New Public Spaces

New Public Spaces , London, Mitchell Beazley, 2006

Sarah Gaventa

208pp £30.00

This is a generously illustrated survey of urban spaces completed in the present century. As such it provides a very clear break with the 20th century image of planted, symmetrical ‘squares’ or the contrived afterthoughts surrounding faceless office blocks. Whilst there is, inevitably, some repetition in devices, it is the ‘sense’ of each place illustrated that comes immediately to mind.

Issues of management – and sometimes sustainability – have now tipped the balance from soft to hard landscaping, and although the absence of technical or construction detail is to be regretted, there is much to learn with regard to the use of materials old, and new. And this is how the book should be used, as a visual reference for hard landscaping ideas.

Gaventa introduces some forty spaces from throughout the world, though with an emphasis on northwest Europe – nine from Scandinavia, five from the Netherlands and three from Germany.

Five sections, each with a tight and informative introduction, followed by a selection of schemes. I can do no better than noting these and selecting one that I would like to see ‘in action.’

1. Squares and Piazzas: The Tilla Durieux Park by DS Landscape Architects,Berlin, 2003. Difficult, unashamedly urban rather than city site, the simple linear park with giant seesaws and simple floorscape seems to all people to be the reason for being there.

2. Streetscapes and Promenades: Diversity makes choice very difficult. Fuzi Pedestrian Zone by AllesWirdGut (AWG) in seasonal San Candido, Italy (2002) suggests how lighting and modest interventions can integrate historic spaces. Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon (2001) is an exhilarating response to the city/ocean interface. But to go and see, it must be the Rappongi Hills Project in Tokyo (2003) where a wealth of ‘public art’ elements have embellished this intended amusement district.

3. Gardens and Parks: Yes, there is planting, and some reference to tradition in Lille, New York and Copenhagen. Effective illustrations, and a clear text as to it being both a recreation space and events destination suggest that Chicago’s Millennium Park shows a daring in design and management which must offer lessons in park thinking. Amish Kapoor’s ‘Cloudgate’ Sculpture seems a must.

4. New Uses for Old Spaces : Emparking industrial heritage was a late 20th century game, but Zhangshan Shipyard Park in China (2002) by the Centre for Landscape Architecture at Beijing University deserves attention for its 21st century feel. Still operational at a time when the West was deep into the industrial archaeology legacy of a post-industrial world, the images here are far from our commonplace 19th century adoptions.

5. New Types of Space: Here choice is impossible, although the array is more modest. Waterfronts,roadsides, casual and temporary spaces are the context – and the Serpentine Pavilions have a place. Paris Plage, the annual Right Bank beach on the Seine is not fully featured but best represents the section in place and human terms.

In contrast to other illustrated public space surveys reviewed recently, this is well designed, written,illustrated and edited. An enjoyable picture book with purpose.

Brian Goodey

May 2007