Category: Uncategorized

The digital revolution has transformed the way we chat, date, shop, do politics, consume content, but sport looks relatively unchanged. From Football to Hockey to cricket, most sports abide by the principle of hitting or throwing a ball over a boundary or into a goal. There hasn’t been a major new sport invented for more than a century. Until recently that is. In many places around the world, gaming is considered nothing more than a simple recreational activity. But in the city of Seoul, gaming isn’t just a past-time but a major social activity and sport.

Seoul is considered a technological powerhouse, leading many of the innovations in the digital world. However, this also led Seoul’s younger generation to be widely exposed to gaming. In 1998, when Blizzard released its real-time strategy game StarCraft, it wasn’t just a hit in South Korea but an awakening. Previously, gaming hadn’t really succeeded in the South Korean markets, so Blizzard hadn’t even bothered to localize the game in Korean. Despite this, out of 11 million copies sold worldwide, 4.5 million were in South Korea. The game was so popular it caused the emergence of “PC bangs,” pay-as-you-go gaming cafes where users could eat, drink, and play games for less than a dollar an hour. In 1998, there were 1998 there were 100 PC bangs across the country, but by 2001 there were more than 23000. StarCraft and PC bang culture spoke to a generation of young South Koreans boxed in by economic anxiety and rising academic pressures. PC bangs were the only place where young people could relieve their stress. Today, PC bangs are not only gaming cafes, they are the parks and playgrounds of South Korea.

PC gaming was an escape for people who were struggling in their daily lives. Whether it be students facing the pressure of South Korea’s especially oppressive education system, or unemployed workers struggling to make a living. Gaming was the perfect opportunity for people to escape their lives in the real world and enter a fantasy world filled with like-minded people whom they can befriend, and a community to be part of. Gaming became Seoul’s and the nation as whole’s escape and coping mechanism. The image titled ” shows how for many in Seoul, gaming was a ray of hope and method to escape from their disappointing lives on earth.

PC bangs and the social aspect of gaming led to the birth of e-sports. PC bangs began hosting unofficial StarCraft competitions – informal neighborhood events where the prizes were merely free gaming hours or just bragging rights. However, after one TV channel broadcasted one of these tournaments due to popular acclaim, organized competitions took over. In 2004, one finals match held on a beach had attracted more than 100,000 spectators. Companies recognized the money and fame that came from crowds at that size. Corporate sponsorships for gaming flowed from large companies, creating professional teams. With most official competitions being held in Seoul, the city became a beacon for aspiring pro-gamers. E-sports came to be one of the most profitable businesses in the nation, even leading to the construction of several E-sports stadiums throughout Seoul. An Image of various e-sports stadiums is shown below.

With pro-gamers being hailed as champions, many of the younger generation dreamed of becoming pro-gamers themselves. They began investing above 10 hours a day gaming at Pc bangs and even hosting clubs and schools for gaming. The picture below shows a group of students at school playing League of Legends as part of a school club. They train together at school and organize unofficial competitions with other school teams. Seoul’s younger generation began incorporating gaming into every facet of their lives, eventually signs of addiction began spreading.

In hospitals around Seoul, psychiatrists witnessed a gaming mania unfold. In 2002, an unemployed 24-year-old man died in a PC bang after playing for 86 hours straight. Young people were gaming to point where their normal functions were falling apart. However, at this point gaming addiction was still not considered a real issue by many psychologists and by the government. Psychologists observed that gaming addicts displayed a similar impulsivity like that of ADHD, so, they treated it as such. In late 2010, after the police discovered 3-month-old baby who starved to death while her parents were busy nurturing their virtual baby on a game at an internet café, the government introduced a “nighttime shutdown” for gamers: they directed the operators of the three most popular games to block people under the age of 18 from playing games between midnight and 8 in the morning. In 2011, Psychologists around Seoul and the country were coming across more and more cases of gaming-addiction and were convinced that it was real and diagnosable. The same year, as children’s academic performance was noticeably decreasing and national panic rocketed, the government passed an official Shutdown law, a curfew that would block access to all online games for those under 16 between midnight and 6 a.m.

Gaming addiction in South Korea in Seoul was considered a severe psychological disorder but also a physical one. Previously I described Gaming as an escape mechanism for those struggling in life. As gamers escape to the online world, they begin to ignore basic hygiene and eat unhealthily. The image titled ‘South Park gamer’ depicts a man addicted to playing the game ‘World of Warcraft’ and is obese. Although this image is taken from the show South Park, the reality is no different, most gaming addicts suffer from malnutrition, repetitive strain injuries, skin disorders, and or obesity. There have even been extreme cases where gamers forget to eat and starve to death.

One case of Gaming-addiction in South Korea was that of 23-year-old unemployed man. He didn’t have any extreme impulsive tendencies and was a comparatively mild case. He went through 6 months of therapy but committed suicide 2 months after the completion of the treatment. The psychologists in charge of his case realized that after quitting gaming he still wanted to maintain his relationships with his gaming friends but was chucked out of the community. Losing all his social relationships led to his suicide. From this, psychologists realized that it wasn’t an issue of not playing the game at all – it’s not black and white. They categorized gaming addiction into 3 different types: some were addicted to moving up the ranks; some to the money-making aspect; and some to the sense of belonging to the gaming community and the relationships they formed through it.

Nowadays, although gaming addiction is still a major problem throughout South Korea and especially in Seoul, after recognizing it as a serious problem several countermeasures have been placed to oppose the spread of gaming addiction throughout the country. Rehab centers were introduced widely across South Korea, enforcing several techniques like therapy and excursions into the wild to connect with the outside world as well as make friends during the trip. Military service has proven to be a rather cruel but effective treatment as it forces addicts to follow a tight schedule as well as enforce camaraderie. The image below was taken from a Rehab center in Seoul for children addicted to the internet and gaming.

Seoul has been called the city of the future, and rightfully so. It has developed some of the most widely used technology in the world today. However, Seoul’s technological strength is exactly what exposed it to the dangers of gaming addiction. PC gaming affected South Korea’s younger generation severely, showing first-hand the potential dangers technology can have on society.

Sources:

1. Hattenstone, Simon. “The rise of eSports: are addiction and corruption the price of its success?” The Guardian. 16 Jun 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/16/top-addiction-young-people-gaming-esports
2. Cain, Geoffrey. “South Korea Cracks Down on Gaming Addiction.” Time. 20 Apr 2010. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1983234,00.html
3. Kim, Max S. “Video games are dividing South Korea”. MIT Technology Review. 23 Dec 2019. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/12/23/238190/video-games-national-crisis-addiction-south-korea

Olivia Kisiel 11:00am ENGL 1102

Technological advancements have been occurring throughout history, and they alter the need for human labor in the workforce. If individuals are not keeping track of these workforce evolutions, they are at risk of losing their job to new technology. During times of large innovation (such as the industrial revolution/ modernist era) or times of high stress (such as the current COVID-19 pandemic) companies are under a lot of pressure to come up with solutions to issues that are prevalent in society. The Covid-19 Pandemic specifically has led to human labor being replaced by technology, and this is highly likely to be a permanent change to the workforce of Atlanta.

Covid-19 has created a high-pressure environment that has strained businesses and society as the balance between safety and the need for labor conflict. Many of us have seen the repercussions of this firsthand. From being sent home from school abruptly last March, no longer having my seasonal job, to sharing an office with my parents at home, I saw the interplay between health concerns and new technology, as many others have.

With the safety and health of workers at high risk during the pandemic, companies must implement other sources of labor to keep from going out of business. Technology being implemented into the workforce is companies’ effort to limit contact between people, to avoid spreading coronavirus in essential businesses, and it is predicted that these implementations will be permanent due to the benefits.

Why does this matter? As we graduate college, and have loved ones in the workforce, it is important to stay informed about how the interplay between technology and the human workforce shift, to make sure our jobs are not in jeopardy.

