READING: Introduction – Defining Place by Tim Cresswell

As part of our PB2, we are required to read the book called Place: An Introduction by Tim Cresswell. First chapter defines the meaning of place. As Cresswell said, we use the word place in everyday life without think too much about its meaning. Place is not only a physical place such as home and school; place is how you experience and how you make the world meaningful.

I found an interesting part of the chapter which Cresswell compared the difference between place and landscape. He used an example of a man who left his hometown and spent many years in universities in England. He returned to his hometown after so many years, he realised he had become an outsider which the “place” became “landscape”. So what’s the different between place and landscape? Place is where you hold the memories and finding the place is being meaningful which the viewers are inside of it. On the other hand, landscape is a visual idea which the viewers are outside of it. For example, you can see many landscapes from a guide book however it is not a place where you experience it.

Cresswell’s introduction to place gave me a lots of thought. It makes me thinking about what is a real place and how we are going to explore it in our further project. Place is not just a thing in the world but a way of understanding the world.

Reference

Cresswell, T 2015, ‘Defining Place’, Place: An Introduction, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, West Sussex, UK, pp. 1-22.