Bright Sparks

Rosanna Vitiello and Marcus Willcocks
Unravelling the Urban Lexicon

Download Final Urban Lexicon Report >> (15.23MB PDF)

When first encountering an unknown space, we often respond with mixed emotions, both the excitement of exploration and fear of what unknown may be around the corner. But what shifts our feelings one way or the other, and what influences the way we react to a new space? Designers and public space specialists, Rosanna Vitiello and Marcus Willcocks are investigating how the physical elements of open spaces can determine our perception of a place and influence our emotive reaction towards it. Through researching these details that subconsciously build up a ‘vocabulary’ and trigger emotional responses in us, they will aim to unravel some of the culturally learnt codes and visual language that impact on our feelings towards unknown urban environments.

“We understand that emotive reactions are subjective and influenced by a cultural understanding as well as taste, but we believe there is a pool of visual language which speaks to us all on some level.” Rosanna Vitiello

Rosanna and Marcus are exploring a range of inner city environments, from green spaces to commercial and residential areas, and are working with a cross-section of interviewees, which may include a tourist, a resident, a commuter and a night-worker, amongst others. Their research and findings will be presented through a live web blog, which accessibly records their research process, detailing the specific sites they are exploring, signposting related research and information as well as presenting conclusions and results from their consultations with the public. This thorough research process for Bright Sparks eventually aims to lay the foundations for a visual dictionary of everyday urban codes, charting the different responses to an extensive visual language.

Rosanna and Marcus are both trained designers who cross traditional discipline boundaries to focus on design in the public realm. Rosanna brings experience in strategy and communication, whilst Marcus’ specialism is user-centred design and research. Both share an interest in uniting the social perspective with design aspects of public space and collaborate with anthropologists, architects and designers to explore this field.

www.urbanlexicons.com
http://urbanlexicon.blogspot.com

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