From their Mission Statement: "Our vision is to act as the central hub of the global Placemaking movement, connecting people to ideas, expertise, and partners who share a passion for creating vital places".
To explore their site: http://www.pps.org/
2 comments:
My favorite quote from William Whyte is:
“What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.”
Do you think this is consistent across all mediums... whether it's a building or a painting? People see the intentionality of design, the choices made by another person (this here, that there, etc) and are drawn in? Do we just want to know we're not alone?
Another great quote:
"The greatest lesson the city has to offer us is the idea that we are all in it together, for better or for worse, and we have to make it work"
Shared struggle really does unite people, whether it be a struggle for a sports team, bad weather, tragically tedious public transportation, or what Whyte is most likely actually referencing: the negotiation of limited space.
I believe that this is how positive community is built: recognizing that what you use/occupy/do directly impacts what other people can use/occupy/do. This can be true outside of the city, too, but perhaps more obvious with so many people around to squish into subways with. This morning a young teenaged guy got shuffled into a space next to me where he could not reach a handle or pole to steady himself against the wavering sway of the train. I invited him to reach in and share mine, but for whatever reason he chose to surf detached. I worried for him as his rain saturated shoes squeaked around the floor to find him balance. The city is built for community, we just have to choose to reach in.
All fine and applied arts are, fundamentally, expressions of varying degrees of restraint. The design process requires this.
Maybe, this might be what simultaneously connects us to and polarizes us from each other and our built environment. maybe, as creatures with free will, we share in the artist/designers' preoccupation with restraint...
We respond to it with both sympathy and scrutiny... and we find comfort in knowing that we are not alone in this process!
Post a Comment