Downtown to Robinson

The final QR code/object was placed at Robinson Park. I seem to only go downtown for three reasons: to see a movie, to go to a bar, or to study the built environment. I happened to be downtown for a movie and decided that it would be a perfect opportunity to walk to the final QR code at Robinson Park. Out of the five QR code/objects I have placed in Albuquerque, I thought the fifth and final QR code/object would be the least likely to remain situated where I placed it. Downtown Albuquerque is an interesting place and not for the best of reasons. There is an identity that wants to be expressed from the buildings and spaces in downtown Albuquerque but in the end it communicates more of a collection of disparate parts with many missing "teeth". There are people downtown however, occupying apartments and hotels, but I do not think that there are people who are truly able to thrive downtown. Walking around you pass through more than one empty lot. Some buildings reveal their hidden underbelly where the cracked facade permits the sun. There is pocket park built by students off of Gold Street that provides one area of respite in the downtown jumble. I want to want to go downtown and hang out but it still does not feel welcoming, despite the earnest efforts of the Downtown Action Team so I go there only there to watch, drink and observe.

I meandered around downtown for about 2 miles until I arrived at Robinson park. Surprisingly, the QR code/object was still there and I was glad for it. Another interest space that I have come across during my expeditions into the city are picnic tables placed out front of office buildings, usually next to the street and only one them is installed. I tend to think that these are for the population of smoking employees but they strike me also as these stark oasis. Somewhat of refreshing place to relax yet they also seem to say "sure, go ahead and smoke or eat your lunch, but do it quickly." Another element in the city that I have come across in great abundance has been objects for sitting (chairs, couches, benches, etc.) left in little nooks and crannies. These objects are mobile i.e. they are not bolted to, or chained down to something. It speaks to the dynamic nature of place and how the simplest act of placing a chair in the landscape can create a space that someone will be drawn to inhabit during unknown moments. I have added a few of these places to Foursquare so if you are out and about check in and be merry.


View 2011-04-17 14:51 in a larger map

Walk #9