Welcome to Future Architect Tutoring
Naturally Curious
Public Space
Sometimes you're asked to design a space that is accessible to the public. Sometimes its on behalf of the municipality, but more often than not it is for a developer who has bought the space and would like to create traffic for businesses in the area of else to upsell their existing investments. Either way, public space is a very complicated realm that deserves some more intentional thought.
First of all
Who is the public? I think we're invited to assume that the public is simply "everyone" who happens to be in the area and would like to use that space - and that therefore "anyone" can be there and do what they want. But we also know that that is very untrue. Consider the kinds of people that are kicked out of public spaces all the time; homeless people, beggars, breastfeeding women, "loitering youths" etc. Apparently they are not included in the term "public."
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This distinction matters and we can discuss more in detail another time, but as an architect you have to remain honest about who you are considering in you design and who you are excluding; and whether that is inadvertently hindering or helping your design goals.
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And perhaps more importantly, whether you are personally aligned with the implications. Are you willing to be responsible for the exclusion of the homeless from public space; or at least their intentional discomfort?
Don't just do your job
You are not just your job. Early on in your career you will discover that as a designer you have to put your personal feelings aside to get the job done; this is weirdly presented as "professionalism" and is a large part of why our industries (not just the building industry) are so out of touch with the people they serve. Right here on this post is not the place for me to convince you that empathy is an important trait to develop even in the workplace, so for now let's assume we agree on this point.
It Starts in School
School is where we first learn how to be a professional in the first place. In many subtle ways, this is one of the first places that empathy is drained out of you. In design school it happens over and over; you or a client want to create a specific beautiful detail or a self indulgent space, but it has to be left out because its too expensive. It feels obvious to conclude that the right solution is to respect the budget and adjust your expectations accordingly. But why did we decide that if anything has to adjust its your expectations? What if you used your creativity to get what you want in an affordable way instead?
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Yes its easier said than done, yes there are endless complications, but the question still should be asked; and seriously considered.
This is exactly the struggle I had with this project. We were meant to redesign a park that was frequently used by the homeless members of the public for shelter; and our client was at least committed to not just kicking them out; but they also kept wanting us to design something that would "protect the public from the homeless" who were residing there.
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Of course there isn't much that one park can do about a political and systematic problem, but it was an educational challenge nonetheless.
