Analysis of Lincoln Center Plaza “A Public Space”
Saumya Shah
Introduction of Lincoln Center Plaza In mid 20th century the planning of Lincoln Centre started under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller |||. It was a part of “Lincoln Square Renewal Project” under Robert Moses’ program of urban renewal in 1950’s and 1960’s. This plaza became a place of attraction because of cultural richness offered in the surrounding buildings as well as easy accessibility and peaceful open spaces in the plaza. The cultural hub of New York City consists of The Juilliard School for performing arts, Lincoln Center Theater, Metropolitan Opera House. The planning of the plaza is as such that it acts as a buffer for all this buildings but as well as a spill out and a hang out space for visitors.
Fig 1.1 Plan of Lincoln Center Plaza
The plaza is divided in three parts majorly. First the Josie Robertson Plaza which consists of a fountain the center of three buildings which creates an emphasis on the fountain as a center of attraction. The northern part of the plaza is called Hearst Plaza which contains a water body with lots of shaded sitting space in different styles like benches, chairs and landscape. A visual focal point is elevated landscape which allows you to sleep on it to enjoy a sunny day in peace. The southern plaza is called Damrosch Park which is performance area for concerts and parties. It also has some seating space. It also acts as an exhibition space during summer where multiple festivals are held. Each part of plaza has specific characteristics which is unique in its own way. The David Rubenstein Atrium is part of Lincoln Center Plaza but it is situated little bit out of the context. It is an active and lively ticketing facility open for visitors and general public everyday. It is a place with ample amount of seating, a small cafe, ticketing booth for Lincoln Center performances and free weekly performances. It is the complete place being a part of Lincoln Center and also a separate entity. Comparing Lincoln Center with theories of different well known urban theorists will test out Lincoln Center as a public place. The theorists have a different dedicated point of views which can define a good and healthy public space. The criteria’s of each theory are specific for how humans actually shape the built environment and the places around them. The list of theory and theorists are as following. •
“What is Placemaking?”-Project for Public Spaces
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“The Design of Space”- William H. Whyte
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“The City Images and its Elements”- Kevin Lynch
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“Three Types of Outdoor Activities”- Jan Gehl
What is Placemaking? Placemaking is an overarching idea that to improve social life quality of a region or a neighbourhood or a city. Placemaking is an counter argument to how built environment is shaping us. It defines how we shape humanity’s future to ensure humanity’s viability to live on this planet. It describes how a place is required to create a community and how a community is required to create a place. Placemaking works on different stages in a city. A city should at least have 10+ destination people would like to go. The destination can be park, museum, a street or a plaza. These destinations should at least have another 10+ places inside of it. For example a promenade should have place to sit, grab a cup of coffee, children play area, place to read a paper, Place to get some food, hang out with friends etc. And each of the places should have some activities surrounding it that keeps the places interactive and interesting for the users.
Fig 1.2 PPS Place Diagram
A great place is created by number of factors. The place should be well connected to the important locations of the area. The place should be comfortable and should produce a positive image in a person’s mind. The place should be inclusive; it should attract and interact with people on various stages. The most important factor that it should be so amiable that people would like to visit it often. Placemaking has a set of criteria’s which define what a place is like communitydriven, adaptable, inclusive, flexible etc. and what it isn’t like imposed from above, static, one size fits all etc.
Is Lincoln Center Plaza a Place or not? Lincoln Center is one of the destinations for New York City. It is situated in upper west side of New York City. Analysing Lincoln Center as a place it stands strongly o its ground of being a great place. It fulfils each and every factor of placemaking sufficiently. It is well connected via bus and subway. The plaza is accessible by ramps so people with disability and old age people with wheelchairs can also enjoy the place. The plaza space is surrounded by number of buildings which keeps the social activity of the area vibrant and upbeat. Students from nearby universities like NYIT and Fordham visit the plaza in their break time and enjoy food as well as some quality time outside a built environment. The plaza attracts people with different financial backgrounds because of social activity around it. It offers high priced ballet shows, free concerts, cheap street food and fine dine restaurants. So it is in social balance it is not dedicated to single income group. Different uses of the plaza are one of the allure that keeps the place vibrant and active. The downside of the plaza is the dedicated use in each part of the plaza. It creates difference of use. People use some part of the plaza more than the other because the dedicated uses negates the possibility for general use.
