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5.10
Sensory Walk: Green/Red Dot Investigation
For this week’s assignment, we invite you to step away from the screen and into your local environment. This sensory exercise is designed to help you perceive the invisible systems – both successful and failed – that shape our daily experiences in the world.
This assignment aims to bridge deep observation with systems thinking by inviting you to concentrate on a single location and pay close attention to the specific elements that compose our sensory reality. By looking at how our lived environments either flourish or struggle with disruptions, we can begin to analyze whether the systems around us are truly designed to support or undermine our well-being.
Material you need: A sheet of paper and a clipboard (or a hard surface to write on), and one red pen and one green pen.
1. Prepare Your Map Before Heading Out
Choose a specific area in your neighborhood, workplace, a park, or downtown. Draw a very simple, hand-drawn map of the area. Don’t worry about accuracy or sophistication, keep it sparse, as you will be adding data as you go.
2. The Sensory Walk
Walk through your chosen area with your map and pens ready. You can choose a shorter or longer exploration, though we recommend spending about 30-60 minutes. Your task is to identify two types of sensory data:
- Pollution (Red Pen): Identify anything that feels out of place or degrades the environment. This includes physical litter, unpleasant odors, loud noises, or visual disruptions like excessive traffic and intrusive billboards. Mark these with a red dot and a brief note.
- Pleasure (Green Pen): Identify elements that contribute to your well-being or enjoyment of the space. This could be a large shade tree, a well-placed bench, a quiet corner, or high-quality public infrastructure. Mark these with a green dot and a brief note.
3. Redesigning the Map
Once back, review your red dots. Choose up to half of them and brainstorm how that red instance could be transformed into a green one. How could that specific visual, aural, or tactile pollution be redressed or redesigned through better circular systems or social infrastructure?
© Daniel Mossberg, CEMUS, Uppsala University and Sonali Phadke, studio Alternatives and Stephanie Foote