Space Essay

Katie Tyo

Professor Klepper

English 114B

March 23, 2012

Space Essay

            The space I chose is the mall in the Santa Clarita Valley. This mall is called the Valencia Town Center. The Valencia Town Center is roughly six city blocks long. Over the years there have been additions and upgrades to the Valencia Town Center. With all of these changes there are a few parts of the Valencia Town Center that do not match the newer portions of the Valencia Town Center. These differences in the mall could be changed so that the Valencia Town Center blends together better and looks better overall. “Spatial enclosure is a balance between opening and closing, between cosmic infinity and the Platonic prison (A waste of space? Towards a critique of the social production of space 22).  The space within the Valencia Town Center has been put to good use because of the versatility of everything within the complex of the Valencia Town Center mall.

            The Valencia Town Center mall has created a space for everyone in the Santa Clarita Valley. There is going to be something going on at the mall that is of interest to everybody whether it is the summer time concerts, the fairs that occur there sometimes or the carnivals that come there during the summer time. There is going to be something to do for everyone especially during the summer and winter times. The Valencia Town Center mall is also directly connected with one of the Santa Clarita Valley’s movie theaters, it is also one of the most popular and nicest, and it is also connected with the nicest hotel the Santa Clarita Valley has to offer. The Valencia Town Center mall plays a major role in the lives of the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley.

            The Valencia Town Center mall is very important to the Santa Clarita Valley. This is where so many of the restaurants are and where a majority of the shopping is located. This is like the heart of the Santa Clarita Valley so much goes on here. Since it is so important to the city to survive it is key in the layout of the city. All the best shopping seems to be directly related to the mall whether it is inside the mall or around the mall.

            The additions to the Valencia Town Center have all been extremely nice.  From the downtown area that leads from the mall all the way to the movie theater complex to the most recent additions of the patio area filled with shops and restaurants. The Valencia Town Center has a variety of services to provide the community.  Also in the mall complex are some office buildings in use by large corporations such as Princess Cruises. The space within the Valencia Town Center has been put to good use.

            The Valencia Town Center mall is the best place to hang-out with friends and just be a teenager in the Santa Clarita Valley. The mall is crawling with teenagers nearly all the time. With all the options of food from the food court to the patio dining options to the restaurants even down by the movie theater there is always somewhere fun and exciting to eat at which is the perfect atmosphere and excuse for teenagers to always hang-out at the mall.

            Architecturally the Valencia Town Center mall has a very modern look to it especially the more recent additions. This gives the whole mall a feel of importance to the Santa Clarita Valley. The versatility of this mall makes it such a unique place as well. I have never been to another mall that has office buildings in the mall so the mall is both modern and versatile.

           

The space itself is a very functional space. With the stores and restaurants all mixed in together very efficiently the flow of the Valencia Town Center is very good. All around the interior of the mall there are comfortable chairs to relax and hang-out at which is a more modern twist on malls. There have been new additions open as recent as earlier this year and there is still work underway to add more to the outdoor patios. The following building is one of the buildings still underway no one knows yet what is going to be in this building but what is known is that it is a beautiful building.

            

            Parts of the original mall match the new paint scheme more than other parts of the older mall. There are two stores that come to mind when this is said. The first one being Macy’s shown here.

            

The second building and the building that needs to change the most would be the Sears building for some reason Sears decided to paint their building the whitest color they could find. It is so white it almost looks like it is just the primer coat but it has been this way for almost a year now. The whiteness of this building does not come even a little close to the color scheme of the rest of the mall. At least the Macy’s building is a little close to the color scheme of the rest of the mall, the Sears building just sticks out like a sore thumb.

           

          

The variety of stores also gives the Valencia Town Center uniqueness. The stores range from high end to affordable, it has multiple department stores and more. There is just such a variety of stores it is unbelievable. No matter who you are or what you like you can find a store that you like somewhere in the Valencia Town Center mall.     

            Besides these two buildings that are unable to blend with the rest of the Valencia Town Center this mall is extremely nice and well blended. If these two buildings were to be painted closer colors to the rest of the mall then the mall would be architecturally perfect in the eyes of the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley. The residents already adore this complex because it is an escape from the Southern California extreme weather and a place for people to hang-out with friends while still getting what they need to get done. It is the best of both worlds for the residents while looking pretty good at the same time.

            Personally all throughout my junior high school, high school and college years this has been at the epicenter of my activities with friends. Its location makes it the perfect place to start out a weekend with my friends. There is always something to do at the Valencia Town Center mall.

Works Cited

"JSTOR." Architecture is Space. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <www.jstor.org.libproxy.csun.edu/stable/1424783>.

"JSTOR." The Occupation and Fragmentation of space: Consequences of  neighboring roots. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <www.jstor.org.libproxy.csun.edu/stable/2389967>.

"JSTOR." A waste of space? Towards a critique of the social production of space . N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <www.jstor.org.libproxy.csun.edu/stable/623315>.

