Crafted Time

Europeans are looking for different things than Americans when visiting other places. For example, Europeans are searching for wide-open, natural spaces. Most European tour sites that I encountered touted the National Parks system in the United States For example, parks and natural spaces such as the Grand Canyon.

On the other hand, when Americans are looking for a European experience, they search for age. Most tours of Europe that I came across that catered to Americans emphasized sites that have a long history behind them. These include such sites as the Eiffel Tower in France, and Stonehenge in England

I believe the American focus on European age stems from the fact that The United States is only a little over two hundred years old. Americans are likely interested in the fact there is a history that goes deeper than the two centuries of American history.

The opposite is likely true of tourist sites in America that appeals to Europeans. The newness and vast expanse is what attracts Europeans. Similarly to what attracts Americans to Europe, space and newness is something that is extremely rare in what is called the Old World, after all.

Panorama Investigation

European cities have are both similar and dissimilar to American cities in terms of their overall appearance. This can be seen in the panoramic views of New York City and Paris.

Above is a panoramic view of Paris at dusk. It shows the winding streets of the City of Light, with the Eifel Tower in the background. More easily observable in the foreground than in the back, one can see that the buildings are all about the same height.

This photo shows New York City at night. One can see in the foreground that the streets are aligned in a grid pattern in an attempt to regulate traffic within the city. Also, the buildings of the city are not the same height, as can be easily seen in the lower left of the photo.

The difference that jumps out at me first is the arrangement of the streets within both cities. Despite Paris' origins as a Roman conquest town, which was built on a grid, the city grew into a sprawling city with winding streets which go off from each other at different angles. This is in stark contrast to the photo of New York City which clearly shows the grid system of street organization.

Another stark difference between the two views is the relative size of the the buildings in both cities. The average building in Paris, according to the view from the photo, is not much larger than a few stories high. The average structure in the New York City photo, however, is a skyscraper, with many more floors than the average building in Paris.

One striking difference between the city which stands out to me is that the largest structure in the photo of the city of Paris is a public monument, which when it was built was likely not intended to be a large generator of income for the city. This is in contrast to New York, where the largest structures pictured were built solely for economic purposes. This tells me that, in Paris, when these buildings were constructed, they did not want to blatantly advertise what the purpose of the building was.

Chinatown at a Glance

Sometimes the ethnic identity of an area hides itself within the architecture of the area. Other times, it throws it right in your face. The latter is the case when looking at Chinatown in San Francisco, California. This area establishes its identity, on the simplest level, through its architecture.

This is one example of the area presenting its identity to the outside world. This is a gateway to Chinatown in San Francisco. It shows that the area has no bones about showing who resides here. If they did not want people to know who lived there, they would not have built distinctly Asian architecture in the area.

This is another example of the the area using distinctly Asian architecture in its design. This was done to project and present their ethnic identity to the world. The distinctive architecture can be seen in the light posts on the left, and the signage, which can be seen on both sides of the street.

I can't help but wonder whether or not this is an accurate representation of Chinese culture. For example, what is often passed as "authentic" Chinese food is, more often than not, changed drastically for American tastes. Whether or not this architecture is Americanized as well I can't be sure, however, it does make me pause before accepting the architecture as genuine at first glance. If it is the case that the architecture is not completely genuine, it would be likely that it was presented in this way to attract customers who are looking for a "genuine" experience.