 Though technology can leave people scrambling to adjust to changes in the workforce, it can be extremely beneficial, especially in trying to keep people safe during the pandemic, in large cities such as Atlanta. Replacing human labor with technological advancements allows businesses to save money, run more efficiently, and stop the spread of coronavirus.

 An example of this new technology taking over human labor is at the company Savioke. The Savioke bot that can be seen below is used in a variety of environments in place of service members (such as room service in hotels or healthcare workers in hospitals. A company’s bot might roll down the hall to deliver towels and toothbrushes, or medical supplies to health care professionals, all while limiting human contact. The bot is safer and more efficient which is why it is being implemented during the pandemic as an alternative to human labor. Essential businesses in Atlanta find themselves gravitating from human labor to technological labor such as the Savioke bot during the pandemic to increase efficiency and safety. It is unlikely that after purchasing a bot (even if it is a safety precaution during the pandemic) to go back to human labor for the same tasks because the bot does not have any additional cost (minus the initial purchase cost).

Another example of a dynamic part of the workforce that have had major changes in the city of Atlanta are assembly line. Assembly lines are an area of the workforce that has been altered throughout history and are a group of workers that is at high risk of losing their jobs, so it is important to analyze the changes that have and continue to occur in this area of the workforce, as they offer insight that is applicable to other areas of the workforce.

 Looking at the modernist images from the industrial revolution helps to convey how much the assembly lines changed the way things were produced. Looking at the first photo, we can see that back before the industrial revolution individual women were paid to sew from home, but when factories opened and became more efficient, they migrated to the city to work. This new method allowed for many more women to be working on a project, and with the new technology they were able to work more efficiently. This new method of working in the factory did not end when the industrial revolution did. Instead, it was built upon and resulted in the systems we have today, just as the new technology in the assembly line workforce will be implemented permanently and be built upon in the future.

Assembly lines are not an easy place to practice social distancing, and people in these jobs cannot work from home, so a solution to keep production running had to be developed. In many assembly lines, such as the ones in Atlanta, this solution was replacing human workers in assembly lines with technology, and more than likely, this will be a permanent loss of jobs in the city of Atlanta.  

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way individuals interact and view the world around them. From masks being a part of our daily outfits, to the zoom environment so many activities have been subjected to, it is impossible to live the same way as before the pandemic. However, many of these changes do not seem to be completely permanent. Eventually we will be able to go back to in person activities and be able to show our smiles without masks, but getting the jobs back that people have lost? That is not a given, or likely occurrence. Many of these job losses are due to technology being a safer alternative, but they are also much more efficient than human labor, and therefore companies will continue gravitate more towards technology versus human labor.

Jobs that were replaced by technology are not likely to be preformed by human labor ever again, which means that people who performed these services must migrate to different areas of the workforce, which is not always as easy as filling out an application and going to an interview. Getting a new job can mean going back to school or getting re-trained, and this requires time and money that people may not have. This is going to have a huge effect on residents in the city of Atlanta. Primarily low-income earners are going to be displaced from their jobs, and either must receive training, or enter another job that is at high risk of being replaced by technology in the future. For the 50% of people in the city of Atlanta without a college degree, this could be extremely problematic as they will have to fight for the jobs that do not require one. For many large cities this is going to be a problem. For high-wage workers it is often easier to work from home, be more socially distanced, or find another job than it is for low wage workers, so it is important to be aware and plan in case jobs that seemed “safe” from being replaced are not always around.  Going forward it is extremely important to keep these shifts in the work force in mind as they affect not only the Atlanta residents, but everyone in, or entering the workforce.

              As our society changes rapidly due to the Covid-19 pandemic it is not surprising that the workforce is undergoing changes. The fact that these changes are likely to be permanent is not surprising either. During times of large innovation, such as the industrial revolution, or times of high pressure, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, technology shapes the world around us, and these changes are long lasting. When these periods of large-scale change are present, it is important to stay informed and educated to make sure we are not the ones who lose out due to these new innovations.

Works cited:

“Millions Of Americans Have Lost Jobs In The Pandemic — And Robots And AI Are Replacing Them Faster Than Ever”. Time, 2021, https://time.com/5876604/machines-jobs-coronavirus/.

“Robots On The Rise As Americans Experience Record Job Losses Amid Pandemic”. The Guardian, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/nov/27/robots-replacing-jobs-automation-unemployment-us.

“The Demographic Statistical Atlas Of The United States – Statistical Atlas”. Statisticalatlas.Com, 2021, https://statisticalatlas.com/place/Georgia/Atlanta/Educational-Attainment.

“Latest World & National News & Headlines – USATODAY.Com”. USA TODAY, 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/02/17/unemployment-coronavirus-cities-lose-jobs-suburbs-gain-during-covid/67601.

New Delhi, the capital of the subcontinent of India is one of the most populated and busiest cities in the world. It is also one of the oldest cities in the world, having seen hundreds of empires and thousands of rulers. The geographical location of the city holds great significance in the Hindu mythology as well, as the capital of the Pandeva empire in the Mahabharat. Recently it was also the capital of the Mughal empire in India for several decades. This vast history has led to New Delhi being home to hundreds of subcultures. Every 10 kilometers in New Delhi, one can feel the change in ambience. The tastes, smells, sounds and sights change more frequently than in any other city in the world.

Having such a rich history, the city of Delhi has always been a hub of great art. The art pieces that have come out of the city have been representative of various cultures, religions and ways of thought. The city also holds a great architectural significance, having being home to various kingdoms. ‘Qutub Minar’, ‘Rashtrapati Bhavan’ and ‘ISKCON Temple’ are some of the most well constructed buildings in the world. Having been the capital of various empires in the past, New Delhi has also been a big center of poetry and literature. It is served as both a birth place and a burial ground for a lot of famous poets and artists.

New Delhi also happens to be the place of my residence. Although the most part of my schooling was done in an all boys boarding school, about 400 kilometers away from the city, I was back home enough to have a very close look at the city, and gain what I believe to be a very deep understanding of it. I was fortunate enough to have the resources to explore the city further than most people have a chance to. This made me realize how great of a city it is, and how proud one should be to belong from there. But somehow that isn’t the case. What I see is a generation of people that are still under the colonial mindset of western supremacy. The language, art and literature are moving in a direction that is basically nothing but an imitation of western works. This has led to the lifestyle of people changing as well, to imitate the western ways of life. While there is nothing wrong in learning and imitating the positive characteristics of another country, I believe that the replacement of one’s own culture and values with another’s isn’t the most suitable way of life.

The British rule in India marked the darkest phase in its history. Prior to the British intervention, India was one of the most prosperous countries in the world. It was also a major business and trading hub. The art and the literature were representative of the roots of the people living there. But the British showed no regard for any of that. They destroyed the art, looted the wealth and plundered the resources, while imposing tyranny on the people. They tried to kill the culture that was existent much before their own existence and replace it with their own ideologies and culture, merely to assert dominance and superiority. They manipulated the Indian history in their own way, which was then taught to the upcoming generations. They brainwashed Indians into thinking lowly of their own culture, and regard the western culture as being superior to theirs. In all of this, New Delhi being the capital of the country at that time took the major cultural hit. Art, literature, poetry, religious textbooks and any other historical evidence were completely wiped out and either destroyed or taken back to Britain depending on their market monetary values. This was later followed by the British bringing in some new developments in technology such as the railways and the telegraph to India, which was primarily for their own use in warfare and further destruction. But they somehow were able to market it to the Indians as them introducing ‘culture’ and ‘sophistication’ in their country, while destroying the Indian manufacturing systems. The India artisans who manufactured various daily use goods were soon put out of business.

