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we tend to take shortcuts, sometimes intentionally but mostly it’s an unconscious act.



korean designer jae min lim shortlisted entry in the seoul international design competition 2010 proposes to do away with the zebra crossing and replace it with a crosswalk that doesn’t dismiss the natural act of taking shortcuts as well as reminding the drivers. we bend the laws to respect human nature.



given enough time we can find shortest distance between a = b.



an aerial image in detroit after the snow stayed so long the streets and sidewalks disappear for days. soon new pathways emerge. [ sweet juniper ]

the term “desire paths” is new to me. we called them “elephant paths” a term that tweaked the imagination:
dutch: olifantenpaadje ((n) pl. -s)
english: desire path (pl. -s)
german: der trampelpfad (sg.) / die trampelpfade (pl.) [“trample path”, cf. das trampeltier = bactrian camel
norwegian(bm): festi (m / “cow path”), råk (f / “linear opening”)
norwegian(nn): festig (m / “cow path”), krøterveg (m / “cow road”), råk (f / “linear opening”)
[ various olifantenpaadje photographers ] [ how we drive ]