“The Design of Spaces” – William H. Whyte William Whyte a sociologist and urban theorist tried to ensure the plaza bonus was as efficient as the comparable space which was given to developers for providing plaza space. In 1972 New York Planning commission gave away twenty acres of world’s most expensive open space. He tried to draft a comprehensive urban design plan to improve New York City’s park and plaza’s. He investigated existing park and plaza spaces to see the how citizens of the city reacted to it and how were they using it. It was called “The Street Life Project”. He analysed movements of people according to sunlight and shade, sitting spaces, formal and informal sitting areas. According to him the sitting areas are the most integral part of the plazas. His analysis showed that which plazas had the most number of spacing were being utilised to its maximum potential. The amount of open space had nothing to with how people were using the plaza. Integral seating were most affective to invite people in. The need of providing benches at some distances were absolute if plaza had good designed parapets, ledges, steps and other flat surface which will act as seating. Sitting height did not have any visible effects. Dedicated benches were avoided when people could sit on wide steps accommodating a group of people while the benches were just for 2-3 people. Movable chairs are a boon for public plaza. People can take it away and use according to their need. Relationship of a plaza and a street is another element which affects how people use the plaza. It is the most difficult think to change or adapt. When a street ends a plaza begins, the social life of the spaces flows back and forth. A street corner is the most important part of a connection because the most extended goodbye talks.
Fig 1.3 Usage of Plaza
Analysis of Lincoln Center Plaza by theories of William Whyte As Lincoln Center Plaza has different parts each part may produce an outcome that may be supported or revolted by the theories of William Whyte. The central plaza which consists of a fountain and wide steps at the entrance of Lincoln Center Plaza that invite people in the plaza but also allows them to sit on the steps and interact with each other. The entrance is also the connection with street which consists of various food carts and ice cream vendors. The street creates a loop of interaction between plaza and people by the medium of food. As we move forward in the plaza near the fountain there is no seating space, no benches, no integral seating and no chairs. It might be a bad sign for a plaza according to Mr. Whyte. But that plaza acts as a buffer space for Metropolitan Opera House. Hearst Plaza would be a perfect place of the plaza for Mr. Whyte. It has ample amount of seating under the shade of trees. There are number of chairs that allow people to sit according to their need and wish. The designed ledges also act as a seating space without creating a hindrance. The elevated lawn space is also great example for people to relax and use the plaza place. Hearst plaza also has a bar and restaurant which allows people to grab some food while relaxing. South Plaza has some dedicated seating space for people but it also has a performance area which provides a huge open space. But as we can see from the graphs open space does not have any effect on how people use the plaza. So the amount of open space doesn’t define that south plaza would be a great place. The David Rubenstein Atrium is also a good example for a public space hence it’s an interior space it provides protection from weather as well as some seating area with a food court that keeps the place live and vibrant.
The City image and its Elements “The Image of the City” is one of the most read urban design theory written by Kevin Lynch. This theory is known for how people perceive their city. Kevin Lynch mastered the technique of “Mental Maps” and understanding it helped him dividing the elements of the city. It classifies the region or the city in 5 different elements that creates a vision for the city. Each element helps a person in creating a visualization of their region which changes from person to person and city to city. Paths are one of the elements of Kevin Lynch. They are channels along which observer travels. It can be a subway line, bike path, pedestrian or a road. It is a predominant element in many people’s lives as they dictate how one connects to its surroundings. Edges are the linear elements not used as a path by the person. They are boundaries between two regions; it is seen as a linear break but in continuity. It can be a railway crossing, developments boundary walls or a pedestrian pathway connecting two different spaces. They can be a barrier between spaces or a smooth transition and cohesive unit. Districts are the third element. Districts are a spatial region which has some extent to it. Observer may feel that they are “inside of” the district and not on it. They can be a physical reference for its exterior as well as the interior. The district can be as big as a block or 10 intersections of a region. Nodes are the most interactive element of the city. They can be intersection of paths or a entry point to a transportation hub or a shift of one structure to another. Nodes can be the focal points of the districts over which the influence of the district radiates. Time square is a node of a district, which creates an image for the district. Nodes may also be called cores of the region; they can be a junction or a concentration. Nodes are related to paths, edges and districts being the most important element defining how a person maps its city. Landmarks are the fifth elements of image of the city. Landmarks are the symbols that person relates to for navigating. They can be
signs, store fronts, buildings or mountains. Each landmark might have different adaptation for each person. They are clues to identify one’s journey on. The city can be defined by these five elements but there need to be some kind of interrelation between the elements. They must be integrated together to create a spatial form of the region. There should be grid of paths, cluster of landmarks. We should always stay engaged in the surroundings to structure and identify them.
