Fairfield 3, Updates and ZoomWalks

I recently returned from another visit to Fairfield, Iowa. This trip was similar to the two I've described earlier, here and here, but there are updates to pass along, and a new project, which I call ZoomWalks, that I started while there.

The gap between this trip and the previous one, from November through March, covers the winter months, so the changes are far fewer than the busier and longer April to November span. Even so, there are several items to relate.

The Mayor's Report

The March 24-30 issue of the Fairfield Weekly Reader included a report from the Mayor, Ed Malloy. A brief list of the highlights:

• 2011 should bring the completion of the Loop Trail system, with work on the northwest section of the trail.
• Inspired by Karla Christensen's mural in the alleyway next to Revelations (I took a picture of it, scroll about halfway down), a new public art project entitled Maze of Murals will be introduced.
• Renovations of City Hall in 2011, including handicap access.
• Hy-Vee constructed a Gold LEED certified building in Fairfield, the second in the company's history.
• The Federal Railroad Administration is reviewing the city's application for a Quiet Zone, wherein with appoved crossing upgrades the trains will no longer blow their horns as they pass through town.
• Fairfield is working with Partners for Livable Communities to host a national conference in the fall.

Ben's Notes

I spent most of my time on or near the MUM (Maharishi University of Management) campus, so the progress on the new Sustainable Living Center immediately caught my eye. First, exterior shots.

Here is the entryway, as of late March.

You can see a few loops of the radiant floor heating in the above picture; here's a view looking back at the entrance.

The southern face of the building is a solar hall providing space for various projects and to absorb heat.

Here is one of the classrooms under construction. Note the bricks used in an interior wall; they are made locally.

The interior walls are substantial, with the bricks coated with a brown substance to smooth them out and a final whitewash layer.

The Loop Trail bridge over Highway 1, at the north edge of the campus, now has lights along its arch. This was a brilliant stroke and transforms the bridge into a welcoming gateway. Necessarily, I took these pictures under diminished lighting conditions (no tripod).

After two previous posts about Fairfield, I will abstain from further early-light pictures of the Argiro Student Center and other campus buildings. My only early morning photo of this trip is of some visitors to the campus.

This early evening cloud formation was an impressive post-meditation sight. Dinner could wait a few minutes while I studied it and its slow transformations.

 

The popular grocery Everybody's is in the process of transforming its (auspicious north) entrance.  The current entrance is only two doors wide, one in and one out, and the 'airlock' is short, only a few feet, so that much of the time it is open at both ends. What used to be an open-air patio with a few tables is being transformed into a much wider and deeper airlock. In this photo, the current entrance is under the green awning, and the new entrance stretches along the entire area under the tan roof.

The interior is being reorganized, and it appears that a previously employee-only area will become an additional shopping aisle.

ZoomWalk Project

Every so often an idea bubbles up that I feel compelled to try out, and this spring it is a mobile time-lapse project I have dubbed 'ZoomWalk.' The outline is this: to take a picturesque or otherwise interesting walk, taking a photograph every few steps, and afterwards use the computer (and open-source tools) to combine them into a video. It's a 'zoom' walk because the final video gives the impression that you're walking at great speed, even up to 70-80 mph. That other people may pass you at apparent speeds even faster than yours reveals the time-lapse nature of the effort. There are tools to work with traditional, static time-lapse images, but working on a mobile time-lapse project presents challenges. The field of view is different from frame to frame, and the camera is hand-held. I'll write another post to discuss the details, both photographic and computational.

Note: the original videos are of higher quality than YouTube will reproduce. I apologize for the blotchy sections; if and when YouTube upgrades its handling of these clips will improve!

My initial experiment was a short walk on the Jefferson County Loop Trail, passing through the bridge over Highway 1. The lighting suffers every time the path turns south and I face the sun, but it was a lesson and a beginning.

My second project was an afternoon walk to the Men's Dome, with better lighting. My final opus from the visit to Fairfield is a walk from Chautauqua Park to just beyond Walton Lake, again on the Jefferson County Loop Trail.

Hmm. Watching that clip several times makes me a little dizzy, with its high-speed swooping curves, especially in the second half.  Next time I'll slow it down a little (one less step between photos)!