Designing common places for all. Mission: Impossible?
Cities are places of frictions. Streets, and public spaces in general, need to accommodate a variety of people and needs, which can be contradictory. Designing inclusive places, where all the different publics can cohabit, is a major challenge and there is no simple answer.
We can name one example to illustrate this: in the streets, more and more different modes of transport need to coexist alongside each other, from pedestrians to cars, bikes to buses, but also segways, scooters,… There is simply not enough space to create a dedicated line to each of them, so we need to share the space, negotiate our speed, respect the most fragile, reduce the impacts of each mode, etc. Frictions are permanent and, to a larger or smaller extent, we all have to negotiate with each other on a daily basis.
We can draw a parallel between streets and common places when it comes to creating spaces for all. Just like streets, common places need to crack the code, to make different groups of people, with different needs, views and interests, coexist. ENIGMA is no exception, and the new Post and Telegraph museum, recently invited over a group of users to find solutions to a specific challenge they are facing:
How to be a place for all ages, especially one where both seniors and small kids can be together?
ENIGMA is located in an area of Copenhagen where many families with young children live, and the place offers rather unique facilities for this crowd. Enough rooms for parents to park their prams outside, high chairs for kids, an area to play and draw, food for kids, changing area, dedicated workshops for kids, a lot of room to run around, and — very important — a children-friendly atmosphere.
The place answers for sure a local need and is often packed with parents and small kids. This would be all great if its purpose was to be a “children’s café” but its aim is rather to be a meeting place for ALL, where users can come for different purposes: eat, chat, shop, work, come to an event,… Now, other users of the place have been complaining about kids’ behaviour and noise. How to deal with that?
ENIGMA invited parents of small kids to discuss this issue. Though I couldn’t attend the whole discussion, I would like to highlight some of the points we’ve discussed, which I think are of interest for actors seeking to design and manage inclusive places.
PLACE’S DESIGN / DEFINING THE RULES: The materiality of the place can play a role in encouraging certain types of behaviours and preventing other. This is well known in trains, where you can find silent zones but also family friendly areas for example. In the same way, just as we are used to colours on the ground for wayfinding systems, colours can be used to explain in a playful and educative way, what kind of behaviours are best suited in certain areas. The recent library in Aarhus multifunctional building Dokk1 can serve as an inspiration.
HOST / FACILITATING INTERACTIONS: While one may expect parents to set boundaries to their kids’ behaviours in a common space, the people managing the place may have to do so in order to meet the needs of all users. Rather than just serving food and telling about the venue, people running a common place need to become hosts and facilitators, to smoothen relations between users, create room for dialogue and make everybody feel welcome. In this sense, a common spaces almost have an educational function.
PROGRAMMING / DESIGNING WITH TIME. Not only can spaces be designed in ways that help negotiating between different uses, but they can be transformed throughout the day to target specific groups thanks to activities. Opening hours play here an important role, as different groups have different rhythms. Making the plans be as visible as possible, both through digital and analog mediums help clarify users’ expectations when visiting a place.
SHARING OWNERSHIP / INVITING PARTNERS IN. Letting others — associations, companies, private persons, etc. — take responsibility for animating events contributes to a common place’s dynamism, attractiveness and inclusiveness. It is also a way to share ownership and define in common the best rules for a shared facility.
TALKING / CREATING ROOMS FOR DIALOGUE. The discussion at ENIGMA was only for parents of small kids (and kids of course). Though, as Jane Sandberg, the director of the Museum, mentioned, it would be interesting to make both groups meet and discuss the challenges. The bi-monthly communal dinners, where all publics are invited to mingle and share a meal, could be a great occasion to meet and discuss views about education, behaviour in shared spaces,… it would though require great facilitation skills, as those can be sensitive topics!
It is going to be interesting to see how these thoughts are transformed into actual projects in ENIGMA. I am, at least, looking forward to see how things are going to develop and I hope the museum won’t make compromises in its ambition to be a place for all.
/ Caroline
Want to reach out? Send an email at: caroline(at)sharinglab.dk
