Gloria Yu

Gloria Yu

I was concerned about this project because I have a terrible sense of direction. Part of it is due to the fact that because of a leg condition I have, I have not walked around too much and been able to explore large areas as much as others. Also, since I’m from Korea, where one doesn’t drive until a pretty late age, I have little driving experience. Hence, only having been driven around—which requires less concentration then actual driving—I found that when making this sketch as well, I was not very aware of roads nor have a spatial sense that one acquires when one walks and actively takes in their environment. I was pretty familiar with the River House area where I am used to walking around in (Leverett- Quincy- Adams House on the Bow Street side) because I live in Leverett House and have walked those streets on my way to and back from class. Also, since I viewed Leverett, where I live as the focal point, I subconsciously drew those houses on the River much larger, with everything else away from the houses close to the river—Harvard Yard, the Square, especially the Quad area progressively smaller. In my mind, I seemed to have had a subconscious sense of perspective, when since this is a bird’s eye view, would not necessarily exist. Although I was pretty familiar with the location of houses near the River, I was lost to where the roads lay, and their proportion to the buildings—probably because I’ve never driven around the River House area. I was also completely unaware of where the Quad is located—because with my leg, I had never directly walked to the quad, only using the shuttle for my occasional visits, which tend to meander and stop at various locations. Also, I noticed that in Harvard Square, because I’m more focused on getting to the one store I am headed to amongst the throng of people (which makes it very difficult for me to concentrate) rather than leisurely taking in my surroundings that it was difficult for me to remember the shops as a continuum, or even how many streets are in the square (which is something I forget in real life as well). The map I drew generally reflected my understanding and experience of Harvard Square—I remembered better places I had walked to-and-fro more often (River House Area near Lev, down Quincy Street & Bow street where most of my classes are located) and either the places I visited most often or places I was completely oblivious to (Eliot House) were drawn larger.