Image of the Lincoln Center
Fig 1.4 Analysis of Lincoln Center by Elements from “Image of the City”
Analysis of Lincoln Center Plaza by the theory of Kevin Lynch would categorize different parts of the plaza and adjacent surroundings by the elements of the theory. As it is referred in the Fig 1.4 it is illustrated that the street which connects the plaza can be considered as a path. The path has connection to various seating space which is not part of Lincoln Center but act as extension of the plaza which people uses to grab some food and enjoy the space. The path is dedicated for the plaza as well as the city because the road has street lights which are delayed for extended time for the pedestrians. The pedestrian passage between the street and plaza act as an edge. It defines the boundary of the plaza from the street. It acts as an interactive surface which enhances interaction between street and plaza. In this case the whole Lincoln center acts as a District which consists of various elements. The Lincoln Center also acts as a landmark for people. It is used for providing directions as well as locating some other important nodes in the vicinity. Being a social hub in the west side of the city it has its own importance and it act as a different kind of landmark as well. On another spatial scale the fountain in the center of the plaza also acts a landmark. People use fountain as navigating point to meet their friends as well as gather around it to feel the cool breeze. Nodes are the point of connections and vibrancy in the district. As illustrated in Fig 1.4 a node is created in between edge, street and the landmark. It creates interaction point and creates a cohesive connection between all of them. At Lincoln center the node are part of the community and it doesn’t act as barrier between community and the district. According to the analysis The Lincoln Center plaza is a well integrated system. It has various elements that are working for each other. The elements cover bad effects of one another and support each other in a best way possible.
Three Types of Urban Activity Jan Gehl Danish architect who has his focus on how to improve street life and interaction on outdoor spaces. His innovative designs promoted “Life between Buildings� as a most important feature of urban design. According to him there is no one size that fits all street life, there is no silver bullet which helps you to achieve every target to maximise public realm. An ordinary street on some day faces many different activities. Two pedestrians greeting each other, a street vendor selling food to people, a mother is passing by with flock of children and a dog walker whose dogs are being played with by the children. All these activities happens because of number of factors and Physical Environment is one of the most important factor. He categorizes outdoor activities in 3 sub categories each of which category demands a specific set of physical environment. Necessary activity, optional activity and social activity. Necessary activity includes various activity they are more or less compulsory in everyday life of a person. A kid going to school, people going to work, buying grocery are list of necessary activities. These activities require some kind of involvement from the people. As these activities are necessity they rely very less on built environment. They are going to happen all around the year, in all seasons, under all condition. Optional activities are those in which if a person wishes than only participates in the activity. These activities are depended on time and place to make it possible. These activities only happen when place and weather are at it’s optimum best. Recreational activities which are mostly played out on outdoors come under this type of activity. They depend majorly on outdoor condition. When built environment are better and inviting for outdoor activities people tend to enjoy these activities. If spaces are of poor quality no optional activity happen on street people
tend to go home instead of having and interactive experience on street. Third type of activity is Social activity. They depend on the presence of other people in outdoors. Interaction between people who doesn’t know each other is the foundation of social activity. This type of activity depends on other two types of activities. They are spontaneous in nature.
Fig 1.5 Relation of activity and Physical activity
Activities at Lincoln Center Plaza Lincoln Center Plaza is a prime location in the city. It is in center of various built environment which supports different kind of activities. Julliard School of Performing Arts creates necessary activities possible at the center. Different theatres in the center create opportunity for optional activities like drama, ballet shows and theatre performances. The optional activities also happen when the weather is good and the inviting factor of Lincoln Center helps increase it. People tend to grab a bite and interact with people. Social activities are encouraged by these necessary and optional activities. After the analysis of Lincoln Center Plaza it is the one of the most prime location to create optional activities which caters to social activities ass well.
Conclusion After testing out various theories related to public space at Lincoln Center Plaza it proves out to be a good plaza space which enhances social life and community interactions and an usable plaza which is not abusing the system just for space bonuses but act as a fruitful outcome of the bonuses.
Bibliography •
Fig 1.1 – Plan of Lincoln Center
http://www.lincolncenter.org/visit •
Fig 1.2 – PPS Place Diagram
https://www.pps.org/reference/grplacefeat/ •
Fig 1.3 – Usage of Plaza- Analysis by William Whyte
“The Design of the Space”- William Whyte The City Reader-Page No. 532 •
Fig 1.5 – Relation of activity and Physical activity by Jan Gehl
“Three Types of Outdoor activities,” “Life Between Buildings, “and “Outdoor activities and the Quality of Outdoor Space” The City Reader- Page No. 611 •
“Power of 10+” – Project for Public Spaces
Placemaking- What if we built our cities around places? - Page No. 2 https://www.pps.org/reference/reference-categories/placemaking-tools/ •
David Rubenstein Atrium
http://atrium.lincolncenter.org/ •
Josie Robertson Plaza
http://www.lincolncenter.org/venue/josie-robertson-plaza •
“The City Reader”- Edited by Richard T. Gates & Fredric Stout
Chapter 7- Urban Design and Placemaking Page No. 551-612 Publisher-Urban Reader Series •
Lincoln Center Plaza
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts