"No place is a place until it has found its poet." Wallace Stegner

"You've gotten somewhere and you have to decide what you want to do there. The sense of place becomes a seed for the sense of what happens in that place." Brain Eno

"It thus seems clear that the Australian aborigines were most definitely able to establish a sense of place which was independent of any buildings which they might have constructed. This suggests that in the larger sense the establishment of place is a symbolic process. The use of physical barriers is only one way of achieving this." Amos Rapoport

"Without a complex knowledge of ones place, and without the faithfulness to ones place on which such knowledge depends, it is inevitable that the place will be used carelessly, and eventually destroyed." Wendell Berry

The world is becoming smaller through the ease of travel, the convenience of telecommunication, and the limitlessness of the internet. However, the blurring of boundaries and the shrinking of distances does not negate the desire or even the need for indentity, including identitiy of place. A sense of place is evoked from a synthisis of the unique and destinctive characteristics of a place. However, the defining characteristics of a place are not restricted to geographical surroundings or architectural spaces; they are inclusive of cultural norms, secular divisions, social restrictions, and spiritual beliefs.

What is the role of the designer in developing a sense of place? While it may be questionable as to whether a designer could control or manipulate the vast complexities of environmental conditions and cultural variables that create a place such as a community or country, it is surely understood that the designer is in the position to recognize, respond and add to the placeness of a place. Be it commercial ventures, architectural environments, graphic communications, or the daily apparel of the public, a designer contributes, intentionally or not, to the creation and development of a place.

Student Project
Responding to the following narration, employing your field of study to capture, design, and communicate a sense of place that is influenced by your understanding of the importance of place and the way it defines your identity.

Details

• All projects should be presented on a 24" x 32" board and should be prepared to be presented on a vertical surface.
• The organizers of Tameen Doha 05 are interested in the dialouge of community and place and therefore feel that this project is best completed in a classroom environment with the interaction of students and instructors. We request that all submissions be created within the context of a classroom environment, i.e class project, group charret, etc.
• Selected entries will be prominently exhibited during Tasmeen 2005 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.
• Please send submissions to Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar by December 15 of 2004.
  Send submissions to:
  c/o Karl Burkheimer
  Virginia CommonWealth University
  School of the Arts in Qatar
  P.O.Box 8095
  Doha, Qatar

  Shipping will be arranged and paid for by organizers of Tasmeem 05. Please direct any questions or inquiries to Karl Burkheimer at the above address or e-mail inquires to Karl Burkheimer.