1.

Introduction

My site was the West Bank plaza which I interpreted to be the entirety of space presented as one
immediately steps off of the Washington Bridge that effectively connects the west and east banks of the
Mississippi River and of the University of Minnesota campuses.

The site, in many ways, sets the tone for the west bank campus and clarifies differences between its
atmosphere and that of the east bank.

Panoramic Image of the West Bank Plaza

In my study I was looking for physical traces, ‘…reflections of previous activity that was not produced in
order to be measured by researchers.’ as defined by Ziesel in the beginning of the eighth chapter of his
book, Inquiry by Design. He classified these traces into:

By-products of use

In this, Ziesel refers to evidences of human use of a particular area which can be represented by what is
left behind, what has become worn from use and, in fact, what can be expected to be but is not present
in the area. These traces give an insight on the way of life of the people in that area and the rules that
govern them.

Adaptations for use

In this, Ziesel refers to modifications made by humans to the area to suit their needs, wants and general
day-to-day lifestyle. They add or remove items (identified by Ziesel as props) that do not satisfy their
wants (or needs). They similarly set up barriers between entities which are not only physical, but can
apply to any of the senses. Also, the users of an area can set up ‘connections’ to make it easier for them
to do one thing or another. Ziesel hints at the fact that visible connections can serve as leftovers (by-
products of use).

Displays of self

In this, Ziesel refers to marks that are made on area by its user to highlight something about that user.
This mark may be made by the user to personalize that area, to show that the area is theirs and it show
how they differ from the next person. Marks may also be present to identify individuals usually out of a
large group and therefore the sentiment of this mark relates largely to who it was made by, Ziesel
explains. Similarly, users mark their environment with indicators of groups or organizations they identify
with. This can serve to either advertise their being in the group to outsiders or to inform other group
members of their membership.

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Public Messages

This refers to publications by users of an area that are meant to address a much larger group of people
that can be referred to as the general public.

2. Site map

3. Field Notes

I visited the site on two different occasions at around the same time in the week, Sunday 12pm-1pm, on
two consecutive weeks. Quite frankly, it was quite difficult for me to find traces that are human o
invoked because there

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First Sunday Afternoon Observation Notes

The weather was fairly nice and favorable. It was quite sunny (about 63°F) and the sun was at an angle
facing Anderson Library. It was also rather windy on the day. I came off the bridge on a lime scooter and
parked it near the bike racks which were basically empty. Could this be because I came on a Sunday
when there is no activity in the surrounding buildings?

The bike racks were mostly empty.

I noticed as well that there was no trash in the area and this made me think about the classification,
‘Missing traces’ because, being such a public area, I expected to see at least some trash around it. This
brought up questions as and made me wonder if there was maybe a rule against littering? Or did people
not litter because of the availability of trash cans (about 4) in the area?

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The site was fairly trash-free.

I also noticed that vegetation sprouted out of the concrete in many places mostly at corners of the trash
cans and at the many cracks in the concrete. It might also be worthy to note that most of the
aforementioned cracks in the concrete originated from the drainage sinks and the other cracks which
are intentional and included in the design of the area.

Vegetation at corners.

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Origination of cracks at drainage sink

Cracks in the concrete.

Second Sunday Afternoon Observation Notes

The weather on this day was slightly cooler and windier, the sun was hitting the Anderson library as well.
This time, I walked the bridge and coming off of it, I followed typically the exact same path as I did on my
first observation date.

There was almost no difference between my second observations and my first ones. Does this have to
do with the fact that I came at the same time on two consecutive weeks?

However, I noticed a substance that had formed around the drainage sinks in the area. Was this due to
water that had stayed there for a long time because of the rain from the day before?

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Substance around drainage sink.

4. Difficulties and Challenges

Some of the things that served as challenges to me during my observations were:

1. It was quite windy on both days and so I could not record the positions fallen leaves accurately.
2. My site had many permanent features and so it was hard to notice specific traces of activity.
3. The area is cleaned up quite often so;
 There was not a lot to observe in the site and,
 What I observed was not a true mirror of what actually had actually happened in the area over
time.
4. The Google maps satellite picture I used was rather outdated and so lacked some of the
amenities that were there. This made it more difficult to map certain positions very accurately.