re: issues raised in meeting august 24, 2012

a number of issues were raised in yesterday's meeting with prof m f sihlongonyane, director of the planning program. following his recommendation these issues will be addressed as follows:

·         marking of the reports that were submitted late by the students with deductions for late submission in according with the program policy.

·         the final break down of marks for each assignment of the course, that is currently on the course blog, will be placed on the notice board with explanatory notes where necessary.

·         students with individual queries will be addressed by email after the final marks from the external examiner are released.

preliminary marks

comparative analysis

http://www.templatesforlife.com/wp-content/uploads/marketing-strategy-template-matrix.png

thoughts on street comparisons

skhotha

a somewhat interesting page which unfortunately lacks structure, for instance an introduction to what you will be doing.  the project called for a comparison between 3 streets.  this is not evident in the project.  some sort of table could have assisted in comparing, for example, trees, sidewalk with, furniture, number of lanes for vehicular traffic etc.  some of the graphics are too pixelated to be informative.  drawings have come a long way.

4/10

manyaka

cover page info could have been shrunk to create a more visual page cover.  where are the contents page + page numbers?  as much as the drawings of the streets are appreciated, but one has no idea where or what context the streets are located.  a comparison matrix would have helped frame the project.  streets are linear, thus maps always assist in understanding the relationship the have to the architecture etc.  why are there no maps?  info on the background page is plagiarised from, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhibition_Road thus i was unable to mark the rest of the document.

0/10

james

contents page, page numbers. reference page? overall a somewhat pleasing project which could have benefitted from a simpler layout.  the current one is rather complex and makes the document difficult to follow – see conclusion page, or the web for comparison matrix templates.  plans would have enhanced the project.  well done.

5.8/10

nyundu

good aerials demonstrating where the streets are within a context.  next time try to be consistent with the eye height – jozi you have it 1721m, london at 21m –  to get a more comparable + accurate picture.  a well put and easy to access document which would have been excellent with a proper cover page, contents page, page numbers. project introduction, conclusion and reference page.  normally caption font is smaller that running text font, yet you have it the other way round – why?  crisp work that keeps improving.

6.2/10

quarm

page numbers are greatly appreciated, but mean little without a contents page.  fantastic context page with the same criticism stated above as far as eye heights are concerned.  a north point on the base + building footprint maps would have gone a long way.  project is well executed.  comparison & conclusions page, the font size is a little large, thus starts to feel like a “page filler.”  would have enhanced the document if on  the pages there was a heading to guide us into what is actually been covered – as in, public realm, pedestrians, parking, shade, porosity etc –  also for consistency sake.  next time think seriously about this.

6.8/10

anaman

kudos for a thorough contents page with page numbers.  fantastic intro, but then why does the font size decrease?  is this significant?  on page 3 you state that, “in this assignment, an analyses [which should read analysis] of these characteristics outline . . “ which?  specify.  you name a lot, and you cannot tackle everything.  be intelligent on what you chose to unpack + how.  context maps on page 4 are appreciated, but where are the sites?  illustrate this.  on page 5, when describing the street, you use left and right.  this is not good enough since they can be interchangeable depending on what direction one is facing.  use north, east, west + south.  these are constant, as should the font size in the document.

7/10 

muneebah

it is lovely to see an image on the cover page which deals with the subject material in the document.  a missed opportunity though.  the other 2 streets should have been included, and then the title “comparing streets” is apt.  no contents page, intro, conclusion, references or page numbers.  rather perplexing.  the crisp aerial images of the 3 contexts are welcome.  project layout has come a long way kara and it is very accessible.  pity that you have a text box around the text.  why?  captions would have greatly enhanced what is already promising work, especially the last matrix page which frames the project – this is how the project should have been executed.  you have to push yourself harder.

6.3/10

mkhulisa

a very strong submission which unfortunately is betrayed by a lack of structure.  if you are going to pursue this route then i suggest that once you have cut and pasted your page, you then photocopy the – i have attached a page to demonstrate this.  your work will come out cleaner + crisper.  drawings need an explanation and headings.  the tree page is good.  push this further.  fairly decent work with layout problems which can be fixed with more rigour + focus.

