Blurring public and private spaces

Our photo essay examines the way public and private space is used in the International District and Columbia City. We interpret a ‘Shared City” as blurring between public and private domains.  The first photo shows police descend on a private Chinese association gathering in the International District.  These photos show how this private event is allowed to shut-down the public street temporarily through permitting.  The Chinese association showcases Kung Fu for elders and visitors. The photo of the Public sidewalk in the International District shows how public space is occupied by local merchants.  They are selling bags of mixed vegetables for one dollar.  

       Our next location was in Columbia City South Seattle.   Here a mural unveiling displays how private space is used publicly. The mural took 18 months to complete and was sponsored by a variety of public and private community associations.  The event attracts a dozen people at first, but as the crowd grows a larger audience is attracted by the mural. Neighborhood non-profit groups and community organizations helped to fund this mural project; they receive a sort of advertising acknowledgement on the mural. The building and parking lot are privately owned, but they clearly benefit the public.  The mural displays the past, present and Utopian future of Columbia city.  The mural highlights the cultural diversity of Columbia city. Finally the photo looking through the window of full tilt ice-cream shows how this particular business will benefit from the increased foot traffic.  The privately owned mural businesses and helps to brand Columbia city as a cultural diverse tourist destination. We often think about urban space as either public or private, but this binary does not explain the reality of urban living. Often public space is used by private organizations, and increasingly private space is used for the public good.   

-Isaiah and Jun

Safety in a public space

Safety in a public space

Exploring the idea of City Sharing, in a perspective, means that we are looking at the safety environment a space has to offer not just a common usage. A public space has to be safe to an extent that allows it to be shared among the diverse population. Unsafe public space could come from design or the lack of maintenance but it all results in being unusable or is use by an undesirable group of people.  

My chosen site is the NE Campus Parkway, located on the West side of the University of Washington-Seattle Campus, between the 40^th and 41^st Streets and stretches from the 12^th to the 15^th Avenue. It is a residential/dormitory area for the university students, and considered to be one of the major entrances into the campus. I am one of the students who live in the dorm, using this space to go in and out of the main campus. The security I feel from using this space is satisfying throughout the day.

Campus Parkway is open and a large community. It is a major transit for the people, making it active right from the beginning of the day. There are major bus stops on both sides of the Parkway; by the 12^th and by Brooklyn. Diversity in students and classes results in people moving through the space all day long. In addition, there are different users group, such as the local people in the neighborhood, which also use the space. Density of students is high in front of Schmitz Hall where there is a bridge leading to the Red Square. Also, the Parkway is connected to the University Avenue, making the street crowded every time I walked pass the street. Campus Parkway is also well maintained with functional light posts and traffic light.

Witit Apornvirat ( Golf )

Art in the Open

Our group focused on the topic of art and nature in the city, and for two different views, we looked at Gas Works Park and Olympic Sculpture Park. The concept of the shared city applies to these two sites in multiple ways. As open public spaces, they provide dedicated spaces for enjoying the outdoors, and they are both situated on waterfront locations that allow for picturesque views of the surrounding city. Unlike traditional parks that cater to recreational or sports activities, these parks give free access to art and seem more like outdoor museums that encourage contemplation, inspiring or challenging the visitor to reconsider how we interact with art and what counts as art. Both parks exemplify a generous ideal for public spaces, whether allowing a public space for the Seattle Art Museum to share some of their sculptural holdings with the public or transforming what was once a utilitarian space into an open space, redefining the idea of the public park in the process. While the newer, dynamically designed Olympic Sculpture Park displays its various sponsors and patronage in several locations throughout the park, as well as warning signs for restricted actions, Gas Works Park evokes a more natural and historical image.

Gas Works Park has blurry boundaries in terms of nature and art, combining characteristics of man-made and natural entities. As we entered the park, we saw a colorful playground, decayed pipes, sculpture and huge mound. Since Gas Works Park is surrounded by dense conifers, grass and other plants, we felt like we were in nature. That huge mound, though natural-looking, is artificial, with a constructed pathway and decorative sundial on the top. Looking at the whole view from the top of the mound, we noticed that the pipes act as a symbol of the park, sharing its identity and history. The colorful building offers a recreation space for children while providing shelter for the homeless and behind the building are picnic tables. Gas Works Park is a good place for families, couples, students, bicyclers, photographers, dogs, birds, and plants since it provides beautiful views and connects both artwork and visitors to nature.

