* I made this hotglue template with a page for all the group members included.

* I went to the skatepark on the westblaak to observe for around half an hour and take some notes to share with the others.

- Except for 3 people, there is absolutely no one. I almost never see it this empty.
- All 3 three of them are wearing: vans shoes, wide, oversized shirts or hoodies and they all have an eastpak backpack with them.
- The sounds here are quite loud.
- The park is in between two busy roads, so almost all you hear are cars driving by.
- I really like the sounds of the skateboard wheels on the asphalt of the park.
- Because of all the trees on the outsides of the park, the sunlight does not get through and the entire park is covered in shadows.
- There are boards with rules on them at multiple places in the park.
- The boards says this space if for everyone, beginners or more trained people, but I do feel like I mostly see more trained people hanging out here most of the time.
- The space has quite a lot of benches on the sides
- This skatepark does not give me a warm feeling, it feels cold and rigid
- What even is a skate park without the skaters in it? They literally make the park what it is supposed to be.

* We had multiple videocall meetings on teams, sometimes with all of us, sometimes only 3/4. In these meetings we discussed how to move on with the project and we told each other our findings, experiences and results.

* My experience of going to the skatepark for a 2nd time, this time to take pictures of the shoes skaters were wearing:

- I was literally shaking when I parked my bike because I started to get nervous
- The longer I stood there debating whether to go in or not, the more anxious I got
- At one point I physically felt ill
- I contacted the rest of the group to tell them how nervous I was and that this normally never happens to me
- There were only 3 girls in the whole park, all the others were guys
- Started by asking the guys who were sitting on the benches permission to take pictures. I had some fun conversations and they told me it was going to be okay
- I immediately noticed they were all wearing the same style of shoes
- The more people I spoke to, the easier it got
- I got catcalled by 3 dudes sitting on a bench on the side of the park. They didn't look like skaters and they didn't have a skateboard with them. I turned around and told them I wasn't flattered but actually found them disgusting and disrespectful and then walked off.
- Everyone was very willing to show me their shoes and no one minded if I took a picture.
- It felt very lively
- Besides the shoes, the clothing also really stood out to me

* I wrote down the notes for the presentation and divided all the parts between us

* When I got home I cropped all my pictures myself and I made groups of 3. These groups had to all look alike in either brand, colour or way of posing the feet. Then we all had to coordinate how to post all the pictures in such a way that the instagram feed would work out.

Group project

Individual project

Observations of the bicycle tunnel of the Maastunnel (combines of multiple visits):

- The escalators are made of wood.
- On the space between the different escalators there are texts about the bicycle tunnel and the tunnel for cars. The facts are about the building process, the renovation,the achitecture of the entrance buildings, etc.
- The escalators take about 70 seconds. I say about, because I was quite stressed while getting on and of the escalator with my bike, so the counting may have been a bit inaccurate.
- There are always people who work in the tunnel sitting in the corner when you get of the escalator.
- There are signs that indicate where you can get on and off your bike.
- In the tunnel, signs on the ground say "Left overtaking, Right relaxed".
- During the renovation, they change the bump in the middle of the road (dividing the two sides of the road) to just a flat line. People used to complain about the bump, it was hard to overtake other cyclist because there was limited space.
- While cycling past all the little lamps hanging on the wall, two shadows on either side of me catch up with me. This motion happens everytime I drive past a lamp, which is almost continuously. It makes me want to race my own shadows, which is of course impossible.
- Most people look like they are in a real hurry, they all cycle very fast.
- Because my bicycle is quite heavy compared to the usual city bike, I have some difficulty getting it on the escalators in a comfortable way. It stresses me out. Other people don't seem to have this problem.
- From the different times I went through the tunnel, it seems like during the morning rush hour it is most busy going from south to north and during the late rush hour it is the other way round.

Findings from talking to one of the people who work at the tunnel:

- My observation/hypothesis of the streams of people during rush hours is confirmed. Apparantly, they sometimes even change the direction of the escalators to between the morning and the afternoon. There are 4 escalators (at the moment only 3, 1 was being worked on) and in the morning there would sometimes be 3 going down at the south side and 3 going up on the north side. In the afternoon this will change. 3 going down on the north side and 3 going up on the south side.
- During the summer it is way more busy than during the winter. People just use their bikes more when the weather is good.
- The tunnel being closed for a long time, during the renovations, was a big bummer for a lot of people. Most people use the tunnel to go to their work. Using a ferry just took more time waiting.
- There is also an elevator, which I personally didn't notice before.
- People in wheelchairs could use the seperate tunnel for pedestrians.

Research findings through the internet:

- The tunnel was opened in 1942. There was no big celebration because of the war.
- The bicycle tunnel used to have the longest escalator of the Netherlands, up and till 2017.
- The tunnel was the first in the Netherlands to be build using sinking parts that were made on land, instead of drilling a hole.
- The tunnel was needed because in the 20s and 30s the population of cars rose rapidly and the Willemsbrug and Koninginnebrug got crowded. This clogged the traffic system within the city.
- There was a discussion about it being a bridge, but because of the big ships that used the port, the bridge had to be very high. This is why they chose for a tunnel instead.
- The bicycle tunnel used to be so busy that the police had to control it. However, since the metrolines were put into place, a lot less people use the bicycle tunnel.

Mappings

Research

A: The body movements in the space

B: The spatial setting

C: The wider context of the space

Theory

Attempt 1

Observations, counting people using the tunnel:

I sat at both the north and south entrance of the tunnel, during the evening rush hour, for 10 minutes to observe and count everyone that would go in and out.

South entrance
In: 28
Out: 41

North entrance
In: 27
Out: 9

Total of
going from north to south: 68
going form south to north: 37

Mappings

Attempt 2

A: The body movements in the space

B: The spatial setting

C: The wider context of the space

C: The wider context of the space

Intervention

• People choose to live in the South and work in the North
• Housing cheaper in the South
• Class difference (income, status, level of education)
• Difference in ‘function’
• Normally sort of “teleport” from one to another. Make change visible.
• Make these differences visible in order to confront and challenge the perception people have of this two areas.
• Very stereotypical photographs --> make people think whether these are all there is
• Change slowly from north to south (and vice versa), so you actually visually move from 1 part of the city and 1 stereotype, to another

TESTS

• 6/7 South of Rotterdam
• 1 thought she recognised it
• Broken window
• Energy drink
• Closed curtains

• 5/7 North of Rotterdam
• 2 people recognised it
• Others thought it was Blijdorp
• looks too ‘posh’

• 6/7 South of Rotterdam
• 1 recognised it
• Others thought it didn’t look ‘well-kept’ enough for the centre
• Looks poor
• Graffiti

• 7/7 North of Rotterdam
• Big building
• Offices
• Looks posh because of all the glass

• Take way more pictures
• Do more tests, different types as well
• Printed in a big format
• Each side of the tunnel