EVENT

    The walk from north to south and back again across the UCLA campus was more than just a beautiful stroll; it was a representation of the emotional, cultural, and spatial dynamics that permeate the campus's physical landscape. The walk began at the northern edge of campus, near the Anderson School of Management and the sculpture garden, which featured formal architecture and a sense of quiet prestige. But as the walk went on, the atmosphere changed, with students rushing about on scooters and others walking by in noisy groups. This area of campus felt disconnected from the daily cadence of student life, illustrating how hierarchy can be communicated through space.

    The atmosphere changed once more as the walk proceeded in the direction of Bruin Walk, with students on scooters darting about and others passing in boisterous groups. Flyers for club events, chalked protest or solidarity statements, deadline reminders, and student government slogans made the walkways feel crowded with conflicting messages. Even these messages appeared to cover up something more recent, such as small memorials, campus security notices, or fragments of protest signs.
After recent events, Kerckhoff Hall, which has always felt like a campus crossroads, seemed haunted by a sense of heaviness. The daily erasure and rewriting of the chalk slogans on the steps gave the impression that meaning was being negotiated there. The atmosphere changed once more by the time the walk arrived at the southern end of campus, where fewer open areas and fewer students were relaxing.

    The walk turned into a metaphor for the campus as a whole: a place of cyclical motion, returning to familiar territory with fresh insight. During this walk, one of the most striking insights was the way students now occupy space. While some appear more reserved, others congregate in well-known groups, still animated and expressive. Fractures, however slight, have been brought about by recent campus events, such as discussions about academic freedom, safety issues, and student rights. There were times of beauty and connection despite the division. At the foot of Janss Steps, a student left a little bouquet of wildflowers along with the simple message, "We are still here." It served as a reminder to the author that, in spite of all the divisions, a fragile impulse toward community still exists. After all, design is about relationships, not just about things or places.

    The author became more conscious of the university's emotional geography and physical layout as the return walk went on. The same campus now seemed like a map of interconnected stories when seen through the same eyes. With each discussion, protest, and silent gesture, the campus's meaning is rewritten. This walk was about more than just moving through space; it was about realizing that the university is a dynamic system of tension, design, and community. 

1. de Certeau, Michel.
   The Practice of Everyday Life. Translated by Steven Rendall, University of California Press, 1984.

2. Solnit, Rebecca.
   Wanderlust: A History of Walking. Penguin Books, 2001.

3. Casey, Edward S.
   Getting Back into Place: Toward a Renewed Understanding of the Place-World. Indiana University Press, 1993.

4. Tuan, Yi-Fu.
   Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. University of Minnesota Press, 1977.

5. Harvey, David.
   "The Right to the City." New Left Review, no. 53, 2008, pp. 23–40.