By Megan Watson
 |
| Image 1: A Couple Enjoying Public Places (Caillebotte) |
The design of Deviantart affects the movement in planned
ways. The virtual space is organised and planned like a city’s real space.
There are hubs and strong links that allow you to breeze through the featured
‘What’s hot’ or simply leisurely stroll at your own pace. This planning
reflects our perspective of the world, and the values we hold dear, this can be
seen as an encoded autobiography of the creators and users (Kuttainen, 2017).
In public planning there is an emphasis on organisation,
liveability and productivity in benefit of the future (Planning Institute
Australia, 2013). This real life example can then be applied to the virtual
spaces people create as a reflection of what they value. That the movement
of people and places are interconnected, and you cannot have one without the
other.
Movement is affected by the space it occupies in planned
ways so it is productive for the user’s needs. The structure allows for
recommendations to be generated and communities to be formed. These communities
that form, collate the interests of the members and attract an audience.
The design of the space the website occupies is very open as
this virtual space values the artwork of the community so it caters for
everyone.The
website creates a structure in which what is currently popular can be
circulated from the first page. The architecture of the website permits for effective distribution of
artists’ works. The use of search and categories can be used to find anything
within the website.
This urban planning that the website utilises allows it to
be liveable because it creates a place that users can function within. The website is
clean and attractive in design and simple to operate even for first time users.
This organisation the founders planned is what makes Deviantart productive and liveable.
It isn’t just the planning that creates the place but the
people who inhabit it. Like Burden (2014)
said the public spaces that people use are the places between the created
spaces which is what makes websites like Deviantart work. People make place within the
space creating value and then in turn draw more people to these places.
Within the space the website provides there are places that
thrive. This is what makes Deviantart a place people can find security in and
shape our attitudes (Kuttainen, 2017; Tuan, 1977). It is then the people who
come about because of places from the urban planning that define the place. The
anonymity that the virtual world offers has created a 3rd wave of
the flâneurs from the latest urban development (Prouty, 2009). This 3rd
wave would have been created from the development of the internet and the
unique places within.
The urban planning of the virtual space allowed for the
creation of similar figure of that of the flâneur. As Prouty (2009) stated flâneur
are still a non-existence figure except in literature. But have the spaces created
within the internet formed a new type of flâneur, who highlight the
phantasmagoria of the internet?
Or has their time passed just like the others?
References
Burden, A.
(2014, April 7). Amanda Burden: How public spaces make cities work [Audio
file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7fRIGphgtk
Caillebotte,
G. (1877). Paris Street; Rainy Day [Image]. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Street;_Rainy_Day
Kuttainen, V.
(2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place,
lecture 4: Power [PowerPoint slides] Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au
Prouty, R.
(2009). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved from http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html
Planning
Institute Australia. (2013). Policy What is good planning? (09/13). Retrieved
from https://www.planning.org.au/policy/what-is-good-planning-0913
Tuan, Y. (1977). Space and Place: The perspective of
Experience. England: Edward Arnold
No comments:
Post a Comment