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Designs on the Public: The Private Lives of New York's Public
Spaces, by Kristine F. Miller.
The term public space immediately
brings to mind many images and ideas, but what tends to
characterize it is its stance opposite private space. Be
it in terms of ownership or freedoms, this traditional dialectic
that describes some place as being one or the other is slowly
eroding, as qualities of each infiltrates the other and
as laws chip away at the definitions of each. This fascinating
and timely book focuses on public space in the American
city where its existence is not only exploited to the fullest,
but also defended to the utmost.
Kristine F. Miller, associate professor
of landscape architecture at the University of Minnesota,
looks at six public spaces in Manhattan, including the front
steps of City Hall, Jacob Javits Plaza, the "New"
Times Square, and three privately
owned public spaces (POPS) in Midtown skyscrapers. As
each space is different, so is each theme explored. At the
City Hall steps, the right to assemble is seen as a reflection
of the city's political interests, by their acceptance or
denial of permission for certain groups. At Javits Plaza
-- a place I'm similarly drawn
to for the design's questionable nature -- Miller presents
the redesign of the space by landscape architect Martha
Schwartz as a continuation of the restrictions the city
enforces at City Hall, this time via design rather than
regulation. In Times Square, graphic design is shown to
be a means of manipulation, to skew the demographic of the
place from actual to desired. And in the Midtown office
buildings, we see how a well-designed public space can be
ruined when private interests take precedence and ignore
the provisions of POPS; how public space can be transformed
via design and legal gray areas into semi-private commercial
space; and how bad planning and design can occur in a POPS
system that values quantity over quality.
What each of these case studies have
in common is the increasingly obvious fact (especially post
9/11) that public space is always changing, from the rights
associated with it and the effects of private interest upon
it, to the definition of public space itself. This last
is perhaps the most important but the least discussed or
urgent matter for most. It's a shame, as the machinations
of political bodies effectively reducing the realm of the
truly public under the vague blanket of security ultimately
affects us all, whether we live in New York City or not.
Here Kristine F. Miller shows us how design plays a role
in that reduction, and therefore how it could be a positive
part of its improvement. This book's six case studies present
a varied and clear picture of the complexity and ever-changing
space for an ever-changing public. It should be high on
the "to-read" list for those who value the essential
qualities of public space that not only New Yorkers hold
dear.
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