The idea for this studio is born out of a dissatisfaction with the imageability of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus for way-finding. Due partially to the size of the campus, it normally takes months for anyone to become spatially cognizant and confident of getting from point to point on the NTU campus. I have often encountered visitors who could not find their way to the meeting rooms, despite having the campus map on their smart phones. On occasions when I had to visit unfamiliar parts of the campus and found myself getting lost, I would ask for students for directions. I quickly realized that they were, like me, unfamiliar with the campus outside their set routine paths. During other times when I feel more adventurous and have a bit more time to wander, I would try looking out for cues in the physical environment to find my way around the campus. However, to my disappointment the environmental images in both directions oftentimes look the same!

The concept of imageability is borrowed from Kevin Lynch, an urban planner and designer who taught at MIT between 1950 and 1980. He conceptualized and tested a cognitive mapping method to study how inhabitants of a city way-find in his seminal book The Image of the City (1959). According to Lynch, a clear public environmental image of a city is very important because it affects the residents’ orientation and ability to find their way in the city that has an effect on their sense of place and belonging in the city.

In this studio, we asked a small sample of students using to sketch a mental map of the campus in order to understand where the spatially clear or hazy bits of the campus are, and what the important environmental elements on campus for navigation are. Combining these findings with our personal observations, we have come up with a few key interventions to improve the visual and social connections within the NTU campus. Here are some of the proposals by the undergraduates, many of whom are international students from Sweden, France, USA, Canada, Japan and Burma. These students represent multiple fields of study that include Communication Studies, Economics, Aerospace Engineering, Chinese Studies, Public Policy & Global Affairs, Arts Design Media, History, Earth Sciences, Linguistics, Business and Philosophy. Here are some of their proposals.

During our field trip to Dawson Place. 20 February 2020

STUDENT PROPOSALS