Grids

 I found the grid system in “Maps of the Township and Range System” by Ronald E. Grim looked interesting. I usually associate a landscape to be free from human influences, not confined by much and not for humans' sake. The fact that a good deal of the American landscape is put into grids contradicts that notion completely. The grid is a shape that occurs mostly in the man made world and the grid on American land is caused by a need by man to measure it. The American landscape has always been romanticized as large and roaming, at least from what I've seen and its strange seeing it conform to the grid system in Alex Macleans' “American Grid”. I would think think the towns would follow the landscape and not the other away around. I agreed with Dr. Kaplan that it doesn't personally look bad, though I understand how people thought that grid system in the town looked ugly. I find the grid system in towns to be natural because I've grown up in American cities. I've always seen streets as parallel and perpendicular lines. I never payed much attention to it though, then again before this class I never payed much attention to maps beyond trying to get from one place to the other.

Its kinda funny how the grid's are a mix between nature and man and so is the American notion of the sublime in David E. Nye's "The American Sublime”. The man made is put on the same pedestal of nature. It's novel to me that someone would go look at the wilderness and not be in awe. A lot of people go hiking and sight seeing to see nature. I do understand how people didn't like seeing the sights in a crowd, you rarely see the romanticized photos or paintings of landscapes with a group of tourists peering at it. I do think that engineering feats can be just as awe inspiring as nature, just in different ways. Seeing and going up the Macau Tower is still one of the coolest things I done abroad.