RESPONSiVE ENViRONMENTS

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1.11 Interview 3

Friday 29th March

What brings you to the beach this morning?

Sprints, I play American Football for the East Kilbride Pirates and I come here to train sometimes.

Why do you like training here?

Harder on the muscles.

Less strain on knee and ankle joints.

Helping to prevent injury as much as possible.

How often do you come here?

Once a week.

What do you like about the beach/promenade?

The sand for training.

Nothing really appeals to me to me, I use it purely for training.

What improvements would you like to see in order to make the beach seem appealing to you?

Hmm, maybe a nice wee water fountain but it still wouldn’t make me come here more than just for training.

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1.10 Observation 9

Friday 29th March

I decided to go down as early as I could muster up one morning to see what was going on at this time of the day.   I arrived at 8.15am on a foggy morning. It was dry but according to the weather app on my phone it was meant to rain later on which I am guessing is why there was a hue over the water.

There was a man running sprints between two points on the sand and he came up from the beach after about 10 minutes.   I approached him and asked him if he would be okay with me interviewing him.   He didn’t come across as the nicest guy in the world but he agreed which was good as I wanted to interview someone who used the beach for exercise which could have been difficult as people who exercise don’t tend to stop.

The was an abundance of dog walkers in the last half an hour of the observation and a few dogs started to play fight together.   No one in the whole hour used the sand apart from the man doing sprints and the 9 or 10 dogs I saw going up and down the shore.

There was an elderly couple who looked to be out for a walk making the most of the weather before it was meant to deteriorate later on but the man wasn’t able to move at a very fast pace.

No one apart from the young girl from last observation had used the beach next to where I sat for these observations.   As I have been coming to the beach for a number of years now since living relatively close I expected to see more exciting things than I have.   In the past, I have seen people swimming in the sea or sailing but in all of these observations I haven’t seen any of that.   Hopefully the next (and final) observation will have something exciting in it to talk about!

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1.12 Observation 10

Friday 1st April, 11.15pm-12.15am

I decided to go down to the beach, the latest I would dare on a Friday night to see what is going on.   I could smell smoke which made me hesitant when turning the corner to get onto the promenade and on further inspection turned out to be a group of mid-teenagers lighting a fire further down the beach.

I took my seat to begin the evening’s observation.   When I first sat down no one passed by for 15/20 minutes.   In this time I got up to walk about and keep warm in the cold night wind and whilst doing this I counted to see how many lights were broken along the length of the prom that was visible and I counted what I thought to be 4 broken lampposts, including the lamppost that was broken next to me.   It was either that or there weren’t lampposts in the places I thought there to be but was too far away to tell.   This goes with what people were saying in my interviews about the beach needing better looked after.

The first person that passed me looked to be the same age as the kids lighting fires along the beach seemed to be.   He didn’t stop for any reason as I'm guessing he was just heading home.   

After the boy walked by no one walked by for another 20/25 minutes until a middle-aged couple looked to be returning home from a pub or something in portobello via the beach.   I only guess this because of what they were wearing and where they came from but maybe I’m wrong.   They weren’t walking particularly fast and were looking across up at the sky and over towards Fife.   After they went by no one went by until the end of the shift but I could hear the shouting down at the fire on the beach and the occasional drunk up on the high street.

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1.9 Observation 8

Saturday 26th March, 6-7pm

The sun had just gone down but still illuminating the sky from beyond the horizon.   There were quite a few people buzzing about the area and, again, quite a few dog walkers and people out getting some exercise but as I sat down there were 3 people, a father and his son and daughter (I think), staring over the Firth of Forth looking at the pink/orange sky in the distance.   These people were there for around 5-10 minutes before they eventually wandered off further down the promenade.  There were 4 or 5 dogs on the sand around the same time, 2 of them running back and forth chasing a ball the owner was throwing for them whilst slowing making their way further along the beach.   One of the other dogs wouldn’t stop barking at its owner to throw the ball she was holding but for whatever reason she wouldn’t throw it.

For the first time during any of these observations, someone sat down on one of the benches where I sit during my observations.   A man sat his daughter on the bench to put on her rollerblades and then returned to his car to put her shoes in the boot.   He then returned and the girl started to skate down the prom in a very inelegant fashion.

2 runners went by chatting with one another on the way, not going at a particularly fast pace but just enjoying the nice evening.   There was a bike chained up that isn’t usually there, locked to a lamppost, but in the hour I was there no one came to unlock it.

There were quite a few people out for an evening walk on this night, no one stopping to use the area around the observation spot but all just passing through on their way to wherever they were going.   Only one group of people turned up to walk through the car park the rest of them stayed on the promenade.

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1.8 End of the rainbow

Was out for a walk today at Portobello Beach with the family and over the Forth there was the beginning, and only beginning, of a rainbow

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1.7.1 Second Interview

What brings you to the beach tonight?

