Rhythm of the Streets

Rhythm of the Streets How topography impacts people's experience of perceiving landscape Liu Chin You 170229713

Walking in Lisbon, the first impression of the city is not the beauty of buildings or streets, but the challenging topography.

There are various kinds of hills. And every descent/ ascent gives a different feeling and brings changes to the experience of the landscape.

Every street has its own rhythm. While the topography changes, the speed of walking and perspectives of viewing a landscape will shape an iconic melody that responds to its rhythm.

By repeating going descent and ascent on different streets. I listed down a few scenarios that changed my experience of a landscape in the following.

Sheffield is also a hilly city.

However, the gradients compared to Lisbon are more gentle.

The average gradient of hills in Lisbon is steeper.

A stunning view from a descenting slope in Lisbon.

While descending, the speed I walked at was faster than usual. As the speed went up, my eyes started to focus more on the objects that were further away from me or the ones which attracted me the most (the coloured part in the graphic). It caused the view on my left and right hand sides to become blurry and less noticeable, thus allowing me to browse another side of the city that could not have been observed if the road was flat.

Graphic showing the process of a person ascending. Tired and exhausted, but the motivation keep the person going.

While ascending, the speed of walking became slower than usual. As I slowed down, I had more time and became more interested in observing the surroundings. Although it was be physically tiring, the amazing sense of fulfilment when I finally reach the sculpture or the building at the end of the road always motivated me to travel further.

In this sketch, I highlight the sculpture at the end of the road, which forms a specific target that leads me toward the top of the hill. Due to an object's uniquess given by the landscape, a simple sculpture or tree could be the most eye-catching thing in the scene. Unlike the descending road, the viewport is less broad and much narrower.

On the way up, due to my slow speed, I was able to view things in detail individually.

I saw the blue sky framed by the buildings.

I saw buildings with diversed colour, design and height.

I even noticed the red bucket and mop on the balcony and the pattern on street lamp's steel supporter.

Found out two trees were growing very well and spreading out their arms comfortably.

By not being able to see anything on the end/top of the hill, the desire to know what is over the hill stimulates me to march forward.

Before conquering the hill, I could imagine the scene looking over the landscape of Lisbon.

It might be a viewpoint of the city where I could overlook the ocean and the Portuguese style buildings, or a steep descending slope with the iconic tram in Lisbon. Who knows? Those unknowns were the motivation that pushed me to the end.

In conclusion, I discovered that every street has its own characteristics. Not only by looking at its appearance but also experiencing its landscape from different perspectives in terms of speed and motivation. All these factors could trigger our inner-selves to truly explore and appreciate the landscape, and finally follow the rhythm.