Comparison and Contrast: Path and Node

       Different species inhabit in different environments. Their behaviors, life circle, food supply and many basic needs of their lives all count on nature. However, for human beings, since we have high intelligence, amazing creativity and the ability to build, we are no longer limited by the environment that we can create and design our own environments -the cities. However, the environment we designed is the reflection of our natural delight. In the city for example, we can find many similar element as we can find in nature. In his book The Image of the City, Author Kevin Lynch points out some elements of our built environment, our city in comparison to the nature, “the path and node as the stems in a leave.” 

       “paths” is important element in a city. All the “images” and “aspects” are related and arranged through paths in the city with which we engage as we move through it in our daily lives. Paths are also like efficient highways and important links of the city as arterial lines that connect one world to another. On the other hand, paths in the city are also emotional. Everyone has their own path in the city which they deeply experience the city and build their daily lives on.

       The intersections of paths, the junctions, the “nodes” are also important. They are the meeting places which are like the key points of the city. As he says, nodes are important for people because they have to make decisions there about where to go, to discover perhaps where they are, and so their awareness is heightened.


Image from: wp.delta.ncsu.edu