Constructed Environment

How does Marco Polo describe his cities?

Marco Polo starts with describing the location and the outer appearance of the cities. Some of the cities he describes are situated near the sea or the desert or they have lakes inside the city. He also describes the architectural elements of the city. Then when the some image of the city starts forming in your mind about the city he slowly delves into the smaller details of the city like how the people are, what they wear, what they do and how they behave. This sometimes can be completely different from what you had previously imagined the city as. In each description of the city he also describes one quality which is unique to that particular city.

 

What is the role that monuments play?

Monuments play a very important role in all the descriptions of the city.  They give a sense of familiarity to the reader so that as they keep reading on they start making a connection. These monuments help visualize the descriptions of the cities that Marco Polo is giving. The monuments that can be listed in my city Esmeralda are the canals, streets, rooftops, the river, rooftops, underground sewers.

 

How does the Urban interact with the Natural?

The city that I have chosen is Esmeralda which is also known as the city of water. So the people in this city travel by canals or the streets. The swallows in the city fly over the rooftops connecting all the points of the city through their airy paths unseen to the human eye.

 

 How do we distinguish between nature and man-made?

All the things that are man-made are always made from the elements that are obtained from the nature. Nature is not dependant on anything man-made while all man-made objects are dependent on nature in some or the other way.