Public Spaces in Urban Developments
Introduction
In today’s cities, designers are faced with the collective creation of a unified framework for new development, outdoor environmental challengers. Designer’s contribution is often to become after the fact, beauty treatment and abuse of patients is to create spaces for public using plan in the first place. In the urban development process as usual landscape located in an isolated object, rather than as streets, squares, large part of the building structure, and possible open space. (Roger Trancik,1986)
Therefore, how to set up the space in most environments today was the important issue.
Spoiling the city
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao – Bilbao, Spain
It is one of the world’s most famous buildings; which is an attractive and impressive architectural works in many ways. Unfortunately, as a public space, it is very successful – and even dangerous.
Spectacular beauty and sculpture building, Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, monumentally for successful as a landmark building efforts, and also has attracted people’s attention on Bilbao city. However, the project has failed as a public space, missing an important opportunity to celebrate and support the cultural and community life that will pulsate throughout of the city.
Highlight the center of Bilbao which located near the waterfront, the building disrupted city life, as an insult to a pedestrian who is willing to use anything more than other building gawking at this place. Frank Gehry, the architect who designed the museum, seem to fear that support, or even acknowledged that human activity and the surrounding buildings.
The museum is likely to bring people to Bilbao, but it is only reduced the civic and cultural life, that is making people proud to have their life in cities. In addition, as a successful investment in the construction symbol, it limits the role of the architecture is just the icon.
It received attention, the building overlooked the river, giving its prominent, and it ignores the large public places, whether it is comfortable, worst of all, it ignores the city, it is just to attract draw attention.
Walking through Bilbao, the building make distraction from the most dynamic public space in Europe, that is the kind of some of the interference in community life. While the landmarks of power have been broadcast around the world, it can easily be interpreted as a human activity and civic life in attacks.
Although Bilbao as a city could be close to the height of civilization, and Frank Gehry’s is the status of an icon as a beacon of urban services, it is also a public space, that is a considerable diversion of civilization, should be suppose to celebrated. Architecture emerged to become a great success way that is able to reflect and support the building of civilization, culture and respect for the purpose of professional features. Gehry’s building seems to fail in all these areas, thus causing great damage to Bilbao, and to the construction industry.
The great buildings and major public places should be go hand and hand, but unfortunately, they rarely do so. The Guggenheim in Bilbao’s arrogance and it indicates that the design and development approach is an insult to public places everywhere. Around this building, public space is a void in the civic life of great city.
It can be said that this building has brought attention to Bilbao, but in this attention has been distracted, or at best a short-term high-sugar, for a city with some of Europe’s best public places in many ways. As the Museum not only just ignores the context, but also enhances the distance and hides Bilbao rich cultural and social life, it is a city’s net loss.
Canary Wharf – London, UK
There are many hidden views by outdoor public space and a maze of underground shops.
While I came to this area, I feel even more disappointed than I expected. They have four outdoor public places and the numbers of shops in the underground like the labyrinth which hidden views in fact, it is difficult to find. All people in a public place are full of the car. Clearly, They argued that the public space or not; they think it is a car show, is to attract them to be more active.
This has a very large scale in office park with complex rivals. It is complex case with the failure result for each. The bottoms of the buildings are excessive stark, empty, or conceal with columns to hide those use-things may try to contact in any purpose. Even if you stand back of the columns or arcades, and you get some good retail or a good entrance, the result is still grim, and not attractive. Any outside streets is uninteresting and not appealing. Some one would like to see a few more suitable characters to add, and some personality areas. Clearly, there has a very limited set of clientele who want to attract.
Contrast to either Battery Park City or Rockefeller Center, it is so confused to mark Canary Wharf, is so far off the mark. Some one has thought as Winston Churchill, … we are shaping our building, and then they are shaping us … pretty scary!
It is not easy to have a view connection.
How do you think this element will enhance people community.
It is obviously a car show. There are the tall buildings, cars surrounding the people who need a public space.
Evaluation on Public Space
In research for the public space, it is not hard to find, there are four qualities of success, and those decided it does work or not: accessible, activities, comfortable and community.
Access & Linkages
You can determine whether it has convenience connections to a place or its surrounding areas, including visual and physical. A successful public space is easy to find and get through; it is visible in terms of short distance. The edges of a space key are also significant: for example, shops sit along a street will be more interesting and generally safer than walking in a blank wall. There is convenient public transport, if accessible spaces have a high parking turnover.
Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland
Pioneer Courthouse Square, was known as the “Portland’s living room”, as a public space in reference to enhance this place to gather in and use of citizens. These modern designs, including public art, recreational facilities, flowers, trees, and walls and sitting area were designed. This is a frequently occurring on-site, and includes a coffee shop, food suppliers, and information Center for Tri-Met (regional Portland’s transit agency), which is the square key factor in the success of the redevelopment.
