Our Capitol's Lack: A Great Public Square

Critic Philip Kennicott attends a lecture by architect Robert Gatje on great public squares and bemoans the fact that Washington, D.C. has a serious lack of them.

1 minute read

January 12, 2011, 9:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur

Kennicott writes:

"Washington is a city of avenues and streets, coming together in circles that do not function well as public spaces. Our grand ceremonial spaces, such as the Mall, are too large to be great public squares. Few if any of our downtown parks demonstrate any of the liveliness of a public square. And the pieties of Washington urban design thinking, entrenched and seemingly inviolable, are all about views, vistas and open sight lines."

In his lecture, Gatje explains that great public squares work because they create a sense of containment.

Thanks to ArchNewsNow

FULL STORY: Where is Washington's great public square?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 in The Washington Post

Architecture District of Columbia Public Spaces Public Squares

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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