I like to get away and walk my dog here when it isn’t too windy.

It’s good for a skate at this time of night.

Why do you like walking your dog here?

It’s usually quiet at this time of night and skate in peace and Neville (the dog) can run about as much as he wants and he likes the sea.

Are there any improvements you would like to see done to the beach/promenade? (especially at this area).

I would suggest, if anything, the ground should be smoother.   I think it should have been smooth in the first place and I don’t think they were thinking of skaters when they made it.

There should be more bins, I don’t feel like there is enough.

Keep it cleaner because it’s quite a mess at the moment.

Remember when they had the hovercraft at the beach that took people to Fife and back? I think they should bring that back too.

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1.7 Observation 7

Friday 18th March, 9.10 - 9.55pm

Went back to the beach tonight for the second night in a row.   I planned to get there around the same time as last night but ended up getting there a bit later around 9pm.   The car park was just as full as the night before but, this time, there were people playing football in the astroturf pitches further up from the car park.

When I first get to the observation spot and sit down a group of young teenagers go by making a hell of a noise as they do, screaming and shouting at each other, still audible when they get round the corner out of my line of sight.   A jogger in high-vis gear runs by me, gasping for air, shortly followed by a man on a skateboard walking his dog at the same time.   He looks friendly so I stopped him and asked him if it would be okay to do an interview with him for this university module.   [He agreed and the interview will be in the next post].

I tried to keep track of who went by the observation spot in the few minutes taken for the interview with the skateboarder.   Another dog walker went by who had to pull his dog away from the tiny dog that the skateboarder had, then there was another dog walker on the beach that I noticed and finally, a woman walking along the promenade herself, wrapped up in a massive puffy jacket, scarf, hat and gloves (feeling the cold).

The wind had picked up since finishing the interview and it was noticeably colder, there was still a couple people out walking but no one was really interacting with the surroundings apart from the dog walker on the beach when I was conducting the interview.  

After a couple walked by me I had to get up to leave because it was too cold, had to cut the observation short, although I don’t feel like it’s the end of the world because it was so cold and so windy I don’t think too many people were hanging about the beach anyway.

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1.6 Observation 6

Thursday 17th March, 8.20 - 9.20pm

I decided that I wanted to get a couple of observations at night seeing as all of the observations so far have been during the day so it would good to see what my spot at the beach is like during the night hours.

It was a very nice day during the day before I started to go down, possibly the hottest day of the year so far and there were no clouds in the sky this evening as all the stars were visible.  

The car park was busier than the previous observations I had done which I can only assume is because the people who stay in the flats next to the car park use it for parking their cars at night after they have finished work.

The first thing I notice is how dark the ocean is because there’s no sun up it's black.   It was also very quiet.   It was only 9pm when I did this observation but barely anyone went by.   A couple were out walking, wandering at a very leisurely pace just looking at the lights of Fife and chatting to each other.   I think they were speaking French when they walked by me but I am not too sure.   They didn’t interact with anything and looked as if they were just out for a walk along the beach.

About 10 minutes later a dog walker goes by on the strip of beach left by the high tide.   The dog is walking slowly by its owner's side even though it is off of its lead.   In the next half hour of my observation, there was 2 more dog walkers and 2 cyclists, none of who interact with the sand or the benches whatsoever.   One of the cyclists turns up into the car park and all the others continued on to the end of the promenade.   None of these people were walking towards the east end of the prom but everyone was going from the east end to the west end, which when reflecting back on seems strange as the city centre is closest to the west end of the beach and due to the time of day I thought people may be coming back from a late work night in town but evidently not.

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1.5.1 Reflection on Interview no.1

Going on from my interview a couple of days ago I would like to focus on how the history of the beach could be presented more using technology.   Further along the promenade, nearer the east end, there is a plaque with a snippet of information on it but nothing else along the length of the beach.   The idea to have a big touchscreen with information about the history of the promenade would be good but I feel as if it would be subject to vandalism and let’s be honest, it isn’t a very exciting idea.   I want to try and think of something that will excite people when they see it but also be educational and informative of Portobello’s past.   I have tried to research ways that other seaside locations have improved their areas with the aid of technology but I cannot find anything online.   These places are among the few places where there is no technology at all apart from the lighting.   Even when people are there on a walk you don’t see anyone looking down at their phones they are all head up and looking out over the water, which is something that I think I want my artefact to help people do.

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1.5 Interview

Today I conducted the first of my interviews and I stopped a woman who looked slightly older than myself, mid-twenties maybe, and asked her what her name was and if she would be comfortable answering a couple of questions and she agreed.    I also asked her if she would be okay with me recording our conversation so it would be easier to write up for this application and, again, she agreed.   The following is a thinned out version of our conversation.

