Project Statement

As we begin to rely more and more on technology, we have fewer and fewer face-to-face interactions with people. I was on the bus the other day and I noticed one of the advertisements said “Avoid uncomfortable eye contact. Keep reading this sign.” Have we gotten to the point where we go out of our ways to avoid interaction and eye contact with other people?

I’d like to do a project based on the work by the Dutch civil engineer, Hans Monderman. He had the idea that we have these “home zones”, places where we feel comfortable and at home, but the time we spend traveling in between these “home zones” is a “dead zone”. We don’t normally account for this time, but it’s lost time.

In order to solve this problem, Monderman took away all the traffic lights, signs, speed limits, sidewalks and bike lanes in an intersection to create the idea of “shared space”. People had to work together—make eye contact, pay attention to others, let someone ahead of them, pay attention to their own driving—in order to get through town. When we drive, we’re kind of mindless. We expect that if we follow the “rules” that are put in place, we should be ok.

In this project, I intend to examine the work and ideas of Monderman and see how they might apply in Madison. I’m hoping to have a focus group with some other students and see what they think of the whole idea. I’d also like to create a video project showing how traffic and transportation moves in Madison and how it could be different.