Related to "Guidelines to design urban parks" post, Amanda Irvine -an outstanding professional- takes Los Angeles Grand Hope Park as a practice case and extracts the characteristic elements that make it a succesfully park:
● Diversification of spaces – LA is a major city,
with huge variety in what people want and desire in their public spaces. This park includes a walking path, children’s play equipment, shaded
and sunny benches, and grassy knolls. Everyone has got a different
perfect place to sit in a park, and they could probably find it here.
● Water features – One of the many great things I’ve learned from ole’ William H. Whyte,
its that people love water features. In the winter (well, you know,
“winter” here), people love to look at them, and in the summer they love
to stick their feet in. In a city like LA, where you really never need
to turn off or drain a water feature, its an especially appealing
option. The sound and beauty of water just draws people in.
● Cafes – This seems to be a much more European/NYC
feature in parks, but the inclusion of periphery cafes, where people can
sit on their laptop, read a book, or people watch can add a tremendous
amount to a public space. Perhaps its a density of people issue, and
we’ve got that issue in LA for sure, but this park in downtown can
handle it. There is also something about people sitting on chairs, a
bit higher up maybe than those on the benches or ground, sitting around
there edges, that gives a public space a completed feel. I can’t
explain why I feel that way- perhaps its a sense of safety thing.
● Visibility – A great public space gives people the
ability to have a open view shed, which is good for 2 reasons. First
of all, safety and perception of safety is greatly impacted by a
person’s ability to see whats going on around them. There aren’t hidden
areas of the park, or creepy indentations. Not only does this give the
space an open, inviting feel, but its significantly less intimidating,
too. Second, people love to people watch. Not in a creepy way, but the
thing that interests humans the most is other humans. Think about it
for a second, and you’ll know its true.
● Public art – Grand Hope Park includes art from six
different artists, all unique in their materials and presentation. Related to diversity of uses, this stratification of artistic types,
scales, and locations adds interest to the space in general. Also, it
has been in shown in places all over the world that public art helps to
reduce crime. This isn’t a cold hard fact, and obviously isn’t a cure
for a broken neighborhood, but in many places, the inclusion of public
art seems to make people understand that others care about the place. In my own work on the Urban Art Walk in North Park, San Diego, and my
research project on the art along the San Diego Harbor, I’ve seen the
impact it can have. People like visually pleasing things, and along
with the plants and the water features, public art can really do the
trick.
-via A Dash of Design.
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