From doubleduty the seating areas by integrate public art, flowers, trees, walls and ample stairs. This is the activities event of the site that used frequently, from enhanced a coffee shop and food vendors, and also as buses and light rail service in the center.
Pioneer Courthouse Square is one of the first new regeneration of public spaces. It is no longer as a passive green space, and it designed for the square programming and supposed to use by public. In fact, for such the using infrastructure is built-in, but they are responsible for the management of space entities to ensure that there continued effective use. Pioneer Square, Law Courts Building, the process of creation – the public debates, fund-raising, the grand opening ceremony – were designed to support residents, which related to the Polish population. Funding and three visual connections were from Tri-Met contacted People with the square and city center as a whole.
With an effective management organization, the square has become the city’s pride place and the focus of a variety of community activities. Proved that the revitalization of downtown Portland square on the far-reaching impact livability.
All kinds of the facilities support the each aspect of public space to community with people.
Comfort & Image
Whether it is a comfortable space – to have a good image, is the key to success. Comfort is including the safe aspect, cleanliness and the availability of places to sit – let the people choose what they want to sit; most people have underestimated the importance of. In particular, women have the good judges on comfort and a good image for their more discrimination.
Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France
Luxembourg Gardens is probably one of the most successful parks in the world, because so well in the fabric surrounding the city, which makes it has convenient integration. There are many things to do, where people who use it: children, the elderly people, the Sorbonne University students, widely shown that the people throughout the lunch break, and so on. People go to walk, play chess, sit down to read, people watching, sitting in a cafe or to bring their children or grandchildren woman to one of the children’s many attractions. Events happen in the park, including tennis, riding pony, puppet theatres, toy boat (child floating in their them by central fountain). Visitors also can stop within the Palace, and attended by the French Senate, which is a public open.
The park also organized, such as aerial photographs, that from around the world in plastic wrap, and also hold innovative exhibitions and shows around the garden; a large wooden platform displayed the map which including photo website, providing people with slippers who wants to walk on it – many of the same.
Uses & Activities
Activity is an essential component of a place. Something to deal with, it need to gives people a reason to place – and return. When there is anything we can do, a space will be empty, and usually means what is wrong.
Kungstradgarden, Stockholm, Sweden
Kungstradgarden is in the heart of the city, owed a little past incarnation from the royal family kitchen gardens to lush parks to drill the troops on the ground. The 1953 became the birthday celebrations of Stockholm’s 700-year-old site, and the central part of the management has been continuous since then, as a flexible event and performance space. It has also been the Swedish premiere of the stage: In 1953, the first hot dog has been served there, and Piccolino introduced coffee and coffee in this King’s Garden, to the delight of Swedish palates. In 1962, the first artificial ice frozen skating-rink is completed in the park, and the first outdoors chess set and placed that began in the seventies.
It is the flourish status in Kungstradgarde, as its management capacity to adapt such seasonal use of a wide range of public spaces. One of the main elements in the Kungstradgarden is a large tent covering major stages in the warm terms, where they perform almost every day. Totally, it has nearly 150 stages happen each year. In addition to 100-150 days of exhibitions, a Christmas market in December over the weekend, as well as a host of other activities. There are trees in the courtyard and on both street-sides of restaurants. A steps to the sunken fountain is located in front of a restaurant, garden center is equipped with a large circular plaza, a winter skating rink.
While there are some warm-weather activities such as chess, varieties of checkers, table tennis, in a small red cottage for which the equipment was is available occur to the extent of these activities. The garden was redesigned in 1998, although before there was the same like this moment in the world in terms of flexibility, the resulting layout is more rigid, so that many of these activities no longer possible. In addition, there is a demonstration playground provided for children’s playing.
In all, however, Kungstradgarden is remain its popular, wonderful urban centers in the core of a well-ventilated place – and compared with the most other places, it still has a wealth of events, activities and performances, each season, sponsored by local businesses and organizations, it is impressive.
Sociability
This is a difficult place to achieve quality, but once achieved it becomes a clear and unequivocal function. When people see friends, dating, meet their neighbors, should feel comfortable interaction with strangers, they tend to feel that attachment to the place or a sense of belonging in their communities – and local promotion of these types of social activities.
Jackson Square, New Orleans, LA
This is the central square in New Orleans French Quarter is significant exquisite layout, with three park facing lush trees, flowers and approach in full of historical buildings. Outside the park, in addition to the establishment of the fence from the elegant, bustling with musicians, artists, suppliers, fluctuations in the activities of pedestrian access, and street performances. From the adjacent street is similarly impressive, highlighting the principle, we in the Spirit often described as “reaching out like an octopus.” When you are closer and closer to capture the views of an attractive square, street-level experience in change more interesting and look forward to is how to grasp the true power of you.
Jackson Square is the number of “sacred places” in a particular city. This sacred place should be the cornerstone of the rebirth of New Orleans. If each community can renew the focus on the central public places such as Jackson Square itself, the city may be powerful hurricanes than ever before.
Reference
- http://www.pps.org/
