Little Boxes

It started with a book. Actually, a picture book. I found it at the Harold Washington Public Library while searching for just one more text on the World’s Columbian Exposition. I believe it was located underneath Sociology, amid books on affordable housing and appropriate land-use policy.

The book’s cover read “A Field Guide to Sprawl.” In alphabetical order, the book humorously addressed land-use slang, such as “zoomburb,” “piggybacking,” and “privatopia.”

Segue.

Zoomburb: a rapidly expanding suburb

Piggybacking: the process of developers taking advantage of empty and inexpensive space farther from an urban center, jumping over other declining suburbs; this process creates growth in outward rings while inner developed areas depreciate or lose their population to better development outward.

Privatopia: a planned or gated community where physical and social appearances are regulated.

I loved this book. It was a crash course in sprawl terms and went in line with my interest in New Urbanism, sustainable development and architecture. The book combined legal and casual terms for sprawl with beautiful aerial photos of classic examples. It is much easier to understand the concept of a zoomburb if you see the entire community from the air.

I turned the book over at the end, excited to see the author. Dolores Hayden. Hmm, maybe she has other books I could check out. Then I read where she worked. Yale University. What???

Long story short, this small picture book pointed me towards Professor Dolores Hayden of Architecture and American Studies. I was thrilled when I realized that the author of the book I enjoyed worked at the school I attended. The next fall, I immediately enrolled in her class, American Cultural Landscapes. This year, I continued in her class, Suburbs and the Culture of Sprawl.

Professor Hayden is my advisor and has been instrumental in the direction of my studies. I think this speaks to the ability for undergraduates to foster professional or academic relationships with professors here. First, Professor Hayden has helped me plan for graduate school, where I aim to attend MIT or Berkeley for city planning. When I felt limited by the undergraduate catalog in green building, she recommended I speak to a teacher in the School of Forestry department.

Finally, Professor Hayden is one of my advisors for my senior essay. I recently received a fellowship (Thank you Yale!) to study Americanization of architecture in the Philippines, and she advised me on the application process and the research set-up. I will be working with her closely senior year to ensure that my essay is the strongest it can be.