This weeks Journal Entries
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West Philadelphia Landscape Project
The aspect of the WPLP that is most interesting to me is its role in cultivating a sense of ownership in one’s place, and especially among youth. In light of this, one quote in particular stood out to me: “The Sulzberger students showed me that there is an even greater injustice than inequitable exposure to…
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WPLP
This week’s readings, similar to last week’s readings, display the depth and breadth of a project that implements various methods of community engagement. I enjoyed the richness and honesty in both the readings and media pieces, especially in Anne’s reflections on the successes and challenges of the Mill Creek Project. In the project at Salzburger…
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Community Capacity vs. imminent physical problems
As many people have mentioned, the narratives of WPLP first reminded me of Eagleby, Australia’s stigmatized neighborhood and participatory design; what is apparently different is the physical struggle the land has suffered from pollution, sunken land, flood, and other damage from what surrounds it – the natural landscape. To me WPLP is not a project of fighting…
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Landscape Literacy in WPLP.
I love the idea of using landscape literacy as the form to engage community and especially of teaching the young and then having them teach others (the adults) as the West Philadelphia Landscape Project sought out to do. I was impressed by the myriad of partnerships that this process of engagement required as well, pulling…
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Landscape Literacy & Community Innovation in the Face of Prejudice
The history of the West Philadelphia Landscape Plan (WPLP) as represented by the “Restoring Mill Creek” article was incredibly honest and rich. I felt as though I was experiencing the entire journey of not understanding the landscape to being radicalized into rooting for the environmental equity; I felt like the children of Sulzberger Middle School…
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WPLP
The discussion about the importance of place is especially interesting to me especially in the Mill Creek project where the landscape itself was the main focus for the project and the education of it. I liked reading about the struggle to get this program off the ground, and how things evolve from trying to incur…
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Understanding the Land
What I liked most about studying this case was that it reminded me of all that I have learned in this course. Going back and making comparisons and connections to other planners we have talked to and strategies we have discussed was not only easy, but also helpful to understanding the success of this case.…
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West Philly
Having never thought about the role landscape architecture could play in community development, this week’s readings was super informative and enlightening in a variety of ways, not only in regard to the West Philadelphia neighborhood, but also in terms of the power of landscape architecture in general. The concept of “reading” the landscape and surmising…
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WPLP
The West Philadelphia Landscape Project combines many of the themes we discussed during the semester about different approaches to engagement. The idea of ‘the bottoms’ is so similar to our first discussions about Eagleby, Australia and the residents’ need to address a stigma about their community. Spirn describes this perception as the greatest injustice:…
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WPLP
Journal Entry 1: The company you keep and the environment you surround yourself with I really enjoyed reading this week about the West Philadelphia Landscape Project, and all of the initiatives it addressed through its progression. Prior to reviewing this past weeks readings, it had never occurred to me that landscape development could influence the…
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WPLP
One of the most interesting aspects of the West Philly Landscape Plan and the Mill Creek Project is how attuned they try to be to the context in which they are working. They seem to realize that individuals in the community have been and are central to many projects and initiatives that started over the…