Public Space: \"The Living Room

Public Space: "The Living Room of the City"

The Center for Design Excellence (n.d.). defines public space as "the living room of the city - the place where people come together to enjoy the city and each other." Modernity has encroached on the concept of public space by confining the most mundane aspects of daily life to the enclave of the private home. For example, the collection of water, access to washing facilities, and the production of food is collectivized in traditional village communities but not in modern metropolises. Public space in the modern city has therefore been carefully planned, to ensure quality of life and create cities that are pleasant, walkable, and convenient.

Public space is one of the keynotes of architectural design in general. Even the design of single edifices incorporates the architecture of public space into the plans. Courtyards, lobbies, and walkways connecting various buildings on a campus are all part and parcel of public space architecture.

Within the larger scope of urban design, public spaces can too easily be taken for granted. As individualism replaces collectivism and a need for privacy subsumes the desire for community, public spaces have shrank in many Western nations and especially in the United States. As Sorkin (1992) points out in Variations of a Theme Park, new American cities deliberately eliminate public space from their urban plans. The reasons for the omission of public space range from social control to crime prevention. The result of the elimination of public space is broad: with both psychological and sociological impact.

Newman (1972) found that by urban design in American cities follows sinister patterns. Inhibiting freedom of movement, urban design can define and delimit what residents can or cannot do in their communities. In keeping with Foucault's concept of the panopticon, the sinister American city has within it the seeds of totalitarianism with the means by which to monitor the movement of people. In modern Great Britain, the omnipresent surveillance camera is yet another example of how urban design and public spaces are becoming contaminated by fear and insecurity. Territorialism, and the lack of connectivity with neighbors, has impacted social life in communities that lack public spaces.

As Cormona (2003) points out, urban design is influenced by a number of factors that can be loosely grouped into four distinct categories: local forces, global forces, market forces, and regulatory forces. Local issues that may impact urban design include environment, social values, mores, and norms. Global forces can also include some of the social issues that are linked with local influences on urban design but are viewed with a broader eye towards culture and worldview. In either case, visual aesthetics may impact the design of public space. Local and global values related to the emphasis placed on community and collectivism also impact how urban spaces are created and maintained. Market and regulatory forces have come into play far more now than ever before in human history. Market forces include community budgeting for public spaces. What may once have remained solidly within the domain of ecclesiastical authorities now falls under the private sector in Europe, for example. The role of contractors and real estate developers has increased in the Western world. Likewise, regulatory forces impact the design of public spaces. Environmental law, zoning policy, and restrictions on what and who can inhabit public spaces will impact how urban spaces are designed and maintained. Public spaces are often reflections of social values and norms, as they define how people move and relate to one another.

Esfahan (Isfahan), Iran

"The Maidan-i-Shah, built by Shah Abbas I of Persia between 1599 and 1627, is considered one of the most superb examples of Islamic architecture and urban design," ("Isfahan" n.d.). Isfahan's main square is a UNESCO World Heritage Site not just for its architectural splendor but also due to its historical importance as the centerpoint of the Safawid Empire. More than any aspect of historic Esfahan, the Maidan-i-Shah square symbolizes the significance of the city as a waypoint on trans-continental trade routes. "At the same time that Safavid Abbas was constructing the Square ensemble, Isfahan was trading textiles, and gold with Europe on the one side and China on the other, helping pay for the development," ("Safavid Capital Urban Design of Shah Abbas," n.d.). Shah Abbas describes Esfahan as the "cultural crossroads" of the world, which is why the square itself was dubbed the "World Picture Square," ("Safavid Capital Urban Design of Shah Abbas," n.d.). In other words, the Maidan-i-Shah was conceptualized as a microcosm of the world itself. The Maidan-i-Shah or Naghshe Jahan Square is the world in miniature, an idealized reflection of the universe embodied in the city, the perfect "Image of the World," (UNESCO 2011). A distinctly Persian walled area, Naghshe Jahan Square "recalls Eden or paradise," ("Istahan," n.d.).

The grandeur of Naghshe Jahan Square is owed to Shah Abbas, leader of the Safawid Empire from 1587 to 1628. As such, the square epitomizes Persian architecture and urban design at the peak of the Safawid era. Earlier structures such as the fifteenth century Timurid palace are housed within the walls of the Maidan-i-Shah. Shah Abbas I the Great polished -- even resurrected -- the earlier urban space and revitalized it as the image of the world. The space in fact contains literal and symbolic spiritual elements including being the home to two mosques: the Royal Mosque or Shah Mosque (Majid-i-Sah) (1612-30) in the southern part of the square and, to the east, the Mosque of Sheyx Loffollah (Sheik Lutfullah) (1602-18). Not least because it houses two centers of worship central to the Muslim faith, Naghshe Jahan Square "creates a dynamic between the pure world and the sacred world," ("Istahan," n.d.). All aspects of the microcosmic universe represented by the Maidan-i-Shah are united: commercial bazaar plus palace, gardens, and mosque. Streets leading to the rest of Isfahan link the square with the surrounding areas.

UNESCO (2011) describes Maidan-i-Shah as "an example of the form of naturally vulnerable urban architecture." Its vulnerabilities testify to the importance of design in the creation of public spaces. In many ways, the Maidan-i-Shah reflects the dictatorial powers of Shah Abbas with its imposing structures and large-scale walled format.

Moreover, the mosques themselves are dichotomous. At once connected to and separate from the central part of the square, the two mosques "seem disconnected and disjointed from the Maidan," ("Isfahan" n.d.). The Maidan-i-Shah is "an urban phenomenon which is an exception in Iran where the cities are ordinarily tightly parceled without spatial fluidity, the exception being the interior courts of the caravanserais." A lack of special fluidity is evident in many aspects of the Maidan-i-Shah such as the two-story arcade that serves as a representative barrier between spaces. The arcade is a sort of "regulating screen for the mosques and markets," ("Isfahan" n.d.). Naghshe Jahan Square is "an overall complex that linked many functions into a unified whole and with unparalleled proportions, subdued architectural language, and taut spatial composition," ("Istahan" n.d.). As representative of Persian architecture and urban design sensibility, Naghshe Jahan Square can be easily compared with public spaces in major European capitals like Paris, France.

Paris, France: Place de la Concorde (Louis XV Square)

The Place de la Concorde (formerly known as Louis XV Square) is the largest in Paris at eight hectares (20 acres). Although certainly not lacking in grandeur, the Louis XV Square in Paris, France bears little resemblance to Isfahan's Naghshe Jahan Square. Renamed Place de la Concorde, the Louis XV Square is similar to Naghshe Jahan Square in that it has undergone several notable transformations over the past several centuries. These transformations, moreover, bear witness to shifts in political and social points-of-view within the culture.

Just as Maidan-i-Shah bears witness to the absolute power of the theocrat for which it was named, so too does Place de Louis XV. A statue of the king in question had once adorned central stage in the square. In the late eighteenth century during the French Revolution, a statue of'Liberte' purposefully and meaningfully replaced the image of the King. Of course, the public space was renamed Place de la Revolution and represented the core values of the European Enlightenment: freedom, liberty, democracy, and individuality.

At the same time, though, a guillotine was placed in the public square. The execution device imposed dictatorial order on the square as over a thousand individuals had their heads lobbed off in public here ("Place de la Concorde" 2011). Several of France's most notable figures were beheaded here including revolutionary figures Marie-Antionette and Robespierre ("Place de la Concorde" 2011). By 1830, the square was renamed Place de la Concorde and the bloody executions had ceased. An authentic Egyptian obelisk adorns the center of the square: perhaps a reminder of European colonization throughout Africa and the Middle East.