But there is more to my argument than this. It wasn’t just the British who were at fault in the destruction of Indian values and culture. A huge number of Indian people, who were in the position to do so, actually separated themselves from the others by adopting the British ways of life. They would renounce the traditions that had been prevalent in their families for centuries and ‘act’ western. And my belief is that the reason for that was the fact that acting western was the ‘cool’ thing of that time. Since these people belonged to the economically upper class of the society of that time, their lifestyle ended up becoming the standard goal for the masses. Again, New Delhi being the capital, these things tended to always start in New Delhi.

Unfortunately, some of the people related with the freedom movement of India belonged to the set of people that I recently mentioned. While most freedom fighters were truly patriotic and wanted to preserve the culture of India and see it become free, the ones that represented the Indians in the talks with the British were among the upper-class, ‘westernized’ Indians. As a result, after the freedom of India the major leadership roles were then passed by the British to these Indians, rather than the truly patriotic ones, who actually took to the streets for independence while these ‘westernized’ Indians sat in their houses. One such person was Jawaharlal Nehru, who served as the first Prime Minister of independent India. Since this position wasn’t voted on, people believe that there were much more deserving candidates for the position. This guy was basically a British person in Indian skin. His party, the Congress, which then held power in the center until very recently, failed to bring back true patriotism and devotion to their culture among Indians. Rather, it drifted them further apart, and led them up to a point of now almost totally abandoning any Indian values.

For me modernism can have different meanings in different contexts. I believe that modernism is a way, not a destination. It is my strong belief that in the context of New Delhi as a city, the meaning of modernism is bringing back the realization of the importance of their own culture and history in the minds of its inhabitants. Although some of the people involved with the independence movement of India realized this and since then there have been some actions in the fields of art and literature regarding this issue, it has been largely unaddressed. But there have been definitely people who have attempted to establish a process of unlearning and relearning, some of which have been talked about here.

The National Museum in New Delhi (http://www.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in/en) besides being a major tourist attraction also serves as an Institute of art and research which is centered around Indian culture and history. It has thousands of art pieces and other materials of cultural significance would serve as a means to preserve the rich heritage of India. The vision of the museum, as stated officially is:

• To collect art objects of Historical, Cultural and Artistic significance for the purpose of display, protection, preservation and interpretation (research).
• To disseminate knowledge about the significance of the objects in respect of history, culture and artistic excellence and achievements.
• To serve as cultural center for enjoyment and interaction of the people in artistic and cultural activity.
• To serve as epitome of national identity.

Spirituality has been a big part of the Indian culture since basically forever. Spirituality isn’t about any particular religion. Rather, it is about a way of life. Even the West has acknowledged the ways of spirituality from the Indian culture. Meditation, yoga, and Ayurveda are among the innumerable gifts that India has given to the world. While the rest of the world implements these means to attain a better life, one can hardly see any of these practices prevailing in India itself. Reconnecting people with spirituality can be a great way to preserve the Indian culture.

The Isha foundation (https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en ), founded by a Yogi named Sadhguru is that the front of the spiritual movement in India. Their centers and temples throughout New Delhi offer various yoga and meditation programs, both introductory and advanced. Despite what the common belief says, these things are not as much religious or pertaining to a particular religion, as they are pertaining to the nation as a whole. To me, yoga is an art as well, which leads to a more wholesome life. Sadhguru is an activist who has been able to reach millions of people through his media presence, and inspire them to rediscover their roots.

Music has always been a big part of Indian culture. India has hundreds of forms of music, sung in about 1600 languages, composed using several indigenous instruments. Science today shows that Indian classical music has been very scientifically constructed, and needs a mathematical mindset to even begin its practice.

Spic Macay (https://spicmacay.org/) is an organization in New Delhi that promotes the Indian heritage and culture through it demonstrations of music and drama, primarily focusing on classical music, using it as a means to tell Indian folk tales and moral stories.

“Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Conversely, there is the law of “nishkama karma” it says that for every action in which there is no embedded expectation, there is a reaction that is far greater than the action.” – Kiran Seth, member of the Spic Macay.

Both the political and the private organizations in India are now realizing the importance of protecting The Indian heritage and things are certainly moving in the right direction. As the mindset of the people begins to change, India will definitely reach greater heights and attain its true potential.

In the pre-modernist era, the south was dominated by an agricultural economy. The Civil War made it clear that the south could not rely on it to be successful in the future, and it also positioned much of it to start the transition to a more modern economy. Atlanta in particular, due to Sherman’s march, had great reason to rebuild and reimagine itself. The reconstruction period was the beginning of this change, but it was not until the Modernist era that Atlanta began its development into an industrial, STEM powerhouse.  The philosophy and sentiments of Modernism have driven the industrialization of Atlanta and are at the heart of its success. 

Toward the onset of the Civil War, modernism had not yet set in, but nonetheless, Atlanta had developed into a small industrial center. It had fifty street lamps in its downtown, a train depot, a population of around ten thousand, and, unfortunately, a busy slave market. This was impressive for the south, enough so to make it the third most guarded city in the Confederacy, behind Washington D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. Despite its grand reputation in the Confederacy, Atlanta paled in comparison to the great cities in the north. In 1860, New York City had a population of 813,669. Philadelphia had 565,529. Along with massive populations, these northern giants had much more established industry and infrastructure. The south could never match the north in production nor army size. It was destined to lose, it was just a matter of time. This can mostly be attributed to the south’s mindset. They were still holding on to their agricultural roots. Any industrial development was largely made out of necessity rather than a desire to adapt to the times and abandon tradition. Developments, for this reason, would not be made until the inception of the New South Creed, a modernist movement. Sherman’s march is often considered the nail in the coffin in the Confederacy’s loss. It crippled their economy and transport lines, forcing them to eventually surrender. It was gruesome, but it was the dawn of a new age for Atlanta.

At first, times were hard during reconstruction. As a result of the emancipation of the slaves, the agricultural labor supply dropped significantly and there were major food shortages. In addition, during Sherman’s march, the Union army destroyed much of Atlanta’s housing. This combined with the influx of freedmen from surrounding plantations led to a severe housing crisis, forcing many of the refugees to live in shantytowns. On top of all this, Atlanta was struck by smallpox and many died. Eventually, however, Atlanta made its comeback. The need for construction provided opportunities for the disenfranchised, resulting in an economic boom.

The city grew fast. It surpassed Savannah as Georgia’s most populous city and succeeded Milledgeville as the capital. Educational institutions Atlanta University and the Georgia School of Technology (now Georgia Tech) were established. The image on the right depicts the immense progress the city had made. It was this progress that led to the start of modernism. People were intrigued by the emerging new, industrial world; It was an exciting time of new innovations and ideas. They wanted to depart from tradition and live in the new world.  At the onset of the modernist era in 1890, Atlanta had a population of 65,533, the 42nd most populous in the nation: a big leap from 99th in 1860. Additionally, its people were ready to move on from their roots. It was in the perfect position to thrive in the modernist era. 

Atlanta had made immense progress through reconstruction, but it was only just beginning on its journey. One of the most integral parts of Atlanta’s industrialization and success was the foundation of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Institute was a child of the ‘New South’ ideology, an instance of modernism. The term, coined by Henry W. Grady, encapsulated the desires of southerners to start fresh. They desired economic redevelopment modeled after the industrial revolution in the north, friendly relationships and cooperation with northern businessmen, and racial harmony.  The founders, most notable of which is Nathaniel Edwin Harris,  recognized that Atlanta and Georgia as a whole needed technical education to facilitate the advancement of industry.  They traveled up north to examine prominent technical universities and schools and assess their educational styles. They chose to model their school after the Worcester Polytechnic Institute style for its unique combination of theory and practicality. After one failed bill, the founders submitted another that was passed in the House 94-62 and in the Senate 69-44. There was some debate as to where the school should be located, but eventually, Atlanta was victorious: a monumental moment in the modernization of Atlanta. 

