Sunday, April 26

Many uses of public space


I pulled this picture out of some old photos in my iphoto library. It's of a plaza in el peatonal, a network of pedestrian streets in the heart of downtown Cordoba, Argentina.

When William H. Whyte embarked on a mission to record the regular use of small public spaces, he found that ledges and steps were often used for sitting. I love all of the different combinations of people moving and being still; some standing alone, others walking in a group, some groups circling around as if they have converged from different angles, an older couple walking together. Everyone has their own intentions, yet they play off of each other. The whole scene fits together nicely.

2 comments:

emory said...

where are the cars? How did those people get downtown?

Daniel Nairn said...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the 50 acre parking arena directly to the left of the photo.

Just kidding ...

My wife lived on Nuevo de Julio inside the pedestrian network here, and she stayed with an 80 year old woman named Chi Chi. This lady lived an incredibly active life, always running around town, shopping and eating out, completely independent. If she needed to leave the downtown for some reason, to visit anyone, she could always hail a taxi. Beats an assisted living home, if you ask me.