5.3/10

anatomy

ramasoeu project has no title or page numbers. not an entirely bad submission latent with potential if project was pushed further. formatting needs to be consistent, especially with font and font size. some pages are hand written other typed. why? page orientation needs to be consistent throughout document. if its landscape then its should be landscape – do not mix landscape + portrait pages. on movement, the circle depicting distances: is the diameter the distance or the radius? this is confusing. use a circle template with a consistent center point. document suffers from coherency + a lack of crispness. 4.7/10 skhotha project has no title or page numbers. project is difficult to access, with very confusing legend and use of colour. 3.5/10 nyilenda an interesting submission with suffers from a lack of time + effort invested in it. the various page heading could have been richer and more layers could have enhanced the document. as much as the context snapshots page is appreciated, a text layer would have been helpful. some captions would have made the pager much more loaded. over reliant on the building footprint map, a base map would have helped. page numbers? 5/10 manyaka document has no title page or page numbers. north point on the vrededorp arial [what is that?] map is incorrect. public transport network is confusing. what are general roads? document is somewhat tardy with cryptic headings and sentences. 4.1/10 mkhulisa project has no title or page numbers. inconsistent page orientation makes it difficult to access the document. 3/10 james document has no title page or page numbers. project is peppered with spell mistakes and the maps are hard to access. the legends are legible making the maps even less readable. requires more commitment to make it an accessible project. 3/10 no name document has no title page or page numbers. 5.7/10 quarm document has a cover page, contents page + page number. well done. a well thought through and put together document only marred by a lack of conclusion. 7.3/10 anaman document has a cover page, contents page + page number. well done. a very good beginning with a terrible aerial view image on page 4. very pixelated. captions would have enhanced the document on the land uses, page 9. keep the font size consistent and try always to use your own photographs instead on relying of google earth images. this, unfortunately, removes something from the project. 7.3/10 kara document has no title page or page numbers. the project has a sense of spirit which should continue throughout the semester. there is a certain clarity within the project. a photographic + text layer would have enhanced the project. 6/10

vrededorp intersection

the intersection will be 8th + de la rey for wednesday create a 3 minute | 7 slide powerpoint on how you will unpack the intersection employing the various themes covered in class.

base map feedback

what the class pinned up on wednesday 28-03-12 was totally unacceptable.
the maps were flat and didn’t tell or say anything at all -- there was a lack of a narrative and continuity.
they were not even 1 dimensional and at this academic level, sub par.
to know more + help unpack the complexity people have to read + do some basic research to go beyond mapping.
another thing is that the library isn’t utilized sufficiently + efficiently.
look up sdf and see how maps are done.
a lot of work goes into a map and it’s not something that can be done last minute.

see these for references . . .
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/sdf/pages/southerndistrictplan.aspx
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/sdf/publishingimages/southern_apr2011/subdistrict%201_s.jpg
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/sdf/publishingimages/southern_apr2011/emf_zone_h_cultural_new_insets_s.jpg
http://www.joburg-archive.co.za/2004/budget/ch8.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/spatial_analysis
on how to construct a map, with legend et al . . .
these are a drop in an ocean of how maps are articulated.

get vigorous and invest significant time in articulating [graphically + textually] the concepts you are attempting to deal + grasp.
print, read and try, as best as you can, to understand bill hillier’ paper on the city – http://www.palgrave-journals.com/udi/journal/v7/n3/pdf/9000082a.pdf
another things is that students don’t seem to be reading through the course outline, which neil oh-so-graciously + sagaciously-put-together, which covers all the layers required in fine great detail.
this might also help in graphically refining the argument – http://ncgia.ucsb.edu/projects/scdg/docs/position/roche-position-paper.pdf

this demonstrates how different maps are illustrated – http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=drawing+urban+design+spatial+maps&view=detail&id=a8698b9c7484fe187e5efd2118260326718fff1a&first=91&form=idfrir
click on any on the maps to get a detailed rendering of the subject matter like here – http://www.except.nl/present/systemmaps/images/space_maasterras_transport_spacemap.jpg


the main thing is to get drawing, to think by doing + production.

wednesday 21 march 2012

due to a lack
of interest
there will be no
class on wednesday
the day of the
public holiday.