Walking in the city

We were given a piece of reading last week. Which is a chapter of a book, and its the most difficult piece of writing I have ever read. Although it is one confusing reading, it actually describe something very interesting inside the book.

To generally sum the chapter up, it basically says that the city view from the painting from the history was a result of imagination as the painter in that era did not possess the technology to see the city from a high point of view. Only until the recent decades with the invention of tall buildings and aircrafts we are able to observe the place with our own eyes from high up. 

And as urban designer are more familiar with designing from the view point of up high, the result isnt exactly well behaved like they would have imagine, only from the eye level of view to design the place will suits the people`s need more. We are not going to see what other people see unless we look at the place from their position. Designers think the plan is perfect did not change the fact that they design the plan only to suit their taste. 

Also the author mention something like, only the users to decide which road they wanted to take, which route is the route for them to walk. Designers has no control of what the user is going to use their product/design, they can only make the product to perform best in what its originally designed to perform. 

And the users do not need to care about how others think of them, the way they use a particular product, because in the end, the only audience that matters the most is yourself. How you think you should be using this product, how you think this product is going to perform, how you think this product should costs...Its all about you and very little about the others nor the designers. And perhaps again this is what human centred design is about too.

Link to Walking In The City-Micheal De Certeau (Review)
http://culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/michel-de-certeau-walking-in-city.html