Designs on the Public: The Private Lives of New York's Public Spaces

摘要

Designs on the Public: The Private Lives of New York's Public Spaces examines the role of design in shaping New York's public spaces and civic society. Examining six of New York's most recognisable landmarks, Miller's centralrnquestions are: who controls the construction and regulation of these public spaces and what are the consequences of this control?rnMiller examines the complicated histories of spaces such as City Hall, Times Square, Sony Plaza and the IBM Atrium. Her choice of sites is informed by the unseen design and legal dynamics that shape these places. She examines each case study against a conception of public space that considers attributes such as accessibility, public ownership and ties to democratic life as essential; in so doing, she proves these characteristics are, at best, temporary conditions or are often completely absent. She also reveals that public space is not a concrete or fixed reality, but rather a constantly changing situation open to the forces of law, corporations, bureaucracy and government.