Day 4: Exploring your home area

Yesterday you went out of the house and explored your home in a broader sense, exploring your home areas. These areas, much like our home, are familiar and have memories and emotions as integral ingredients. Today let's go back out and explore these areas a little bit more.

A Map From Memory

Before you venture outside, first draw a map of your local area, this can be as big or as small as you like, as long as it stays walkable and local, complying with the rules of the lockdown.

Make the map from memory and note significant 'landmarks'.

These could be landmarks for you, like the lampost you once walked into, or 'local landmarks' like that chipshop everyone in the area prefers, that house all the kids swear is haunted.

If you can't remember the name of the road or street, make one up according to what's on the street or what it looks like.

Add drawings.

Colour code it.

Get creative!

An example of a Map From Memory can be found on our twitter @misguideinthehome.

A Map Of Home

How do you think the geography of your home area has been changed by the current situation, has it been changed forever?

Now your map is finished, go for a walk, follow the map.

Keep a look out for anything you can see that's worth recording? Something unusual, beautiful, funny, disgusting or interesting. Take a picture!

Is there anything different to how you've remembered it?

Which places on your route are still open?

Which ones lie vacant, a shell of their usual selves.

How have the spaces in your home area changed?

Have the trees blossomed?

Find something natural and beautiful.

Pause, take it in.

Are their queues on the streets outside shops snaking their way around street corners?

When you've finished your walk, head home.

New centers and purposes

Reflect on your walk around your local area.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, where would you consider the 'centre' of the local area to be?

Would you consider it to be somewhere different now? If so where and why?

Mark this center on your map.

Look at the photos you took, what buildings feel obsolete at the moment?

What's the history of these buildings and the streets surrounding them?

What could the future of these buildings be?

What they could be turned into to serve the community better in the current climate?

Thanks for taking part in Day 4! We hope to see you back here tomorrow for our fifth and final day.