The image to the right shows the beginnings of the Institute, a perfect representation of modernism’s start. Modernism was built on people’s desires to leave behind the old and embrace the new. Georgia Tech was founded to facilitate the transition from an agrarian economy, which dominated the south for centuries, to an industrial one.  Through its early years, Tech would expand its educational offerings to include electrical, civil, textile, and chemical engineering. Tech was among the first few universities and colleges in the nation and the first in the south to offer engineering education. This gave Atlanta an early edge in the sciences and technology, spelling a legacy of innovation and success for the city.

Other important events contributing to  Atlanta’s modernization during this time period include the incorporation of The Coca-Cola Company, which would eventually grow to become the world’s largest non-alcoholic beverage producer, and the Cotton States and International Exhibition, an event attended by around 800,000 meant to demonstrate the south’s progress and foster new trade. The image above shows the headquarters of  The Coca-Cola Company from 1909-1920. The company is an Atlanta icon; Its establishment and growth are a mirror to Atlanta’s progress as well as an indicator of the presence of a modernist ideology. 

Today’s Atlanta is a far cry from the small antebellum town shown earlier. Through and after the modernist era, the city has developed into a true, bustling metropolis. The picture to the left shows some of the skyline. The buildings featured include The Westin, Ernst & Young, The W, and Georgia Pacific, all major international companies. In addition to these, Atlanta is home to 16 Fortune 500 companies,  most notably The Home Depot, Delta Airlines, the United Parcel Service, and, of course, the Coca-Cola company.

One image that perfectly embodies Atlanta’s progress is shown on the right. In the picture, the two prongs of modernism are present: Education and industry. As one grows and improves, so does the other. Since its inception, tech has expanded dramatically, now offering 37 majors in Engineering, the Sciences, Design, Business, Computing, and the Liberal Arts. It is a world-renowned Institution, placing 38th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Coca-Cola, a forerunner and representative of  Atlanta industry, has similarly grown. As previously mentioned, it is the world’s largest non-alcoholic beverage producer with over 200 brands including Minute-Maid, Costa Coffee, and Power-ade. It employs more than 700,000 people and made more than 33 billion in revenue during 2020. Coca-Cola and Georgia Tech are not the success stories Atlanta has. In recent times, the city has been recognized as a start-up haven with many promising companies arising from Atlanta Tech Village. Founding a start-up is the epitome of modernism. Strong start-up culture demonstrates that the modernist ideology is still alive and well in the city.

Not to mention, Atlanta is also home to Emory Healthcare, a cutting-edge medical research group, the Centers for Disease Control, and many regional offices of major companies including Google, AT&T, and Bank of America. At the core of all this innovation and advancement is modernism. No change is made without someone willing to depart with what they know and experiment with the new. If John Pemberton had not taken a chance with his recipe, The Coca-Cola Company would have never even existed. If Nathaniel Edwin Hariss and the other founders had not taken action to address Atlanta’s need for technical education, the city most likely would not have become the center of progress it is today. 

Modernism is the embrace of the novel and unorthodox, and the rejection of the old and obsolete. It can be seen in the art of Picasso and the books of Joyce, but perhaps one of the best demonstrations of it is the city of Atlanta. Through modernism, the city was transformed from a modest, traditional town to a diverse, ever-changing metropolis. It is the home of countless industry giants and a hub for scientific research and advancement. Here, new ideas and projects are created every day, all pushing the envelope of progress. Modernism shaped this city, and the philosophy behind will continue to do so forever. 

Sources:

Davis, Stephen. “Civil War: Atlanta Home Front.” Georgiaencylopedia.Org, 10 Mar. 2003, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/civil-war-atlanta-home-front#:~:text=At%20the%20time%20of%20the,all%20points%20of%20the%20South.

Waynedanielanderson. “Atlanta’s First Buildings In Pictures: 1830-1900.” Georgia Globe Design News, 17 Sept. 2015, wdanielanderson.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/atlantas-first-buildings-in-pictures-1830-1900. 

“Biggest US Cities in 1860 – Historical Population Data.” Biggestuscities.Com, 2021, www.biggestuscities.com/1860.

“World University Rankings 2021.” Times Higher Education (THE), 7 Sept. 2020, www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2021/world-ranking#!/page/1/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats.

Wikipedia contributors. “History of the Georgia Institute of Technology.” Wikipedia, 29 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Georgia_Institute_of_Technology.

Wikipedia contributors. “History of Atlanta.” Wikipedia, 6 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Atlanta

“The Coca-Cola Company – More than a Beverage Company.” The Coca-Cola Organization, www.coca-colacompany.com/company. Accessed 28 Feb. 2021.

“FORTUNE 500 & 1000 Companies Headquartered in Metro Atlanta.” Metroatlantachamber.Com, www.metroatlantachamber.com/resources/most-popular/fortune-500-fortune-1000-in-metro-atlanta. Accessed 28 Feb. 2021.

Anna Neal

As far back as I can remember, there has always been a classic Neal family invasion on New York City. The story always seems to be the same. An hour-long train ride, from our suburban area in New Jersey, usually nibbling on crusty Dunkin Donut’s. We’d always see a new Broadway show in the nosebleed section and converse over dinner at Carmine’s. Occasionally, we’d lose a kid on the way when sprinting through Penn Station to catch a ride home. At this point, the only thing that would differ from our trips would be the weather. These annual trips ceased to nothing after the world came to a halt in March. The COVID pandemic has affected people globally but mostly those in cities. Things that seemed so ordinary, such as public transportation, became out of the question in the beginning of quarantine. Since March, the Neal family has not returned to the great city of New York. A city that holds some of the fondest memories with my family no longer seems the same. I’ve come to question how the city has changed socially and economically as a result of this whirl wind of adjustment. I aspire to live there in the future, and it is important I come to terms with what makes New York. The people? The food? The buildings? Regardless of the situation that New York is in, the aurora and self-appreciation the locals have, the city could not possibly push me away.  

In the beginning of March, the world was not entirely sure to react to the situation ahead. Sure, the U.S underwent a pandemic in 1917, the Spanish Flu, but that was a hundred years ago. With modern medicine and advanced technology, it was unsure whether we would be able to eliminate the disease in a short amount of time. In reality, the coronavirus is almost just as deadly as the Spanish Flu. During the peak of the flu’s pandemic in 1918, “287 people out of every 100,000 died per month in New York” (Insider). COVID19, similarly, had 202 out of every 100,000. Precautions both then and now are taken the same: quarantine, awareness, and surveillance. 

Above is an image captured by Raymond Coyne in Locust Avenue, California in 1918. This picture shows individuals wearing masks and propaganda. The sign reads, “wear a mask or go to jail”. It was not socially acceptable for people to leave the house without a mask. This seems eerily familiar. Although that sort of promotion is not used as much today, it is encouraged to social distance. This image captures the overall aura of that time period. The people in the picture rub off the feeling of exhaustion to the audience.

The picture found below is from modern day in an Atlanta Starbucks. People are social distancing and wearing masks. This picture is representative of how life is like now.  I think both images convey a dark and dull mood. The people’s posture emanates a sulked attitude to the situation. These images are not subjective to both the time period and location. The pandemic has had a lasting affect towards everyone.  

When the world shut down, life completely changed in New York City. Streets became vacant, businesses closed, and subways were found empty. In particular, unemployment claims skyrocketed 2,637% (New York Times). These factors have led many people to ditch their typical lifestyle. This, at first, changed the whole dynamic of the city. New York presents itself as a city that is dependent on social interaction and deeply rooted in community. This feeling seemed to have disappeared in the beginning, for many had to quarantine. The New Yorker’s front cover of their April edition replicates the emotions found in New York City at the time. It depicts a man shelter from the rain with the only source of light from a streetlamp. In this case, I believe the storm is a symbol for COVID19, and the man is trying to avoid it. The streets seem empty which is quite odd from how we are used to seeing NYC. This resonates an eerie and depressing tone. I found a piece by George O’Keefe that also mimics a similar mood. He painted this in 1926, and it is called “City Night”. There are tall structures, but in this case, the only source of light is from the moon. He uses only four colors: black, grey, dark blue, and white. With minimal attributes to the painting, it echoes a feeling of emptiness. This is similar to how many initially felt in the spring of 2020.

