Public Space Vulnerable in Marathon Bombing Aftermath

Unlike the September 11, 2001 attacks, which targeted architecture itself, the Marathon bombs went after the city’s streets, what Louis Kahn called “room[s] of agreement.” If the long-term effects of Monday’s attack include reversing the contemporary revival of public space, the community-building aspects of urban space celebrated by Kahn and others will suffer damage.

“It is at times like these that the idea of the open, urban and democratic street . . . is more vulnerable and more valuable than ever,” Hawthorne argues.