s welcome, and who isn’t

how can race and ethnicity show in cultural landscapes?

building colors mark ethnic territories; monuments, plaques, and statues show national history

iconoclasm

destruction of religious/political landmarks (ex. former Soviet republics destroying statues of Stalin)

explain one way that land use patterns shape the cultural landscape in a mountainous region

building mainly in valleys/plateaus and only occasionally on steep inclines are cultural decisions about how to use land