Despite technically being tourists in New York, my family has found our own personal traditions (e.g we go to the same Italian restaurant after a Broadway show). Our family would personally mourn Carmine’s Italian restaurant if it were to close. Unfortunately, from the pandemic, many small businesses were lost. The sense of rich community, however, gives me reassurance that this will not change New York. Curbed, a magazine apart of the New York, put out an article called “Reasons We’ve Loved New York” which is dedicated to all the small businesses lost during the pandemic. It stresses on the idea that New York is too big to know every nook and cranny, so you find your go-tos. They described this as a “wake” for the places that gave people their identities and fulfilled their lives. However, around “one-third of the city’s 240,000 small businesses may never make it to the post-vaccine promised land” (Curbed). This is not just occurring in the city of New York. Being a student at Georgia Tech in Midtown Atlanta, I’ve observed that smaller businesses have shut down as a result of COVID. As shown in the picture below, Chuck’s Famous Sandwiches has temporarily closed. Companies like Chuck’s depend on catering as a source of most of their income, and without big events, they are no longer getting that. It is tragic to see how locals are unable to stay afloat during these trying times. There is a turnaround, for NYC launched a support system for local business (ABC7NY). Many businesses have transitioned to outdoor dining, and they carry on finding innovative ways to stay safe. This city continues to display its heroic efforts consistently throughout the pandemic.  

Regardless of how people are feeling now, I believe that New York will always hold true to its personality. There will always be people out and about whether it means they must wear masks and social distance. People have grown accustomed to their new way of living and would appear almost normal from the outside. New York resident Dasia Moore, returned to NYC after spending some time apart from it and claims that somethings never changed. Moore states, “It was disorienting, like closing your eyes in the middle of a horror movie and opening them to a sunny romcom” (Boston Globe). This is a positive take on the current situation. It shows that New York city residents have adapted and shown to be flexible. This makes me feel optimistic of the change in New York and maybe it is a blessing in disguise.

Paul Cournoyer painted a piece that reminds of what it will be like when the pandemic ends. It is known as “After the Rain” in Madison Square, and it was painted in 1900. I see the COVID19 pandemic as the storm we are in now. After a rainstorm, there is always a hue of color from the peaking sun. This may create a rainbow, or in this case, an orange glow. Within the painting, people are starting to come out again and embrace the fresh air. The choice of color scheme is what establishes the ambience of the painting. It gives a feeling of comfort to the audience.

I captured a similar image from Georgia Tech’s campus during sunset. The sky’s lighting brings a promising and optimistic energy. There is a same orange and yellow glow as Cournoyer’s painting. Whenever things seem to go back normal, I imagine people, places, and even the sky to radiate that same spirit. There is a slow transition to this happening in New York right now. Regardless of the current financial situation in New York, the city’s street life provides a counterargument. It is flowing with life, controversially to the empty streets in March and April.  

New York City is one of the most well-established cities in the world, and it is only an hour drive from my small town. A place that is held so dearly to my heart, I often forget that it is a wonder to everyone else. My yearly trips with my family seem normal, but it is probably seen as a privilege. Despite the circumstances, I believe that there is a tide shifting in the city. With people following the same guidelines as they did in 1918, New York City has remained a shining glory. The pandemic has not discriminated against anyone, and this majorly affects a city that embraces a wide diversity of wealth and culture. These past few months has shown me that even a pandemic can change New York City, and it will never remain stagnant. With COVID vaccinations beginning to be administered, things will slowly return to normal. The pandemic will, however, leave a permanent footprint on those who live there. Although the city took a serious toll, New York City has grown from the situation and proven to be resilient. They are less afraid of the unknown. I look forward to returning with my family in the near future and hopefully living there in the future.  

Bibliography:

Eyewitness News. “Coronavirus Update: NYC Launches Small Business Support for Low-Income Communities.” ABC7 New York, WABC-TV, 25 Nov. 2020.

Knoll, Corina, et al. “11 Numbers That Show How the Coronavirus Has Changed N.Y.C.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Apr. 2020.

McFall-Johnsen, Morgan. “New York City’s Spring Coronavirus Outbreak Was Roughly as Deadly as the 1918 Flu Pandemic That Killed 50 Million People.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 14 Aug. 2020.

Moore, Dasia. I Wanted to See How Covid-19 Had CHANGED MANHATTAN. I Found That in Many Ways, It Hadn’t. – The Boston Globe. 20 Aug. 2020.

Schulman, Candy. Perspective | Yes, New York Has Changed. That’s What Makes It New York. 13 Sept. 2020.

Swanson, Carl. “500 Reasons We’ve Loved New York.” Curbed, 7 Dec. 2020.

Sneh Patel

By the entire world, Tokyo, Japan has been viewed as a glimpse to the future. Tokyo has been home to many technology companies such as Sony, Nintendo, Canon, and Hitachi who have been innovators of the technology empire, but technological advancements go further than the companies. There are elements of Tokyo, such as robot restaurants where they can implement robots and artificial intelligence into entertainment and everyday aspects of life. Another aspect of Tokyo that puts them on top of the tech world is the architecture. Tokyo is filled to the brim with skyscrapers, buildings with luminous LED panels, and buildings that are tourist attractions such as the De Beer Ginza Building where the building seems twisted. Even the toilets are high-tech and are built to make your experience pleasant. However, the one key aspect that interests me about Tokyo is the culture that revolves around the city. The culture has been influenced by the middle ages and religions such as Shinto and Buddhism, but during the period of the Meijing Restoration, Tokyo started to accept Western culture which started their path towards modernizing. However, even to this day, Tokyo as a city, is still dominated by their culture that originated from Shinto and Buddhism.

With a map of Tokyo, I created a representation of what the layout of the popular sector of the city. In the map, we can see multiple building icons, surrounding a singular temple icon. This is representative of how Tokyo is constructed because the building icon is representative of how the sector is a booming urban environment with crowded street, multitudes of buildings and other features of modern cities. However, the temple icon is representative of a sector that is frozen in time. The sector that is represented with a temple icon is called Taitō. In this sector, there are multiple shrines and temple such as Sensō-ji and Kaminarimon. These shrines and temples are iconic to religions such as Shintoism and Buddhism and are important to the culture of Tokyo. This is representative of how the Tokyo is dominated by the past because these buildings were created from when the Shintoism and Buddhism were first introduced into Japan. Even when the shrines and temples were destroyed numerous times, Tokyo persevered through the hardships and rebuilt the shrines. Overall, this sector itself is a symbol of how Tokyo wants to preserve the old traditions and culture by preserving the ancient temples and creating a city around it.

This photo of the gate created by Itō Chūta is the main gate of Tokyo Imperial University. It was created in 1912, which was during a time where Tokyo started adopting Western building styles. The Western style gates are representative of the Western building style because the gate was created with granite and steel. However, Itō Chūta did not completely adopt Western architectural styles. Instead, he fused Japanese culture with the Western architectural style. This is evident by how the gate is created in a way that is similar to traditional Tori gates where there is a lip on the sides of the gate. The creation of the gate was able to symbolize how Tokyo was progressing as a city, however, the city is still dominated by the hints of the culture created before the Meijing Restoration, which can be seen by the creation traditional architecture with modern techniques.

