When done right, modern interventions into older public spaces can enhance the magic of the place.
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Another great example of a European square returned to pedestrians after time as a parking lot.
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It is difficult to design a place that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.
William H. Whyte -
Detroit’s Campus Martius Park in lego.
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The measure of any great civilization is in its cities, and the measure of a city’s greatness is to be found in the quality of its public spaces, its parks and squares.
John Ruskin -
Great diagram of an urban space that’s been in the news recently. If you ever needed any evidence about how important public spaces are to a society, here it is.
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William Whyte’s “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” is probably the best urban design/sociology film I’ve seen. It may feel outdated, but the points he makes are still very valid today. You can see the whole thing (in parts) via YouTube.
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If your local mall has the word “Galleria” in it, it is because of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy. The neo-classical arcade was built in 1865 and connects the piazzas of the Duomo and the Teatro alla Scala.
Photos by: tochis, FromTheNorth, Bernt Rostad, Kenya Allmond -
I don’t really get the lights (orientation, idea), but they sure are pretty.
Photo © Duccio Malagamba, source ArchDaily.
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Public Space of the Week: Piazza Navona
Continuing on the theme of profiling public spaces I’ve been to, we’re in Rome this week. The Piazza Navona was one of my favorite public spaces in Italy (and it’s right next to my favorite building, the Pantheon).
The piazza started its life as the Stadium of Diocletian, a smaller version of the Circus Maximus and home to bloody Roman games. After the empire fell, the stadium fell into general disuse (and was even picked over for building materials as late as the Renaissance). Finally, in the Baroque period it was transformed into the space it is today, with the fountains and church of Sant’Agnese.
The piazza feels more like an outdoor room than a street or square; its unique shape and nearly uninterrupted 360 degree façade create the feeling of enclosure. Despite the fact that it’s connected to many streets, I never really used it as a street on my way to somewhere else. The roads alongside the piazza seem to take most of the through traffic, leaving the piazza for those who want to simply enjoy it (like throngs of tourists).
Photo by: pynomoscato.
