Dissecting Public Space: 5 Notes on Urban Plazas
Since I started this blog series, I’ve been getting questions from friends like “who invented urban parks?” and “why is one streetscape better than the other?” I realized that many terms that we planners/architects often use are usually not the most self-explanatory (not to mention we sometimes don’t even agree on their definitions). So I think it’ll be fun to use the next few posts to discuss the typologies of public space — a topic that Projexity holds dear.
To begin, I’d like to talk about my all-time favorite public space typology: the public plaza.
1. A plaza by any other name
A plaza goes by different names in different languages, but in North America, we often use “square” and “plaza” interchangeably. “Square” originated from England and “Plaza” is a common term used in Spanish-speaking countries.
The use of the plaza as a city planning element can be traced back to the Renaissance period in Italian states. (There were certainly public gathering spaces before the Renaissance, but formal architectural treatises regarding the creation and design of public “Piazzas” didn’t appear until then). Piazzas are typically located in front of religious and civic buildings, and are mostly symmetrical, enclosed and guided by visual sight lines.
Piazzas also became important physical organization elements. Pope Sixtus V introduced a street network that connected important piazzas in Rome for the ease of travel. Piazzas became focal points in the city, and thus began the variation of plazas for centuries to come.
2. Sense of enclosure
Many successful plazas have one common element: a sense of continuous enclosure. Think of it as an outdoor living room with the surrounding buildings as walls. You’re walking down the street and you suddenly enter this large open gathering space bordered by buildings. Without this sense of enclosure, you feel exposed to traffic and other flows of the city. An enclosed plaza feels more like a space to stay than a wide corridor to walk through.
Let’s look at two large plazas as examples. Piazza di Campo in Siena is huge but it is also fronted by buildings and stores, so one can feel that the piazza is the central, beating heart of the city. Only some vehicles are allowed on the narrow street around the plaza. The street complements the plaza paving so the center doesn’t feel cut off from the buildings.
And then there’s City Hall Plaza in Boston, which is only fronted by buildings on two sides. The other sides are exposed to six lanes traffic and the lack of enclosure is especially brutal in the winter. In addition, the entrances to the buildings are set further back from the plaza and are at a higher level. The plaza feels separated from the city context and not a very welcoming space.
3. Focal points
You might argue that there are great plazas that don’t have continuous sense of enclosure. However, those plazas typically have a focal point which City Hall Plaza doesn’t. If you cross the street to Faneuil Hall, the area around the public market is opened to through-traffic on two sides, but Faneuil Hall serves as the central focal point and directs how pedestrians walk through the space .
Focal points bring hierarchy to plazas. Rynek Glowny, the main plaza in Krakow Old Town, has always maintained the Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) in the center as its design evolved from Medieval times to present day.
Some plazas use monuments, fountains or sculptures as focal points. Trafalgar Square in London is ringed by traffic, but it is centered by Nelsons Column and flanked by two fountains. People gather around them and on the steps in front of the National Gallery.
Paving patterns also signify hierarchy. The center of Piazza Maggiore in Bologna has a very distinctive paving from its surrounding, which focuses people’s attention. As a result, events often appropriate this distinctive area of the plaza.
4. Uses
Uses around plazas also dictate its atmosphere. Plazas in front of important religious and governmental buildings are often more ceremonial and occupied by people who visit and work in those places. Domplatte in Cologne, is overwhelmingly dominated by the Cologne Cathedral and Plaza di Bolivar in Bogotá is surrounded by important governmental buildings and a Cathedral. People are present during the day, but these plazas are not particularly active when the buildings are closed.
On the other hand, plazas enclosed by commercial activities are often more lively. Covent Garden in London has a market building in the center and is enclosed by retail, restaurants, museums and theaters. It is lively every day of the week, all year round.
Neighborhood plazas are influenced by the neighborhoods they serve. Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia are occupied by residents and shoppers from nearby retail streets. Campo di Fiori in Rome is made lively by the daily farmers’ market during the day and the local shops around the piazza.
5. Incorporating plaza elements
Many well-developed cities do not have the luxury to redesign entire areas into new plazas. Therefore, they take elements from successful plazas and add them to their renewed public space.
Seating and public art are quick and efficient ways to incorporate plaza elements. MuseumsQuartier in Vienna introduced colorful and movable furniture to create a fun gathering space.
Place Georges Pompidou often has rotating art installations organized by the Pompidou Museum. The plaza in turn attracts street performers and artists.
Potsdamer Platz in Berlin took another route to redevelop a historical gateway that was left abandoned. A large, central public space is created within Sony Centre, which is framed by a conical tensile roof with changing light displays. The plaza is surrounded by restaurants, cinemas and shops. Even though it’s highly commercialized, it provides a popular public space in the city.
Plaza de Armas in Santiago de Chile was reconstructed in 1999. Long benches were added along the perimeter to enclose the space and provide seating. Palm trees and planted areas serve as focal points and offer shade. All of these elements enhance the urban fabric in the city’s main plaza.
Plazas are intended to be main public gathering spaces, which often makes them the symbols of a city or neighborhood. A sense of enclosure, focal points and curation of uses all contribute to creating and improving successful public plazas.
