Sarah Wu
Title
Sarah Wu
Description
My initial hypothesis going into this exercise was that I would be able to clearly draw the places that I frequent most. Though this proved mostly true, some familiar spaces were difficult to remember and did not make it onto my map. For example, every week I walk from Leverett House to Pennypacker, cutting through two church parking lots. Neither parking lots are included in my map. I think this may be a function of time – I always walk this route at night, and am walking as quickly as possible.
While working on this map, I realized that how I perceive urban space not only depends on my familiarity with that space, but also on the way I interact with the space. The spaces that I habitually inhabit and do meaningful things in—classrooms, gyms, upperclassman houses, the Crimson and other extracurricular locations, research centers, cafes and restaurants—dominate my map. Areas that I do not know well (i.e. most freshmen dorms, as I lived in the isolated Pennypacker dorm) were difficult to draw and I ended up missing quite a few.
One difference between my map and the one on Google Maps lays in the lengths and shapes of streets. When drawing, I was going off of time (how long it takes me to walk different street sections), but these were not always accurate. I also imagined a grid system, when in reality, the streets are far more irregular. Another key difference is that I tend to think of buildings as squares or rectangles, when many buildings vary in their shapes – this suggests that I envision the built environment more conceptually and focus on function of space rather than architectural details.
I am most surprised by how selective my memory is. Looking at my map, it seems like I ignore much of the retail scene. This makes sense as I do not go shopping much and these spaces are not important to me. The differences in the two maps also reveal that I experience Harvard Square subjectively. My personal experiences and interactions (or lack thereof) with spaces influence how I perceive and portray them.
While working on this map, I realized that how I perceive urban space not only depends on my familiarity with that space, but also on the way I interact with the space. The spaces that I habitually inhabit and do meaningful things in—classrooms, gyms, upperclassman houses, the Crimson and other extracurricular locations, research centers, cafes and restaurants—dominate my map. Areas that I do not know well (i.e. most freshmen dorms, as I lived in the isolated Pennypacker dorm) were difficult to draw and I ended up missing quite a few.
One difference between my map and the one on Google Maps lays in the lengths and shapes of streets. When drawing, I was going off of time (how long it takes me to walk different street sections), but these were not always accurate. I also imagined a grid system, when in reality, the streets are far more irregular. Another key difference is that I tend to think of buildings as squares or rectangles, when many buildings vary in their shapes – this suggests that I envision the built environment more conceptually and focus on function of space rather than architectural details.
I am most surprised by how selective my memory is. Looking at my map, it seems like I ignore much of the retail scene. This makes sense as I do not go shopping much and these spaces are not important to me. The differences in the two maps also reveal that I experience Harvard Square subjectively. My personal experiences and interactions (or lack thereof) with spaces influence how I perceive and portray them.
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Citation
“Sarah Wu,” US-WORLD 29, accessed April 8, 2026, https://usworld29.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/items/show/218.