Lisa Di e tr i c h
home towns
Toronto and Hamburg
urbanism | mapping texture by lisa dietrich
Identity is subjective; the identity of a city is no exception. Its character presents itself to everyone in a different way. The way in which we get to know a place shapes our vision of it. I believe that our first understanding of a city comes with our movement through it, by foot, bike, streetcar, bus, subway or car, maybe even by boat or by air. This movement can be mandatory, as in the act of getting from one place to another, or voluntary, in the form of exploring and wandering; for reasons of getting somewhere we need to be or just because we like to explore. Our paths of travel are defined by whichever modes of transportation are available as well as the layout of the streets and transit system. I moved to Toronto after growing up in Germany and living in Hamburg for almost seven years. Although both cities are formally comparable in many ways, their character always struck me as quite different. Both cities are relatively flat. Both are determined by their large bodies of water, although Hamburg more so than Toronto. Both cities have subways and street level transit. They are provincial but not federal capitals and come with large universities, famed TV and radio towers. However, a significant difference is that Toronto grew along a pre-determined street grid while Hamburg grew within and around a walled town. This growth is reflected in their respective street and transit patterns. 19 i d e nt it y
My first image of a new city is always a simplified graphic representation of the place – a map. My first face-to-face experience is the view out of the window of a bus, streetcar of train. In Hamburg long stretches of the subway are elevated above street level. A passenger can enjoy fantastic views of the river Elbe or the Alster lake. As opposed to the streetcars in Toronto, these elevated subway routes do not necessarily follow the streets and may also take you along the rear of apartment blocks and elegant turn of the century mansions, even cutting diagonally through blocks, loudly rumbling past bedroom windows only a couple of metres away.
On Site review 25