The prevalence of adopting Western culture into Tokyo was also prevalent in art as well. In 1898, Yokoyama Taikan created a painting called Kutsugen. This painting was created with the use a nihonga style, which refers to a blend of Western elements and Japanese element. This painting was used to portray and convey Taikan’s loyalty towards his teacher and to help his teacher with the rebellion against oppressive authority. Regarding Tokyo’s modernization, the painting has become a symbol in Tokyo and Japan becoming modern since it represents Tokyo’s ability to incorporate Western culture with Japanese culture in the creation of this painting. The mixing of Western and Japanese culture does not just end at the blending of two different techniques. The meaning behind the painting has a theme of rebellion woven into the painting overall when Taikan uses the painting to swear loyalty to his teacher, who is known for pushing Western culture into Tokyo. However, the old traditions of Tokyo artistry still shines through this painting because with the nihonga there is not a straightforward adoption of Western culture where Japanese techniques and traditions are ignored, instead the style used is also representative of a resistance to complete assimilation and was used to represent that Tokyo is modernizing, but heavily reliant on it’s roots.

This image is a cover of a maginze called Asahi Weekly Lifestyle Magazine, which was created in 1935. The cover depicts a woman with makeup and Western attire. With this magazine cover, it was able to illustrate that the not only was the city itself modernizing, but the people who make up the city were changing as well. This image was specifically created during a time when Western culture was making its way into Tokyo, and as time passed, the people started to embrace that change. This is shown with the woman as she is dressed in a green coat and hat, however, the traditional aspect is Tokyo is still there. Starting off, underneath the green coat is a red dress with a flower design that is representative of Tokyo’s traditional style clothing. The woman’s makeup is also composed in a way that is similar to a Geisha, where make up was applied to highlight a pale skin complexion with defined eyes, lips, and eyebrows. Another aspect to take in as a factor is the style in which the magazine cover was composed. Instead of taking a picture of a woman, the woman is portrayed through a painting that is similar to what Taikan created with Kutsugen, the magazine has a defined lines and shapes, whereas each object in Kutsugen is not defined with any drawn lines. This alludes to the fact that even with modernization, the traditional features are rooted deeply into Tokyo.

This dress above is a kimono, a traditional garment, that I designed, which was inspired by Taniguchi Fumie, who has designed and created Kimonos with a geometric design. The design is exemplary of modernization due to the kimono replicating geometric abstract art, which became popular in the 1930s. By Tokyo designers like Fumie mimicking geometric abstract art, it shows the willingness for Tokyo modernizing. Nevertheless, Tokyo is still rooted by traditional Japanese culture because of what the kimono represents. Kimono’s are worn at tea ceremonies and wedding, and kimonos differ from each gender. For women, the way a kimono is designed signifies the age, marriage status, and the occasion. For men, the kimonos have simple design and has the family crest on it. With this in mind, with the new design changes that have been adopted, it changes the formality of kimonos, but the cultural significance of kimonos is still present in modern Tokyo.

In the photo above, I created an image depicting two trains, one with passengers being disrupted by unruly behavior and another train that has a peaceful environment. Through this image, I attempted to convey the difference in norms between Tokyo and the United States. In the United Sates,  although the subways in the U.S. isn’t as exaggerated as I made it out to be in the image, however there is still a level of disruption that occurs in the US subways due to our history of freedom on expression. On the other hand, in Tokyo, there is a social norm placed about being respectful on subways and not making noise. Tokyo, was able to implement this social norm due to Tokyo’s cuture requiring a level of respect for each other through omoiyari, which is a custom of being caring, compassionate, and considerate. The implementation of omoiyari shows how modern Tokyo is still dominated by its traditional culture because the custom of omoiyari has been heavily emphasized in Japanese culture ever since the rise of Buddhism and Shintoism. Even through Tokyo’s period of modernism ,where they started to adopt Western culture, Tokyo still implemented the social norms that were based around omoiyari. Compared to countries such as the United States and Great Britain, they were able to express their need for change in the social atmosphere during their period of modernism. Also, the custom of omoiyari can be found in restaurants where it is considered rude to tip and in the households where it is customary to take off shoes when entering another’s house.

Even though Tokyo was able to become a technological powerhouse over the past few decades due to the adoption of Western culture, the old traditions of Japanese culture has been able to infuse with modern culture.  Starting out with the layout of the city where they were able to dedicate an entire city to the past. Then focusing on the architecture and how it was a blend of Western and traditional Japanese styles. Furthermore, I related the use of Western and traditional Japanese styles into artwork, and how Yokoyama Taikan was able to do so. The focus was then transitioned into the lifestyle of the people in Tokyo and how people were able to change lifestyles through Westernization but was still dominated by traditions and norms created with Buddhism and Shinto. Overall, the technological empire was met with customs of the past, but the clash created a beautiful environment that encompasses Tokyo.

Work Cited

“A Brief History of the Arts of Japan: the Meiji to Reiwa Periods (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/art-japan/japanese-art/a/a-brief-history-of-the-arts-of-japan-the-meiji-to-reiwa-periods. Accessed 28 February 2021.

Ulak, James T.. “Japanese art”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Mar. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-art. Accessed 28 February 2021.

Bleby, Michael. “Tokyo’s First Flash of Modernism.” Australian Financial Review, 21 Feb. 2020, www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/tokyo-s-first-flash-of-modernism-20200125-p53um9. Accessed 28 February 2021

“A Beginner’s Guide To Tokyo’s Popular Districts.” Green and Turquoise, 26 Dec. 2018, www.greenandturquoise.com/a-beginners-guide-to-tokyo-popular-districts/. Accessed 28 February 2021.

Connor Maloney- 9:30am Class

When one thinks about a city, it’s well understood that by definition, cities have a plethora of denizens dwelling within, each towering structure potentially filled with hundreds of people living their own lives and having their own experiences. This absolute wealth of people would probably mean that there are tons of opportunities for social interaction, forging new bonds and breaking those of old, and while this is certainly true to an extent, living in the city can be a much more isolating experience than expected, especially for a younger people, like college students. Between feelings of insignificance, stress of all types and varieties, an overwhelming sense of loneliness, and the state of the world to heighten it all, living in a city might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

First Time in the City

Personally, I had never lived in a large city before I started college and began living in a dormitory on campus, and while the sights are certainly beautiful and the people seem friendly, there’s certainly a lack of social interaction as I’ve become accustomed to them throughout my life. Due to the current state of the world and what feels like a perpetual need to social distance, many of the activities that I once enjoyed or participated in have transformed into a much less personal version of themselves, such as band being spaced out and seldom happening and college classes being all virtual with little to no real human interaction. I am certainly somewhat of an outlier as far as being social goes, as it is not my strong suite, but I am clearly not the only one experiencing these feelings, as a study conducted by Leodoro J. Labrague, Janet Alexis A. De los Santos and Charlie C. Falguera, researchers from several different Colleges of Nursing, found that of a sample size of 303 college students surveyed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 10% of the participants were found to be “not lonely”, 57% were found to be “moderately lonely” and the remaining 33% were found to be “severely lonely”. The study goes on to conclude that younger students (particularly ones that are new to college campuses and the like) are more susceptible to these feelings, and that the feelings are inspired by the mandatory protocols in place for safety reasons due to the pandemic. While these protocols are in place for a reason, and there’s no real solution to the problem save for waiting for the pandemic to conclude, all of the protocols in place certainly take their toll on the mental and emotional well-being of students, as isolation can be very detrimental to mental health. Below is the embedded link to the relevant study.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/ppc.12721

Isolation and the Mental Health of Students

While the mandatory social isolation is understandably necessary, the isolation that it causes certainly takes a toll on the mental health of a densely populated areas inhabitants. Even in a world where there is no pandemic and circumstances are relatively normal, rates of mental illness are relatively high in the United States with around 18.1% of adults experiencing anxiety disorders and around 7.1% reporting a major depressive episode within the past year. That being said, according to a study by Sara LaBelle and Zac D. Johnson pertaining to the relationship between student-to-student confirmation in a classroom and the way that it (or its lack) affects mental health in said students (link included below as before), college students are said to experience these issues at a significantly higher rate, in no small part due to academic stressors, and it could be easily inferred that in the modern day where social interactions are so drastically different than they used to be, that lack of conventional social interaction leading to loneliness can make the issue of mental illness feel almost impossible to best. Without having the discussed “student-to-student confirmation”, students lose out on their support group that they would have in person, a group of peers to validate them and encourage their work, potentially leading to worsened mental health which, according to this study, can also result in lower retention rates, lessened motivation, and various other problems that can easily snow-ball into vast issues in the future .Whether the lack of social interaction is due to someone feeling insignificant in the larger scale of the city or external, more viral factors, the impact that it can have on mental health is a serious burden for some to bear.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01463373.2021.1887310

