{"id":1009,"date":"2019-06-14T21:20:35","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T21:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/publicknowledge.sfmoma.org\/take-part\/?p=1009"},"modified":"2019-06-14T21:20:36","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T21:20:36","slug":"the-ingleside-wpa-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.sfmoma.org\/take-part\/the-ingleside-wpa-model\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ingleside WPA Model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lillian Saunders is a sophomore at the University of San Francisco majoring in Urban Studies. She wrote this blog post for Professor Rachel Brahinsky\u2019s Urban Field Course, which visited several sections of the WPA model in Spring 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I moved to Ingleside from the Fillmore\nwhen I was five years old. Located in the southwestern section of the city,\nIngleside is a largely residential neighborhood that sits on top of a valley\nbetween Mount Davidson and Daly City. My parents had never heard of Ingleside\nprior to moving, let alone thought about moving there. Even now when I tell\npeople where I live, the best I can expect is a hesitant nod and more often a\nblank stare. It\u2019s \u201ca city that few tourists ever see\u201d (Walker 1995).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I take pride in my secret little\ncorner of San Francisco (see fig. 1). I recently went to view the WPA model of\nIngleside at the library in order to gain more historical perspective on the\narea (see fig. 2 & 3). The model is a physical representation of the layers\nof city change due to cycles of capital investment that we have witnessed on\neach of our walks. As we observed downtown, the architecture of buildings can\nbe read as a sign of when and why capital was invested into an area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingleside was mostly farmland until 1906 when the area served as a refugee camp for those displaced by the earthquake. By 1936, most of the homes in my immediate area were already built, although there were vast tracts of land to the south that were still undeveloped. Farmhouse-style homes were scattered throughout more recent standard box houses. As more demand for housing in San Francisco grew and more investment came into the area, houses began to occupy each lot of the neighborhood, creating miles of suburban-style homes that \u201cappear banal, [but only] because we are so completely inured to its distinctiveness as a form of human habitation\u201d (Walker 1995).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WPA model gives residents the power to see the city from a perspective they\u2019ve never witnessed before. When viewed from above, the \u201celevation transfigures [the viewer] into a voyeur. It puts him at a distance. It transforms the bewitching world by which one was \u2018possessed\u2019 into a text that lies before one\u2019s eyes\u201d (de Certeau 1984). The model allows viewers to view the city objectively as a \u201ctext\u201d outside of the constraints that are present when observing from ground level. The temporary, moveable nature of the model buildings provides viewers with “perspective vision and prospective vision [that] constitute[s] the twofold projection of an opaque past and an uncertain future on to a surface that can be dealt with\u201d (de Certeau 1984). It inspires viewers to see the city as a constantly developing surface where nothing is definite and everything can be improved in the future, as evidenced by the comments left by visitors (see fig. 3 & 4). The model serves as a reminder that positive change is internally motivated and starts with us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 1. <\/strong>My corner. Section of the 1938 WPA model. Image from https:\/\/www.davidrumsey.com<\/a> via https:\/\/boingboing.net\/2019\/01\/08\/public-knowledge-take-part.html\ufeff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 2. <\/strong>Ingleside neighborhood section of the 1938 WPA model. Image from https:\/\/www.davidrumsey.com<\/a> via https:\/\/boingboing.net\/2019\/01\/08\/public-knowledge-take-part.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Figure 3. <\/strong>San Francisco 1938 WPA model. Image from https:\/\/www.davidrumsey.com<\/a> via https:\/\/boingboing.net\/2019\/01\/08\/public-knowledge-take-part.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n