If anyone remembers a discussion we had in class near the beginning of the year about the layout of the streets of Chicago, over break I discovered a fascinating connection! While visiting
Orlando, Florida, I noticed many things relating to the town/city itself. First off, I noticed that there were many crashes on the side of the road and I noticed a firetruck/police car every 15 minutes of driving, if not more. Next, I noticed the curving and winding nature of the roads themselves. Finally, I considered the types of drivers in Orlando and I came to a conclusion:
The reason that there are so many crashes in Orlando is that the layout of the streets are very confusing and difficult to navigate, and that the types of drivers in Orlando are either old people or confused tourists.
Think about it? Who lives in Florida? Old retirees! When are you most likely to crash a car? When you are not confident or when you are confused! How can you worsen your chances? Terrible street layout designs!
I haven't done any research on the topic other than my own observations, so if anyone would like to disagree with my thesis please do. Like we discussed in class a few months ago, Chicago has such a good street layout. The grid design is genius and I encourage cities of the future to use them! It wasn't until I started typing up this blog that I realized that there is yet another connection to this issue!
Does anyone remember the hit blockbuster: Inception? While the main focus of the movie has relatively nothing to do with this, I would like to recollect a specific moment from the movie: The main character, Cobb (Leo), tested Juno's architectural skills by having her draw up a maze very quickly that is difficult to navigate through. When she started, her mazes were too easy because of their rectangular design. As soon as she drew a circle maze, Cobb could not complete the maze fast enough. Do you see my point?
Henry,
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure, I could be reading way too far into this, but the way I see it there are two things your point might be.
1. We should think linearly because that way our thoughts are much easier to follow and there will be less "crashes"
or 2. We should think circularly because it is more original and there are much more possibilities when it comes to circular design.
I loved the movie inception and I think this is a really interesting post. I'm honestly curious to know what your actual point is!
Thanks for commenting, Emma. I'm sorry if my thoughts are difficult to comprehend, and that's my fault, not yours. The problem is, when I have a lot of ideas in my head, I tend to want to type everything I'm thinking, which leads to a very disorganized blog post. Let me try to rephrase the point I was trying to make:
ReplyDeleteChicago has a very grid-like structure when it comes to its design. I rarely encounter cars on the side of the road as a result of a crash. When I visited Orlando, it was a different story. I think that the circular design of its roads is a major factor when it comes to crashes, in addition to a few other factors such as the kinds of people driving in Orlando. I brought up Inception because I saw a relationship in that film: The architects must design worlds that can confuse their conscience and hold them off when there is trouble. That is why the girl only passed the test when she came up with a circular maze design.
I hope that answered your question!