A Modernist Take on City Life

While concerns over mental health and well-being are perhaps at their greatest in the modern day, it’s not just now that people have considered the way in which a growing metropolitan “monster” so to speak can affect the well being of its inhabitants, both old and new. The Modernist movement came about in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it had much to do with fighting for change on all fronts, whether it be equal rights for all genders and races or, in this case, warning against the hyper-urbanization resulting in the aftermath of the Industrial revolution. Many artists painted or took pictures to accurately depict this warning, showing the potential isolation or horrific revelations that urbanization can cause in an individual, and one of the best pieces to illustrate this in my opinion would be Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”. A very well known painting, it depicts someone standing on a bridge while the world warps around them as the let out the titular scream, and in my interpretation this scream is due to the subjects realization of their own perceived insignificance in the growing behemoth of a city that they live in. Another modernist image that depicts the feeling of isolation that can be found in the city is a picture taken by French photographer Eugène Atget, titled “Magasins du Bon Marché”, depicting several women standing on a sidewalk in Paris. The picture seems to have been taken through a window given the reflections captured, showing that the photographer is an outsider in this picture, and his subjects all seem cloaked in their hats, providing anonymity. Despite this, they still share smiles and presumably conversation, showing what I’ve interpreted to be mere small talk but no deeper personal connections between the people, further showing the deceptive nature of isolation in a larger city. The last modernist work I will feature belongs to painter Georges Seurat, titled “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, a work that inspires similar feelings to the photograph by Atget. The subjects of the painting seem to be enjoying a lovely sunny day, but they all seem a bit blurry, providing that anonymity that the city does so well. In contrast to the families seen, the subject seems to have no one with themselves, further feeding into the idea that they are an outsider in this place, and that they are completely alone in this space.

• 

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As it Pertains to Atlanta and Personal Accounts

Many of the topics and themes discussed affect cities in a much broader scope, not just Atlanta, and while this is certainly the case, Atlanta is what I have the most experience with. As previously stated, Atlanta is the first large city that I have ever lived in, and from what I can see these experiences (or lack thereof) are pervasive, amplified as they are by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without in person classes or in person activities, social interactions become more and more sparse, with the few that can occur being marred by face masks, offering the same sort of anonymity known by the subjects of Atgets photos, at least for someone that is “face-blind” like I am, but even if things were in person, the sheer volume of people one interacts with on a day to day basis could certainly serve to hinder deeper social connections, providing that feeling of being merely a cog in the machine. These feelings can serve to worsen existing mental health issues for students, as the world as a whole right now seems a mess, and when social connections are needed the most they are the hardest to make. Personally, the only people I have really been in contact with have been my roommates and my very close friends from high school, but even the attempts that I have made to establish connections on campus have fallen through, primarily because I wasn’t able to interact with those people consistently due to not seeing them in person, stress from outside factors keeping all parties involved busy, as well as other factors.

Winning the Silent Battle

Dealing with mental health problems is always difficult, but even more so now today. The best way to cope with mental illness and wellbeing for students in my opinion is to look for resources that can help; in particular, Georgia Tech has a wonderful CARE program that can work to assess and refer patients to outside resources that may be beneficial to them. On the social isolation front, the only way to truly deal with that is to confide in those around you and hope that sooner rather than later, life can return to normal, however altered that normal may be now.

Works Cited

• Labrague LJ, De los Santos JAA, Falguera CC. Social and emotional loneliness among college students during the COVID‐19 pandemic: The predictive role of coping behaviors, social support, and personal resilience. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2021;1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.12721
• LaBelle, Sara, and Zac D Johnson. “The Relationship of Student-to-Student Confirmation in the Classroom to College Students’ Mental Health and Well-Being.” Taylor & Francis, 15 Feb. 2021, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01463373.2021.1887310.
• Munch, Edvard. “The Scream.” The Scream: Work by Munch, Britannica, 1893, National Gallery, Norway, www.britannica.com/topic/The-Scream-by-Munch.
• Atget, Eugène. Magasins Du Bon Marché. Paris, 1927.
• Seurat, Georges. “Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” Georges Seurat: French Painter, Britannica, 1884, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, www.britannica.com/biography/Georges-Seurat.

Constructed. Walking through any major city, it is difficult to find anything that isn’t. Senses operate at full capacity, straining to perceive hustling people, honking cars and towering buildings. This is the modern city. The speed is overwhelming.

It is relatively established that the populations of rural areas are, on average, happier than those in urban areas. This disparity has been linked to both the lack of natural spaces and the speed of life in cities.¹ Relief from the unending overload of a city can be critical, and public parks are one of the main ways a city’s inhabitants get such relief. We think of parks as offering a refuge from the mental brutality of the city, a place to slow down and see nature in a landscape otherwise stripped of it.² The ubiquitous phrase “a walk in the park” is even used generally to connote an easy and stress-free activity. Parks are a good thing and the increased push for green spaces in recent years has understandably been met with enthusiasm. However, If the goal is to bring nature into the city, as landscape architects suggest, most public parks are fundamentally flawed.³

Consider where those in suburban areas go to experience – places like hiking trails and nature preserves. These spaces alter landscapes minimally. Paths are generally dirt or gravel. When one looks up, they are likely covered by a canopy of trees. Vegetation limits views to only a few hundred feet in any direction. One can stray off the trail and explore a small slice of the Earth. Though these spaces can get quite busy, they maintain an isolated and serene feel. The experience is fully immersive – the gold standard for a green space.

Consider a city park – Atlanta’s Piedmont Park for instance. It consists of terrain smoothed over to creates fields and roads more conducive to picnics and gentle strolls. Its trees are chosen carefully and spaced with millimetric precision so as not to perturb the perfectly paved paths. There is a pristine stone bridge over the lake, an ideal picture spot. Grass covers any ground not taken up by pathways. Overall, the park is precise and manicured. It is certainly a relaxing place to spend an afternoon.

However, this space is flawed. It fails to be immersive or truly separate from the rest of Atlanta. While a perfect recreation of something like a nature preserve cannot be expected for a space operating in the sub optimal conditions of a city, the design of city parks is a large part of their relative ineffectiveness. Fundamentally, Piedmont park is just as artificial as the rest of Atlanta⁴ and its design seems optimized for high throughput rather than maintaining the illusion of a natural landscape. A rigidly planted row of trees is hardly more natural – or less constructed – than a wall that happens to be made of stones. The vast open spaces make it difficult to feel isolated from the dense city, and the wide, paved roads seem to destroy whatever was left of the illusion of nature. The park’s design exacerbates other problems as well. In most areas, you can look up and see the towering buildings of midtown. In many you can hear the cars. People still briskly walk through, looking for shortcut to their destinations – I personally use it to get to my job faster.

 The encroachment of the city into the park is frustrating considering that a less precise and engineered park would solve many of the problems. Unaltered terrain and wooded areas allowed to grow unhindered are ideal for limiting sightlines⁵ and blocking out noise,⁶ something which would increasing isolation from the city and the feeling of distance between people. Though it is not practical to design an entire park this way, and more developed areas absolutely have their place, more truly natural spaces would be a great asset in effectively providing the illusion of nature and quelling stress within a city’s population.

The ineffectiveness of city parks is not exclusive to Piedmont Park or Atlanta. Many parks in other cities, such as central park in New York City suffer from the same flaws. The design of city parks is comparable to diet sodas – similar enough to evoke feelings of the original, but ultimately lacking in providing a similar effect. The key difference is that city parks and their diet nature, can do better if priorities are shifted away from cosmetic precision.

