Bedlington
June 5th, 2007, 05:49 PM
Long time lurker but first time poster
The traditional values that we see in public space as facilitators for social interaction and providers of a sense of communal feeling have decreased in their importance. Many of our contemporary public spaces have been ‘emptied' and made homogenous by the modern movement in order to provide for the general collectivity of all functions. However, they are often seen to only serve as symbolic spaces more than the actual use as social incubators. The vibrant daily public life and gatherings for which these modern public spaces have been created for are often non-existent or merely used by tourists. New forms of public spaces like our shopping malls and supermarkets have emerged to unconsciously replace those traditional public spaces, in their everyday use, as the space for the public realm. These new forms of big box ‘public spaces' consequently discourages personalized interaction as exchanges are reduced to a minimum.
To date, Malls have tended to increasingly isolate members of a society, and have subsequently eroded any sense of community - lounging in the Food Court is a poor substitute for civic engagement. There are two primary reasons for this; first, the Mall has no residential component, second, the Mall has failed to replace the lost civic space it has usurped. The Mall is less a piece of architecture than a fairly cold economic machine, driven by the need to limit risk for the investors and maximize return (at the expense of all other concerns).
I am interested in the spaces which encourage casual interaction, reflect the individual and allow for identity. Can anyone give some contemporary examples of shopping streets, dark alleys, public parks, traffic islands… where a balance is found between the commercial machine and the individual?
Somewhere that encourages casual interaction and sense of community?
Thanks :shifty:
The traditional values that we see in public space as facilitators for social interaction and providers of a sense of communal feeling have decreased in their importance. Many of our contemporary public spaces have been ‘emptied' and made homogenous by the modern movement in order to provide for the general collectivity of all functions. However, they are often seen to only serve as symbolic spaces more than the actual use as social incubators. The vibrant daily public life and gatherings for which these modern public spaces have been created for are often non-existent or merely used by tourists. New forms of public spaces like our shopping malls and supermarkets have emerged to unconsciously replace those traditional public spaces, in their everyday use, as the space for the public realm. These new forms of big box ‘public spaces' consequently discourages personalized interaction as exchanges are reduced to a minimum.
To date, Malls have tended to increasingly isolate members of a society, and have subsequently eroded any sense of community - lounging in the Food Court is a poor substitute for civic engagement. There are two primary reasons for this; first, the Mall has no residential component, second, the Mall has failed to replace the lost civic space it has usurped. The Mall is less a piece of architecture than a fairly cold economic machine, driven by the need to limit risk for the investors and maximize return (at the expense of all other concerns).
I am interested in the spaces which encourage casual interaction, reflect the individual and allow for identity. Can anyone give some contemporary examples of shopping streets, dark alleys, public parks, traffic islands… where a balance is found between the commercial machine and the individual?
Somewhere that encourages casual interaction and sense of community?
Thanks :shifty: