Polka Dot Poems

The National Capitol Commission defines cultural landscape as:

"a set of ideas and practices, embedded in a place."

Cultural Landscapes encompass the intangible and the tangible. The concept of cultural landscape pushes our preconceived concepts of heritage conservation beyond historical buildings, forcing us to explore the patterns and relationships that create our sense of place.

Poetry communicates the intangible and the tangible, by weaving images of the tangible to invoke intangible emotions between the author and the reader. In this way, poetry has the unique ability to create a shared sense of place.

High Park is a poetry hot spot

The Toronto Public Library has developed a website, called the Toronto Poetry Map. The project was spearheaded by George Elliot Clark, Toronto's Poet Laureate. It explores the ideas and patterns embedded in the city. The visitor to this website can select a location on the map which links them to poems associated with that location. The Toronto Poetry Map is a fun interactive tool. It allows the public to explore aspects of their city's cultural landscape that are easily missed.

To document associative cultural landscape requires diverse approaches and documentary styles. Cultural landscape researchers rely on literary works, landscape painting and cognitive maps to link a location to related stories and beliefs. Poetry Maps are a type of cognitive map. Researchers in environmental psychology, city planning, law enforcement, and tourism use cognitive maps to reveal human knowledge of sensory experiences.

Pairing poems with their referenced location reveals how our interactions with our city shape us.

The City is about stories

Yours, mine, what we want to hear

Look, Listen, Linger

The City is for People By: Honey Novick

Published in: Beatniks and Other Sacred Voice

The excerpts of poems, on The Toronto Poetry Map, are linked to where you can borrow the poetry book from the library.  

Manifestations of Relationship

"Real isn't how you are made. It is a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time... then you become real."

The Velveteen Rabbit, Watership Down.

Humans are programmed to form relationships.

North Americans' understanding of the term “relationship” can be defined as a correlation, kinship or the way we regard or behave toward each other.

Humans are programmed to form a variety of relationships.  These include:  pleasant acquaintances you greet regularly on the street, respectful interactions forged at work, supportive friendships developed over time, bonds of family members and the hopeful spark of loving attraction.  All these relationships have a role to play in forming our understanding of our place in the world.

Cultural Landscapes are the manifestation of intimate human relationships with the environment. The outward manifestations of these relationships, provide insight into ideas, beliefs, and philosophical paradigms of the community that shaped them. Cultural Landscapes are physical narratives of our culture and reflect our collective identity. 

Categories of Cultural Landscapes

Cultural Landscapes cover a wide range of ways we relate to our environment. They define our relationship to our surroundings over time and across the globe. The Cultural Landscape Foundation fits our interactions into four basic categories: Designed Landscapes, Vernacular Landscapes, Ethnographic Landscapes and Historical Site Landscapes.

Designed Landscapes

Piet Oudolf's private garden, Hummelo, NL.

Designed Landscapes are those intentionally created by man. This includes gardens and parks. They may be created by trained professionals using design principles or by amateur working with recognized styles.

Vernacular Landscapes

Kensington Market, Toronto, CA.

Vernacular Landscapes are occupied by people whose
everyday activities organically cause the landscape to evolve. The landscape can be used to interpret the physical, biological, and cultural character of the culture. Vernacular Landscapes fall into two sub-categories:

•  A landscape that has distinguishing features that are evidence of a past interaction with the everyday life of an absent culture.
•  A landscape associated with the traditional way of life that is still actively evolving with the living society over time.

518 Alto Street, New Mexico, US.

Ethnographic Landscapes

Ethnographic Landscapes are those that contain significant natural and cultural resources. These resources are significant to people of the region, who value their religious, artistic, or cultural associations.

Historic Site Landscapes

The Mackenzie King Estate, Ottawa, CA.

Landscapes of Historic Sites can be an integral part of past events, activities, or person.