As we were observing the site, looking for the objects written on our list made before arriving, we could see a lot from the atmosphere of the site and Albi in general. In our first delivery we focus mainly on really getting to know the site, its environment and surroundings, and collecting information.
When ticking off our list of objects, we noticed some interesting facts. On our list we included average everyday objects as well as object which are usually harder to find. Surprisingly, some everyday objects we did not find at the site. For example we did not see a couple sitting on a bench, or we did not see any balls. So we thought to ourselves, can be this information relevant for us? Well, it could have been a coincidence, but also, it could mean that the square is not used by kids or that there is no comfortable place for a couple to sit and enjoy.
We continued the observing of the site by taking a random route. We had an end point in mind (as we were looking for a place to take lunch at), but the path there we chose to do randomly. This enabled us to get to know the surroundings of the site in a bigger scale. We walked a couple of blocks and collected 5 random objects on our way. Firstly we picked up a feather of a pigeon, which is no surprise with the amount of pigeons on the square.Next we found a hair pin, and after visiting the supermarket we kept our receipt. A small wood stick was found on the ground on our way to the restaurant where we treasured on last object - plastic set of cutlery. If we try to translate our found treasures into a metaphore we could say: "There is lots of pigeons on the square, people cycling when their hair flies with the wind, supermarkets, some greenery and places to eat."
When collecting the information about the site, we made basic analysis in a medium scale. We analysed the structure of the blocks of buildings, buildings, the river, the greenery, the public space and the roads. As a result we can say the location has a very dense structure of buildings, which are usually enclosed around a small courtyard. Looking at the roads, cars have access to the area only in some parts. If there are roads open for cars they are one way roads. There is a quite large pedestrian zone where no cars are allowed. There is a road for cars directly at the site, which goes through the square next to the cathedral in a L-shape. This connection road is quite important in organisation of the traffic in the area. Greenery analysis shows, there is not much greenery in the area when talking about streets or square directly. The greenery is concentrated mainly around the river coming from the center of greenery in the area - the garden. Public space is mostly made by pedestrian streets leading to the square with the cathedral.
Next we analysed the historical aspect of the site area. When looking at the buildings, one can see different eras. The city has a deep middle age history and it formed and evolved ever since. To get to know different layers of time and history at the location, we made a scheme showing the age of the parts from the oldest (the darkest color) to the newest (the lightest color). Our site is located at a very center of the oldest part of the city.
To really define the atmosphere of the site, we made an analysis of the different layers of the site that we could recognise by all the factors shown in analysis that affect the site. The layers of atmospheres we chose were: touristic layer, local layer, noise layer, secure layer and insecure layer (in this exact order). The touristic layer was composed by the interests of tourist coming the square. Their main interests are the cathedral and the Toulouse-Lautrec museum. The local layer aims at the interests of the local people, showing that the cathedral is one of the local points as well as a touristic point, where the difference is, that for local people the interest is the inside of the cathedral and its function more than the outside of the cathedral. Outside interest point of the cathedral for locals would be only the entrance. Noise layer shows the road with cars is a big distraction enabling the place to be peaceful, on the other hand, another center of noise - local square market, which makes social noise of people negotiating and shopping at the market. This noise is considered as not distracting, in fact helpful for the public and social atmosphere. Then we decided to name a secure and insecure layer. This layers indicate where a person can feel comfortable or not quite comfortable. As a secure we marked the interior of the cathedral, the small greenery with a fountain, the space infront the tower of the cathedral and the narrow street behind the cathedral leading to the museum, where there is also located a small stream with a fountain. These places make people feel comfortable, secure and intimate. On the other hand, the open space infront of the cathedral and market can induce a feeling of respect and insecurity (when looking at the huge scale of the cathedral from such small distance). The road with cars going straight through the square is very interrupting as well. We marked the interior of the cathedral as insecure as well, as it can have the atmosphere of respect made by the scale of the building and lighting etc.
When talking about the site and its atmosphere the cathedral is a huge part. Not only its scale but also its beauty is unbeatable. We tried to understand how its presence affects the square and the area. As the diagram shows, the floor plan of the cathedral takes around 35% of the floorspace of the square. Being such a big part in this public space, we looked at how different the atmospheres can be, only devided by a wall, by comparing these two clips filmed at the site.
Next we looked at how is the atmosphere changing when walking around the cathedral at the square. We picked different clips of points when the mood is changing more drastically.
To sum up the atmosphere we made a video made out of small clips from the site.
We started to ask ourselves question about the museum to find out what is the atmosphere of a museum for us, and in the end merge these two atmospheres.
Our delivery :