Citations:

1. Martijn J. Burger Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation (EHERO), et al. Urban-Rural Happiness Differentials Across the World, 20 Mar. 2020, worldhappiness.report/ed/2020/urban-rural-happiness-differentials-across-the-world/.
2. Javorsky, Nicole. “City Parks Aren’t Luxuries. They Are Critical Infrastructure.” TheHill, 2 Jan. 2020, thehill.com/changing-america/opinion/476518-city-parks-are-critical-infrastructure.
3. Green, Jared. “News.” Interview with Diana Balmori, FASLA, ASLA, www.asla.org/ContentDetail.aspx?id=35052.
4. “About.” What Is Landscape Architecture?, www.asla.org/aboutlandscapearchitecture.aspx.
5. “5 Ways Landscape Sight Lines Are Important to Design: ASI Blog.” ASI Landscape Management, 25 Feb. 2021, www.asilandscapemgt.com/5-ways-landscape-sight-lines-are-important-to-design/.
6. “Proceedings of the National Urban Forestry Conference, November 13-16, 1978, Washington, D.C.” Google Books, Google, books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ps4sAQAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA330&dq=trees%2Bblock%2Bnoise&ots=sY9NxFLnlZ&sig=3K7TNblzjOmtPuXOLTU6MYiTjMg#v=onepage&q=trees%20block%20noise&f=false.

By Coley Chapman – 9:30 class

I arrived at Georgia Tech with only one parent, my mask on, and experiencing a totally different city than the class of 2019 did. The looming presence of Covid-19 has changed the way that we interact with each other and how we interact with Atlanta, but beyond that, it has changed the city of Atlanta. The culture and personality of Atlanta is not based on the buildings or landscapes around us, but instead, the city is defined by the complex web of people, interactions, and how they all intersect.

What is Interaction? 

Interaction is how everyone affects everyone else. Interactions in Atlanta are the definition of the city, the day-to-day fabric that makes up our perception of our community. The only way to interact with Atlanta is through the people of Atlanta. Even now when people are sparse, we look to identify traces of community wherever we go. The city is empty without the stories of those that interact with it.

Walker Evans is able to depict the connection between a barber and the others in the shop without including any models in his photograph. The building has been lived in and shows the personality of the barber. The newspaper on the wall and the whiskey advertisement remind us that people live and work in this space. When viewing, you feel as though the barber has just left the frame. The haphazardly draped towels from the most recent client or the temporarily placed hat waiting to be picked back up by its owner make it impossible to see this as an empty room. He brings the barber’s chairs into the foreground and includes both of them to convey a sense of companionship between customers. These thrones of conversation remind the viewer of the last time they had a haircut, and the conversation they had with the barber or another patron. You can almost hear the chatter of the imagined clients. The most important part of this photograph is not what is in it, but what you know should be in it. The spaces around Atlanta only develop personality when they are populated. 

When Walker Evans took his photo of an Atlanta barbershop, it would have been difficult to get people into the photo because of the photography technology of the time. When I looked to capture the same idea in 2021, I struggled to find subjects for my photo due to Covid-19. The collage above was taken in an empty lecture hall on campus and evokes the same feelings of missing interaction. Each of the photos was taken at a wide aperture in order to create an extremely shallow depth of field and force the audience to focus on the empty chair. By including multiple chairs in each shot, the viewer’s eye follows the paths radiating from the focus point of the photo. As they look away, they realize how many empty chairs are present today and the combination of 3 photos in the collage serves the same purpose. The photos are still, but any student’s immediate reaction is filled with action and excitement, reminiscent of the people they knew. The life of this photo is in contrast to its literal appearance. The room is quite sterile, but you allow yourself to imagine conversation and interaction that fills the space. The focus of this photo is not on the structure, but instead the purpose of these structures – a location to interact and communicate with varied peoples and personalities united by a common goal. 

How does Covid – 19 Change Atlanta and Challenge the Modernist City?

Whether they are conversations in the confined space of a barbershop or a large scale gathering in a lecture hall, Covid-19 has limited the capacity or completely eliminated the in person interaction that defines the city as we know it. The mass daily migration of people to the office is no more, and many find themselves limited to their homes. People are still interesting and Atlanta still has culture, but it is near impossible to interact with the city like you once could. What was once a river of people and ideas, intertwined by communication is now segmented into isolated units. The modernist city is built on constant interaction, to the point of anonymity, but now cities face an inability to blend into one. We can however get a sense of oneness in the sum of each independent story and personality within the city. In each unit, there is still a sense of community, even if it is only a part of the larger Atlanta story.

In this photo, I try to capture the community that is omnipresent even in a global pandemic. I used a 200mm lens I borrowed from my dad to get an extremely tight image of a local apartment. Each one of these apartments is filled with its own tenants each with their own lives, but together they still create a homogeneous building facade. People are still communicating with their families and loved ones, but each group is now isolated. Atlanta’s broad culture still exists but is unreachable for the majority of us. Confined to our homes, our reach is shortened to only those next to us, and it becomes impossible to experience a grand city. Unlike the modernist city, Atlanta does not have a homogenizing flow of people anymore, and instead, we are confined to our own vignettes. 

Amadeo de Souza Cardoso captures this idea of independent ideas that are proximate yet discrete, utilizing form and color to create two independent emotions in “Windows of a Fisherman”. The left side of the image features a bulbous window and curving strokes, along with a purple tone. The left side feels luxurious and comfortable. In contrast, the right window is jagged and duplicated, indicative of a much different experience than its nearby counterpart. Like Atlanta today, these two ideas are simply existing close to but separate from one another, incapable of blending or bending to create anything new. 

How will Atlanta live on?

Because of the decreased frequency of interaction, each intersection of ideas and people has so much more importance. Unlike the modernist city, where every interaction is forgettable, Atlantians in the current climate need to make each intersection mean something more.

These photos were taken at night on 10th Street using a tripod and a 2 second long shutter speed as the cars drove by. I then compiled them on my computer and created this image. With this image, I want to focus the audience’s eye on the middle of the image where all the lines intersect. Even in Covid-19, we see the passing of cars each containing their own tiny community with its own unique story, each intersecting and intertwining together on their journey. The ideal way to view this image is to be taken to the middle but then follow the path back to each of the corners of the image. Much like when we interact with people, we need to focus on who they are and what they come from. Just as important as the interaction and intersection of our lives is the interaction and intersection of their lives. 

In the above image, Piet Mondrian creates a grid pattern of independent boxes that intersect uniquely throughout the piece just as the cars’ trajectories intersect on 10th street. As you look from top to bottom, you can see the grays slowly change in minute ways, and see the density of intersections change in different locations. Like how ideas change, the pieces transition in color and form through intersections shared by different boxes. In our lives and in the city, these intersections are the force that transitions our individual experiences into a culture. 

What Now?

Going forward, Atlanta will revert back to its pre-2020 sense of community and culture. Covid-19 is only a temporary roadblock for the modernist city. Restaurants are opening back up. You can now go get your haircut. Groups are finding ways to interact online in the meantime. The massive decrease in interaction and intersection we saw last March is slowly dissolving and allowing us to see the city once more.

Until we are back to meaningless and abundant interaction, however, we need to remember that every intersection of our lives with the lives of others is important and valuable. Even in our limited environment, we bear witness to the occasional intersection of discrete lives and stories. Unlike the modernist city, each of these limited crossings of our lives are not anonymous and will be memorable. You are part of what makes Atlanta, Atlanta.

Works Cited

Walker Evans. Barber Shop, Atlanta. 1936, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.

Souza Cardoso, Amadeo de. Windows of a Fisherman. 1915, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal.

Mondrian, Piet. Composition with Grid #1. 1918, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX