Write a summary on your derive  Dérive: analyzing an impromptu trek through yo

  Write a summary on your derive 
Dérive: analyzing an impromptu trek through your neighborhood
Courtesy of Derek Owens
Before You Begin
Guy Debord, one of the leaders of the French Situationist International movement, promoted the dérive  as a practice of better understanding the “psychogeographical”  relationship that can exist between a pedestrian and the city. Unlike a  stroll, where one simply takes a walk, a dérive (which means to  drift) is where a person–ideally a small group of people, according to  Debord–wanders through an urban area with no preplanned route or  itinerary. As the small cluster moves through the urban environment,  they pay attention to how architectural forms, street plans, signage,  the presence or absence of pedestrians, light, sound, and other  environmental factors invisibly steer them into various directions. The  idea is that any city will exert a variety of subtle and sometimes not  so subtle directional influences upon a person: some streets beckon a  pedestrian, whereas others seem to drive people away. Some buildings are  inviting because of their design, location, or function; others are  imposing, and almost seem to repel passersby; still others blend into  their background, virtually invisible the casual observer. What makes  some blocks desirable? What causes certain streets to remain empty for  most of the day? Why do we have different emotional responses to the  buildings surrounding us, and the way they’re orchestrated and designed?
The Project
If you’re familiar with your city, and it’s during the day,  there’s probably no harm in conducting this project alone.  However, it  will probably be more interesting and informative, not to mention fun  (and safer), if you conduct this project in the company of two or three  friends. Pick a nice, sunny day and spend a minimum of two hours  conducting a dérive through a section of your city. Select a starting  point, but beyond that don’t adhere to any preplanned agenda. Carry a  map of the city with you, but don’t consult it unless you are hopelessly  lost–you don’t want the map to direct you throughout the city, but  rather the city itself to serve as the guiding hand. The purpose here is  to experience the flows and contours of the city that most of the time  we fail to notice. Keep a notebook, and perhaps a camera, to keep track  of your observations. Make sure your friends are also willing to simply  wander for the full two hours, allowing themselves to be directed by the  invisible contours and forces urban environment–make sure that no one  in your party is going to disrupt the experience by pulling the rest of  you on a shopping expedition, or a hunt for a particular restaurant or  landmark (plenty of time to do that after your dérive).
As you find yourself carried along in the urban current, pay  attention to the surrounding environment. What is it about certain  buildings or structures that call out to you, make you want to cross the  street in order to be nearer to them? Why does a particular alley look  inviting, whereas others practically seem to shout “keep out”? Why do  different streets have different effects–is it because of the  storefronts? the look of the apartment buildings? the presence or  absence of people? the sounds and smells? As you move through your city,  you and your friends might want to rate the various streets, buildings,  and neighborhoods you encounter, and then debate the relative merits as  you continue your journey. Once you’ve finished your dérive,  remain in the city for a little while in order to reflect upon your  travels. This is a good time to sit down with your friends over a cup of  coffee, take out your map, and examine the afternoon’s trajectory. 
When you get home, as soon as possible begin writing down notes from your trip. It’ll probably make sense to write about your dérive  in chronological order: begin by explaining your choice of a starting  point, then take it from there. As you document the path you took, seek  to better understand how the surrounding landscape helped shape the  afternoon’s route. Refer to the others in your group too, especially if  there were times you disagreed over which path to take. When  finished,  you will have a detailed account of your unplanned walking tour  throughout a section of the city. Don’t simply describe what you  encountered, but offer analytical commentary on the various effects of  the changing landscape.
Although Debord’s interest was with urban areas, there’s no  reason you can’t conduct a dérive in a suburban or rural  environment–however, the experience will be very different. Wandering  throughout suburban sprawl might well turn into an exercise in which you  examine the effects of architectural homogeneity rather than the kind  of variety one finds in cities. And if, like many suburbs, yours is  typified by  curving, winding streets not laid out on any grid  system, chances are you might get lost. In fact, much of your suburban  dérive might be a commentary on the rather subtle (and sometimes  nonexistent) differences among the streets and homes, and why over a  two-hour period much of what you observe might seem to blend together.  In a suburban dérive, smaller idiosyncratic environmental  elements will probably capture your attention–a lawn full of Halloween  decorations, a collapsed swimming pool, a barrier road encircling a  neighborhood–whereas in a city the geographical variations will be more  extreme and dramatic.