The driving experience as environmental art

The main goal of this project is to design the experience of motion along a mixed-use arterial roadway as a work of art. The research component of this project proposes to determine the influences on the experience of traveling along a road, the key components of environmental art, and how these can be combined to enhance the driving experience. This project will focus on the section of McGalliard Road from Morrison Road to Walnut Street, in Muncie, Indiana.McGalliard Road is one of Muncie's most heavily traveled roads. If one examines its length, the unorganized fashion in which the street has developed is readily apparent. Different and often conflicting uses are scattered up and down the road, in a spectrum ranging from rural/ agricultural to residential to commercial. The result is a confusing sequence of buildings and spaces with little or no focus. Thousands of people use roads similar to McGalliard in their everyday life. Generally the experience of driving these roads is mundane, involving countless parking lots, stores, and chain restaurants. By utilizing the principles of environmental art in the redesign of the experience of a mixed-use arterial roadway, the user's experiences can be greatly enhanced and the road can be infused with a new identity and meaning with which peoplecan identify and take pride.The user's experience of a mixed-use arterial roadway is the main issue I plan to examine in this project. When driving on a highway the sense of motion, space, and sequence is dominant. These sensations are most affected by objects passing overhead and near the roadside (Appleyard, 1966). The primary objects in the user's view are signs, telephone poles, and other vehicles, with nearly nothing overhead.Roads are an integral component of a city's fabric, one of its most intensely used public spaces, which provide linkages between different parts of a city (Moughtin, 1992). A successful road is one that captures the attention of its user. Without this, the user's attention can begin to wander and the experience becomes uninteresting. McGalliard Road has little to catch or hold the user's attention. The nearby surroundings consist mainly of signs, large parking lots, or buildings set far back from the street with nothing to focus the driver's attention. In redesigning the experience a user has while traveling along McGalliard Road, it is important to work with these elements in the near roadside environment, utilizing their attributes in the creation of an experiential work of art.Art has the potential to add another layer to the experience of the landscape, instilling it with new meaning. Works of environmental art are bound to their site and take a large part of their content from the relationship they have with the characteristics of their surrounding sites (Beardsley, 1998), thus drawing meaning directly from the surrounding landscape and culture. Ultimately the success of a city depends on the success of its roads. Art can enhance both the experience of a road, city, and the lives of its citizens. Integrating commercialism, art, and the driving experience, the designer can create a unique experience in which the user is an integral component in the design.Department of Landscape ArchitectureThesis (M.L.A.