What brings you down to the beach today?

Walking my dog.

Why do you like walking your dog down at the beach?

Views and my dog likes the sand and gets all excited when let off of the lead. Open space so it’s not like walking them in a forested area where they could get out of my sight, I can see them at all times. Local to where I stay.

What aspects do you like about the promenade/beach?

A lot of dog-friendly cafes/restaurants like the beach house and The Foresters Guild at the top of the [adjacent] street. I like the original buildings like the portobello baths and the big victorian houses along the front. Good access for the car when bringing the dog.

What would you like to see improved about the beach/promenade? (Especially at this particular part)

Would like to see the history of the promenade more like if there were those information boards with original photos and plans. Maybe a little gallery/museum of the history of portobello beach. Possibly seating on the beach for people who don’t want to sit on the sand or a water fountain.

I deliberately kept the questions simple and open ended to try and not skew an answer out of her whilst wasting as little time of her day as possible by speaking to me for too long.

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2.1 Phase 2 Coursework

A few pictures of my submission for the phase 2 coursework. The first picture is of the whole max patch and the second being the tidied up presentation mode. And the 3rd, 4th and 5th pictures are the subpatches that are creating the distortion of the videos.

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1.4.1 Quick Groyne Research 

 A very crude representation of how a Groyne works to prevent coastal erosion

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1.4 Similar Observation

Wednesday 25th February, 9.15-10.15am

I decided to go down to observe again at the same time as the last observation but mid week to see how different it would be than a monday morning. The weather was very similar this time also so it seemed like a good idea to see how the two days differ.

Again the car park was quiet although I’d say there were slightly more cars than Monday but this could have been because i arrived closer to half 9 when I think there was a class starting again.

On the promenade itself it was as quiet as Monday with elongated lengths of time between people passing by. There were quite a lot of cyclists once again but not generally for commuting, the way they were dressed and the fact some of them were in the company of other cyclists made me believe it was a recreational bike ride for the most part. No men in suits that were obviously on their way to work.

The tide was out again although not as far this time but the dog walkers still used the larger area to allow the dogs to run about, playing fetch with sticks. When I first arrived there were 4 dogs with 3 of them running around chasing each other with the other older dog walking by its owner. Again people with dogs being the majority of people to interact with the beach. After about 10/15 minutes it went quiet again like Monday with the only dogs after half nine being a man who must have been an actual dog walker, with 5 dogs pulling him along the promenade.

The only other person to interact with the beach was a young couple out for a walk and stopping to climb on the wooden fence that divides up the beach. This seems to be something that people, especially children do and I have never known what these wooden fences are for. After a quick Google search they are called “groynes” and apparently are used to interrupt water flow and trap sand that the waves have moved so that it doesn't travel too far along the coast. Maybe these groynes could be a feature in the design fiction whilst still remaining functional for the beach as people regularly interact with them, either by needing to get over them or climb on top to get cool pictures. This is something I would like to look into.

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2.0 Coursework 2 Phase 1 coursework 

The first picture is the overall patch and the second being the subpatch "fazer#" which changes the pitch of the input sounds at different time intervals

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1.3.2 Todays Views

View from the bench and a picture of the observation spot

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1.3 Observation

Monday 22nd February, 9-10am

The first thing that I noticed when walking towards the observation spot was that the normally overflowing car park was almost empty apart for 10/12 cars. I can only assume the only cars there are for the residents of the flats next to the car park. Although the closer it got to 9.30 the busier the car park got with mums and children going into the gymnastics centre on the opposing side to the flats.

The tide was far out again allowing more room for all the dog walkers that were out on this sunny day. When I first sat down on the bench there were about 10 dog walkers out and about but they soon started to dissipate and then there were only a few. I think that people were out walking their dog before they had to go to work or start their days so from 9-9:15am there were much more dog walkers than 9:15-10am.

There didn’t look to be any people making their way to work, everyone looked as if they were just out for the leisure of it whether they were out running or walking (or power walking in a couple of ladies case).

Halfway through my observation I tried to make myself aware of the different areas of the observation spot that people could interact with; the beach, the benches and the car park. Like I said the car park filled up a little with people going to Tumbles and the only people that were on the sand this morning were dog walkers.

There was a space of around 7-8 minutes where no one passed by me and there was no one on the beach in front. Out of this observation and the ones done previously this was the longest period of time with no one around to observe. I think this is the reason most of the people who were down at the beach this time in the morning had braved the cold, for the peace. It was definitely nice even sitting on the bench for me with no traffic noise just the sound of the seagulls and dogs in the distance barking. It definitely felt like a serene seaside town this morning.

The only types of people that use the beach on a weekday morning were owners out with their dogs, people exercising and mothers taking their children on a walk. I think these are the people who the end intervention should be aimed at since these people are using the promenade constantly.