ABSTRACT
The method of walking is fundamental to my understanding of Bahrain and intended to supplement rather than replace aerial reconnaissance, which was also an important tool in the research. The literature on the urbanism of landscape for Bahrain was so thin the broad range of data needed for a research project could only be obtained from ethnographic fieldwork. An extended engagement with the location and its people to gather the qualitative and quantitative data was needed. A multilayered ethnography occurred based on seemingly disparate interviews and casual encounters, walking, photography, formal analysis of built projects, and some archival research. While aerial photography is a means to understanding a multiscalar end, geography inherently implies a social component. Designers need to rediscover people, and that ethnography offers a set of skills to engage with people.
