Design 6 The pack donkey
The pack donkey’s way.*
Having established the key spots, the next thing to do is to link these points to the world outside the proposed new development
The conventional view is that a straight route is best. This is the modernist legacy.
However, it is virtually impossible to walk in a straight line across an open field without using navigational aids.
I think that this is because our bodies are good at detecting subtle changes in our immediate environment, like slight changes in level or the firmness in the ground.
We respond in a subconscious way and find the easiest paths.
Because of this, I think that a route that is drawn as a straight line between two points regardless of the topography will always feel uncomfortable.
This discomfort, when experienced on approaching a new place, will only serve to undermine the positive experience of arrival.
Therefore it is very important to design routes into the new settlement that work in a natural way.
The easiest way to do this is to walk it and track your route with GPS.
Plotting the key points and their connecting routes on the plan will then form the underlying form of the patterns to be applied to the site. See how this works.