Ethnography

Katie Tyo

Professor Klepper

English 114B

March 23, 2012

Ethnography

The space I chose for my ethnography was of a shopping center in the Santa Clarita Valley. This center is known to the locals as the Kmart Center. The Kmart Center is a center that could be improved upon. There is a way for this center to work better for the whole community.

This center has one of the largest parking lots in the Santa Clarita Valley. The parking lot never even gets close to filling one fourth of it let alone the whole parking lot, not even during the holiday season. This humongous parking lot could be put to better use. There are many different ways that this parking lot could be altered to make it work more efficiently.

The Kmart Center only has shops around the edges of the center itself. There is one edge of the center that does not have any shops along the side of it. Some of the space in the middle of the center could be used for the addition of another building. There are many different places that there could be more buildings added to make this center benefit the community more. The addition of more buildings to this center could create more jobs for people of the Santa Clarita Valley.

            If I could change this center to benefit the whole community I would add a building or two along the one edge that is completely empty. This would still leave a rather large parking lot for consumers to use but it would use some of the wasted space. All while helping the community with providing more services as well as more jobs for local residents. This would affect the local community in many ways that are necessary for the local residents to be able to live comfortably.

 The Kmart Center is one of the largest centers in the Santa Clarita Valley. It is also one of the centers with the fewest number of stores in it. There are many ways that it could be improved upon but these are the ways that I have chosen to improve it.

Bedroom

This is how my bedroom is now. I have my bed where it is because I have a queen size bed in such a small room it is the only place I can put it to make my room seem bigger. I have my television where it is because that is where my cable is. I have the dog bed at the foot of my bed because that is where my dog likes to lay because it gets the most sun. Everything else is where it is because it is where it will fit.

This is how my perfect room would be. I would like to have a dresser that I am able to hang clothes as well as have drawers for folded clothes because my closet right now does not hold most of my clothes very easily. I would also love to have a small couch in my room for when my friends stay with me they have a more comfortable place to stay. The last thing I would like to change would be to mount my television on my wall so I have more space in my room. Other than those three things I love my room how it is now.

Spaces at CSUN

This photo was taken in the orange groves at CSUN. The orange groves at CSUN is significant because it is shows what California used to be about which was agriculture. The orange groves are located toward the front of campus. The design to this particular space does not have a particular significance because it is designed to benefit the grove its self. It does add significance to the area in which it inhabits because it adds nature to the campus and a sense of serenity as well. The importance of this location gives the students a way to stay connected with the land that the university was built on.

This might seem like a regular building but like every other building on campus this one is unique in its special way. The building is different than the others and its shape is quite unique. The building is located in the middle of campus and is surrounded by grass, bike racks, and benches. These surroundings make this building a little bit more inviting. Not to mention the way the walls, are designed make it a little bit more interesting to go into. Unlike the regular concrete walls much of this building is surrounded by glass windows that make you be able to look inside.

This is a photo of the Sierra Center located in the middle of campus. It is open space with places to sit and eat or do school work. It is a very functional place on campus. The trees, bike racks, tables and dining options make it more appealing to go into.  Although it is made of concrete which makes it less appealing. The Sierra Center is also connected to buildings of classrooms which makes it easy access for the students.

This is the Oviatt library at CSUN. It is located in the middle of campus. It is a very interesting building with all the trees and grass that surround it. It also looks like nothing else on campus. The architecture is very unique which makes it very appealing to students. There are multiple walkways leading to the Oviatt which makes me think that it is the center of the campus.  It is a key aspect of a students life at CSUN. The Oviatt is needed in order to succeed at CSUN which is why it is the center of the campus.

This is a photo of the Valley Performing Arts Center which is one of the most open buildings on campus and it is also one of the newest buildings. With all of the windows in this building it gets so much light making it a very peaceful and calming place to be. It is surrounded by trees and grass which makes it very appealing to students. The fountain that surrounds the building partially makes it even more intriguing and calming. It has a very modern feeling to it which goes with a lot of the architecture on campus today.

Public Spaces

Public spaces are important to our society. Public spaces need to be conserved according to President Obama if we can conserve our open spaces national parks it could create more jobs, help the economy recover and even help our dependency on foreign oil. If we can conserve our national parks and open spaces then we could be well on our way to recovering from the economy because with the conservation of these parks will give people who are unemployed a chance to get a job and help themselves and the economy. When more people can find jobs then more money is being poured into the economy. The more money poured into the economy the better the economy will be.

Public spaces are different then they used to be and they differ from one country to another. Some countries have more identifiable cultural aspects to their open spaces. Some countries have public spaces that are for their religious practices that they practice daily. Other countries have public spaces that have less to do with their cultural aspects. Public spaces are always changing and being redefined. The definition of public spaces changes with the always changing society of the world.

Sources:
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/02/4307150/obama-promotes-conservation-of.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=W00VHZg3u2MC&lpg=PP1&ots=7RppWFJKC6&dq=david%20harvey%20spaces%20of%20hope&pg=PA73%23v=onepage&q&f=false#v=onepage&q=david%20harvey%20spaces%20of%20hope&f=false