With Syria in the news and an international response taking shape, one cannot be blamed for forgetting about France. How relevant is France in a world where the US is still very much the dominant military superpower? Yet, France has had a much greater global status in the past than it enjoys right now. Palais…
Month: August 2013
Interstitial Affective Zones: Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou (emotive geographies 7)
In between-ness, conflicting emotions, divided points of view, also form an important part of our experience of place. The emotions that spaces around us produce are at times not as clearcut as positive and negative – and this has certainly been the case for this blogger in navigating and trying to discover London and Paris….
Drive and Desire: London (emotive geographies 6)
If Paris is a pleasure inducing sight in the early hours of the morning, London (for me) is less overpowering but rather more enticing. The phrase ‘London is calling’ captures the feeling of seeing London take shape and come to life in the early hours of the morning: I often take a morning run or…
Before the raising of the curtain: early morning Paris (emotive geographies 5)
On this morning’s early morning jog, it struck me that the meanings and emotions that we attach to places are also a function of time: At the most basic, this would mean at what time of the day we find ourselves in particular spaces (this could be expanded to include considerations about season, year, epoch,…
‘Emotive geography’ (4): Musée Jean Jacques Henner, Paris
Trying to map out Paris and London on the basis of the feelings that certain spaces evoke gives an entirely new way of relating to each of these two cities. And perhaps it even transforms one’s broader view of what enhances the human experience – Paris and London are becoming active agents in facilitating my…
Emotive geography (3): Rue Notre Dame des Champs
A life spent with friends, and family, and familiar faces often unfolds for this blogger on Rue Notre dame des Champs. The sound of the name evokes particualr feelings of belonging, acceptance, being welcomed, warmth. A simple look at the street would not suggest this, necessarily. particularly on the more moody nights when it is…
Emotive Geography (2): Westminster, Whitehall London
A walk around Westminster during term time means coming across various protests – many of them longterm ones. It’s always interesting to stop, and get a sense of the broad range of political and social causes that attract varying sized crowds – from one woman protests that have been going on for years over Tibet,…
‘Emotive’ Geography (1) : London, Millenium Bridge and St. Paul’s
The places that we live, the world around us, is continuously drawing out different emotional responses: peace, contentment, inspiration, anger, security .. and insecurity, and different psychological dispositions: willpower, pride, confidence or the opposite. I’ve been thinking about how different parts of Paris and London evoke particular emotional responses and how they affect – positively…
Village Paris and the last nights of summer
Grateful graduate project: Reasons to be grateful 228-232 Paris’s current design emerged partly from the assimilation of a series of villages. This relegates a lot of daily living, socializing to the level of neighborhoods that have very distinct and accessible characteristics. Bercy was one of those villages formerly outside of Paris that have since become…
Parisian August
Grateful graduate project: Reasons 218- 227 As is the case in several parts of continental Europe, life slows down quite significantly in August. Bakeries, restaurants, and other daily haunts roll down their blinds and head off for holidays. These generally come to an end after the 15th of August, or thereabouts – the 15th being…
Anon's Paris 