Can we design piazza's today?
Piazza’s are an interesting example of a public space. Because of their openness, they were able to be programed for many things overtime. Before the news was readily available, they used these spaces for public forums and debates… as well as a space to meet up with friends… eat lunch… display art… trade or sell items… etc. They come from a simple, but yet deeply successful idea of open public space in the city.
I looked at El Campo De Cebada as a more modern example of a
plaza. This gave an idea as to what we can do as designers to create a useful
public space to allow the culture of the site to transform the space. It
combines the concept of participatory design and giving the people a space to
express political needs. They took a lot and turned it into a space where the
community can take over with whatever activities they sought out.
Being from the west coast, the way or cities were developed was
newer than what we see in the South. In my hometown, they are expanding the downtown
to add more development for tall apartments and are modernizing structures. One
of the newest buildings is the Main Library in Riverside, California. Through the passage way under the main structure, the design was programed to add additional greenspace into the city and allowed
for open public space to hold town meetings, gathering spaces, Saturday markets,
outdoor reading spaces, etc. I believe we need to constantly be reflecting on
past successes for public space instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. Public
spaces like piazza’s are a tried and true concept that meets basic human needs
for community and are something that we should try to start implementing in our
designs. Creating flexible hardscapes are an easy design strategy that will
allow the culture of the user to transform the space to be something that will be
unique and actually used.
Mady nice article, while I agree with your take on public spaces I think you might be a bit off on the west coast vs the south. Having cities being developed differently isn't because the city is "newer", its because the politics and economy of the area. Look at the cities of Europe, they are much older than our cities but most have this public space that we all crave. Wealthy areas are of course going to have more developed public space because it costs money to do so. The South is historically high in poverty which is why there are less nice public spaces and grand architecture to go around.
ReplyDeleteMady,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that reflecting on historic architecture is a valuable approach. I think the placement of new piazzas in their urban fabric is essential for their success. The design of a new piazza can use informal architecture to its advantage in designing with just specific pieces being well designed. It issue of parking seems to be a very American issue when facing public spaces like piazzas. However, if the piazza or other public space is really wonderful, people will be willing to park and walk. I wish that parking lots would be redesigned to be more welcoming to programming beyond just parking your car and running into a store or work. We saw some breakthroughs with this during covid when people were using parking lots as places to meet. Parking lots are a very modern element in planning, so we don't have any historic precedents to be referred.
This response to this week's topic reminded me a lot about Italian architecture and how specific architectural spaces were created for the public to gather and speak to their political views and create a global exchange of conversation. It is known as the Italian Salon. The piazzas and plazas created around the world today are an exterior version of what the Italian salon represents. Being exterior it can serve more functions as you listed above. Designing for these spaces is the future of architecture and where it should go from here. It is up to our generation to convince clients etc. to create this in addition to their required programming to better their project and better community.
ReplyDeletePublic spaces are often owned by the municipality/corporation and dedicated to public use. It is possible to achieve this kind of public space in existing cities. But it is not easy for existing older towns that don't have such public spaces to adapt themselves and have such amenities. Often these lands/properties are owned by private owners, and forcing these landowners to dedicate the land for public use only sometimes works. An excellent example in south carolina is the plan for Low-line in Charleston. The plan for that strip of public space has been on hold because of one piece of land owned by U-haul. The truck/van rental giant is unwilling to sell the property on meeting street as it is a prime location for its business. There are a lot more examples like these around the country. It is harder for existing cities developed around private ownership to have a perfect public space.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about the public space that we are designinh need to have more of an impact in our communities
ReplyDelete