BOOK
Andrea Beaty (Author), David Roberts (Illustrator), Harry N. Abrams, 2007
Good Gracious, Ignacious!’ his mother exclaimed. ‘That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!
For Iggy Peck’s Big Project Book for Amazing Architects, click here.
Category: Planning & Design
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
DOCUMENTARY
William H. Whyte, Project for Public Spaces, 1980
One major finding began to shine through, and I’ll now share it with you. ‘People tend sit where there are places to sit.’ This may not strike you as an intellectual bombshell, but this simple lesson is one that very few cities have ever heeded – they’re tough places to sit in.
This documentary is not available on line at this time of writing, but if you can get hold if it, it is a great watch.
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
BOOK
William H. Whyte, Project for Public Spaces, 1980
It is often assumed that children play in the street because they lack playground space. But many children play in the streets because they like to. One of the best play areas we came across was a block on 101st Street in East Harlem. It had its problems, but it worked. The street itself was the play area. Adjoining stoops and fire escapes provided prime viewing across the street and were highly functional for mothers and older people. There are other factors at work, too, and had we been more prescient, we could have saved ourselves a lot of time spent later looking at plazas. Though we did not know it then, this block had within it all the basic elements of a successful urban place.
For more from Project for Public Spaces, the nonprofit organisation founded by William H. Whyte, and the work they are doing around placemaking, click here.