Monday, November 10, 2008
The Necessary Jackson Discussion
Our letter to the editor:
What’s wrong with Jackson? It’s unsafe. It’s boring. Its politics are divisive. It’s hot and humid. There’s nothing to do after 5pm. Underneath the misconceptions and overstated rhetoric lies a truth: Jackson and the perception of Jackson are in need of improvement. Since the 1980’s, population has been declining. Suburban sprawl has increased the size and wealth of suburbs, but the city itself has seen limited development.
The condition of Jackson is not unique; similar cities all across America suffer from the same deadness. Just like many other cities, Jackson has great potential. What do we do? Listen. The typical master planning exercise often comes from a problem-solution approach. Experts are brought in to propose answers to problems that often aren’t understood. Instead of proposing solutions, we are listening to the problems. We are finding the trajectories that make up Jackson, specifically the State Street corridor. We are uncovering the past and present in order to better understand the complex situation in which we participate.
We are That BIG EAR. That BIG EAR is a group of 5th year architecture students from Mississippi State University located at 509 East Capitol Street, and we are in the process of an urban analysis of the evolution of Jackson, MS and the State Street corridor. We want to know what the community thinks. We want to hear stories about your experiences in Jackson. We want to hear about Jackson’s past. We want to know what you think is good and bad about Jackson now. We want to hear how you think Jackson should develop. Let us know what you think by joining in the discussion at our blog (http://thatbigear.blogspot.com). Take our surveys. Speak out about your city and keep your eyes peeled for big ears.
Written by Bryan Norwood, that BIG EAR
Click here to see our letter on the Clarion Ledger website.
Can architects solve crime?
Answer: "Navy Seals...at least 12 of them" - anonymous survey respondent
In our survey we ask questions about the main problem Jackson faces...almost 70% of Jacksonians who have responded have said "crime" and "bad leadership" are the main contributors to the current perception of Jackson. As an architect, these two problems create an interesting predicament. What can an architect do to address these problems?
Social implications of what we design as architects are just as (if not more) important that the aesthetics. No one will inhabit the buildings we design if they don't feel safe.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tell us the history of Jackson!
Post a story here that you think explains or contributed to the development of Jackson as it is today.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Downtown Hour
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Face of Jackson, oh How it’s Changed
Yes, when people ask me do I enjoy spending time in
I grew up in
But like all kids, innocence wears off. Sometimes things change even before you ask them to. All the time I spent growing up, not noticing the downfall of
Now I’m about to take a leap of faith into adulthood called college graduation. This could be my time to really make
I think its safe to say there’s a passion about living here embedded in me somewhere. I guess there’s something in me that won’t let me walk away and just watch the city perish…
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Connections Come, Connections Go




Tuesday, October 14, 2008
What is Jackson's Identity?
In an article by David Harris featured in Adbusters magazine, Harris looks at just this sort of situation. Sao Paulo, Brazil the fourth largest metropolis in the world and Brazil's most important city imposed a regulation that all outdoor advertisements be banned and removed. The city's mayor, Gilberto Kassab explains:
“The Clean City Law came from a necessity to combat pollution … pollution of water, sound, air, and the visual. We decided that we should start combating pollution with the most conspicuous sector – visual pollution.”
"São Paulo’s a very vertical city. That makes it very frenetic. You couldn’t even realize the architecture of the old buildings, because all the buildings, all the houses were just covered with billboards and logos and propaganda. And there was no criteria. And now it’s amazing. They uncovered a lot of problems the city had that we never realized. For example, there are some favelas, which are the shantytowns. I wrote a big story in my newspaper today that in a lot of parts of the city we never realized there was a big shantytown. People were shocked because they never saw that before, just because there were a lot of billboards covering the area."
The interview later continues with the following dialogue:
BG: I want to ask you about the cultural life of the city, because, like them or not, billboards and logos and bright lights create some of the vibrancy that a city has to offer. Isn’t it weird walking through the streets with all of those images just absent?
VG: No. It’s weird, because you get lost, so you don’t have any references any more. That’s what I realized as a citizen. My reference was a big Panasonic billboard. But now my reference is art deco building that was covered through this Panasonic. So you start getting new references in the city. The city’s got now new language, a new identity.

Photograph of Sao Paulo taken by Tony de Marco
(Click here to see more photos of Sao Paulo)
Photograph of street signs after Hurricane Ike in Galveston, TX. (Click here to see flickr link)
Now, picture this:
If we were to wake up tomorrow and all evidence of outdoor advertisement had vanished, would the existing structures hold their own identity?
Which areas of Jackson would maintain their integrity? What measures would have to take place for those identities to begin to emerge?
Now, lets take this to another level...imagine that the entire population of the United States woke up tomorrow and found the same scenario. I feel like I'm creating the makings for a killer Twilight Zone episode, but work with me for a minute. Which cities do you think would be the most successful at still functioning?
This is an important factor in our research in finding the influence of the Interstate on city development. Most likely, the cities that would be the least detrimental to the human psyche and the personal sense of orientation would be those whose infrastructure developed based on the necessity of walkable neighborhoods and mass transportation. Cities designed around plazas and iconic landmarks. New York, Washington D.C., and Boston just to name a few.
The reasoning is simple: how easy would it be to find your unlabeled destination while driving 60 mph down the freeway?
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sprawl Part I: Democracy and Public Space
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (1st Amendment to the US Constitution)

Though it draws citizens to a public square of sorts, the shopping mall is de facto a private space - run by a management company and owned by investors. Due to this private status, many mall managers believe they have no responsibility toward the U. S. Constitution and its protection of free speech. . . . Unlike civic spaces of yore the shopping mall was created to encourage the private act of consumption. In fact, contemporary architects design the mall for shopping - and shopping alone. (National Civic Review, Vol 88: 2, Summer 1999, 134-35)

Friday, October 10, 2008
That BIG EAR hits the road!



Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Where did all the density go?

From 1940 to 1950 the population of Jackson increased by 58% from around 62,000 to 100,261 as a result from the post-war baby boom. Jackson was on its way to becoming a thriving modern city which could have been comprised of walkable communities and public trasportation being an essential part of life. In the 1960's the Interstate was introduced and suburbanization became the more apparent life choice. Why did the people dissipate?