Psychogeography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychogeography - Essay Example In some cases, psychogeography is also concern on how the environment could influence how a person thinks (Prescott-Steed, 2013, p. 46). The study of psychogeography is significant in the profession of engineers and architects. Specifically the common elements associated with the study of psychogeography include: cultural and social critique, marginalized urban experiences, past experiences, re-enchantment of cityscape, space, spatial history, trauma, and walking. In relation to the common elements of psychogeography, this report aims to critically analyze and compare the context of Alan Bennet’s â€Å"A life like other people† (2009) with Matt Condon’s â€Å"Brisbane† (2010). Psychogeographic Comparison between the Text Written by Bennett (2009) and Condon (2010) In relation to the elements of psychogeography, there are similarities in the context of extracts take from the works of Bennett (2009) and Condon (2010). One of the most obvious similarities bet ween these two context is that the past experiences, regardless of whether or not the said experience is traumatic or a happy event a person has on a specific place, can last for a lifetime. For instance, Bennett (2009) mentoned that after so many years, he remembered a man who drowned in a canal situated close to the university boathouse at Calverley. This particular event has created a negative experience for Bennett. Bennett (2009) also remembered the hill that runs down to Rodley, the canal that runs parallel the railway, and in between the canal and the railway runs the Aire river. All these fixed environmental features brought back some old memories to Bennett. At the age of 20, Condon (2010) left Brisbane – the place where he was born. After 47 long years, Condon (2010) decided to go back to his hometown again. He live in the same house which is situated hundreds of metres away from the ponds. Condon mentioned that he remembered or at least he was able to imagine his c hildhood days within the same geographic area. Despite all the significant changes that took place within the same environment (i.e. the presence of computer stores, tanning salons, office buildings, and the bitumen road), Condon (2010) felt that nothing much has significantly changed due to the fact that the river, hills, and gullies are still situated in the same place. Basically, these two (2) entirely different scenarios clearly strongly suggest that the act of going back to the same geographic environment, regardless of the changes that took place in the city, could bring out the same old memories and/or the same old feeling each person had while staying in the same place. Change is the only thing that is constant in this world. In relation to the concept of urbanization, psychogeography is commonly used in the process of enabling human beings to change the urban life (Coverley, Psychogeography, 2010, p. 10). Within this context, psychogeographers usually aim to examine the imp act of different ambience of urban places on the feelings, emotions, mental stability, and socializing behaviour of people (Del Casino et al., 2011, p. 285; Prescott-Steed, 2013, p. 46). This further explains why most of the modern architects today are carefully analyzing how light can significantly affect positive ambience in space when creating a new architectural design (Knabb, 2007, p. 4). Re-enchantment of the cityscape is another