The Myth of Our Urban Maze
Have you read “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco? In that story, books symbolize knowledge. The mystery revolves around the abbey library, situated in a fortified tower. The high priest made the library challenging to find, so those monks could not easily access those knowledge.
Today’s point is to put you in a reader’s shoes and try to understand why we often get lost in our environment. A common misconception is that “being lost” is because people run into a complicated pattern that constitutes many dead ends.
Purpose of Way-Finding
Based on public benefit program guidelines, the [way finding] “helps strengthen and promote walkability, helps tie the greater community and neighbors together, and provides direction to new developments and amenities.”
In other words, “getting lost” is not a signage issue but a neighborhood’s legibility and identity issue.
Let’s go back to see the “maze” that Umberto Eco designed in his book. There are several reasons why those monks get lost finding the library.
First, even though letters were listed on most rooms, those monks were still lost because the floor plan was symmetrical on four sides. Therefore, they could not tell the direction.
Second, there was no lighting inside the corridor, making them lose the orientation again. Third, the alphabet listed on the door did not line up in order. Therefore, the monks did not have a “path” to follow since they could not remember if they passed by a particular letter or not.
This similar spatial scenario also happens in our cities. In those medieval towns, cathedrals were often the tallest structure in the neighborhoods. During that time, pedestrians always had a direction indicator when they looked upwards. Moreover, since the transportation was limited, the settlement was not scattered. Hence those wayfinding landmarks were easy to spot within a distance.
How To Implement Wayfinding Systems
How can we practice the same wayfinding principle in nowadays urban scape? Here are the four strategies of wayfinding we need to consider when we plan our built environment
Orientation: show visitors where they are. Most mobile devices with GPS features have already played an essential role in the wayfinding system. But there is more we could do visually instead rely on technology.
For example: Display maps, color murals, boards, signs, or pamphlets to inform travel where they are.
Route decision: suggest visitors with an identifiable path.
For example: identify certain cultural or public facilities to indicate the direction. pin down artworks, bridges, or monuments to help choose the route.
Route monitoring: keep visitors stay on the path.
For example: utilize a series of planters, banners, or pavilions highlights a particular route. Using the same design, such as lighting fixtures, throughout the entire path.
Destination recognition: recommend stops for visitors and suggest resting points. For example, using photos, displays, and signages to highlight outdoor seating, shopping venue, and amenities for visitors to reset their trip.
Additional Sustainable Benefit
According to one of SITES Credit- Provide optimum site accessibility, safety, and wayfinding, wayfinding “create an environment that makes it easy and intuitive and security orient themselves and navigate from place to place, by providing at least five of the eight components below. “
- Clear entrance and gateways
- Viewpoints and sightlines
- Landmarks
- Decision points or nodes
- Hierarchy of pedestrian and vehicular circulation
- Distinct areas and regions
- Orientation devices and systems
- Maps and brochures