By: Eyun Jennifer Kim & Michelle Kang

transformarket

by Bethânia Boaventura and Joaquim Oliveira

In search for manifestations of City Sharing in Seattle, we ventured into the city's farmer’s markets in University District and Ballard. In essence, markets are places fueled by human activity – they thrive because of the many levels of interaction they comprise. These two Seattle’s farmer’s markets were of particular interest to us because of their spatial and temporal particularities. The way they are able to bring powerful transformations in the dynamics of human activity in urban spaces is noteworthy, and our understanding is that such power is related to their temporal constraints: they only happen once a week.

Our photos were taken over the course of a weekend: University District on a Saturday morning, and Ballard on a Sunday morning. Later on, we returned in weekdays to take a comparison shot of each space in its “regular” configuration. Despite the fact that many farmers have booths in both markets, the particular way each one transforms its urban environment gives each of them its own identity.

University District Farmer’s Market takes place in a private parking lot (photo 02), which is emptied in order for it to happen. The most powerful and interesting feature in the transformation it brings to this space is an inversion: a fenced space, usually closed to the public, becomes a lively, open public space. The fence remains, but is then repurposed, used instead as a display support element for craft objects on sale (photo 03).

Ballard Farmer’s Market, in turn, is held on a public street in Old Ballard where commercial activity is the main use of the buildings nearby. So the transformation it generates is a spatial reconfiguration instead of an inversion of activity pattern: by closing the street to car access, it allows the strolling shoppers to take over the street space. The market booths are lined up in the middle, dividing the street in two walkable, narrow corridors (photo 06). The coexistence of permanent shops and temporary market booths configures a dynamic atmosphere (photo 07) that allows for a wider range of different activities when compared to University District Market.

On a Dark and Stormy Saturday Afternoon...

Matt S, Schell L, Seth D

Although we explored Seattle on a Saturday afternoon (1/19/2013, 1:30-4 pm), it was too cold for many people to be out and about. This limited us to looking for ways spaces were being shared without human interaction. We’re confident our pictures are quality examples of “city sharing”.

The weather in Seattle has a very direct effect on the utilization of its public spaces. The tendency for overcast weather means parks and recreational areas are subject to different uses. The climate here introduces an interesting method of sharing the city.

The first location was a mountain bike park under I-5, near the southbound exit 168. Originally used by homeless people, volunteers transformed the space into a place to ride without needing to drive out of the city. We noticed that it was clearly still used as sleeping place for some. This means the space beneath the freeway is used for sleeping and mountain biking.

We continued on to Capitol Hill, where we found a construction site bordering Carl Anderson Park. The entire perimeter of the park had a two story solid wall around it, on which was a mural of graffiti-style artwork. Since the site neighbors the park and several blocks of housing, the artwork helped mitigate the unpleasantness of being next to a large-scale construction site.

We took an obligatory picture of the Jimi Hendrix statue. We also found the Elvis Presley statue tucked away in a hotel lobby area. Although the location was probably public space, it struck us how hidden Elvis was compared to Jimi even though both were life-size bronze statues.

As we kept searching around Capitol Hill, we found a bike shop using the sidewalk to store some of its inventory. We wonder if they have ever been reprimanded for using public space for private property.

On the walk back to the car, we saw some BMX’ers using the plaza in front of Seattle Central Community College to practice riding. No one seemed to mind since it was a Saturday and the brick structures were perfect size for a skilled BMX rider.

Park Communities

Looking at Discovery Park, located in the neighborhood of Magnolia, the idea of “city sharing” works with not only surrounding neighborhoods, but also living organisms. Discovery Park serves as a place for city-goers to escape the hustle and bustle of city life to relax in nature. Due to its dynamic incorporation of meadows, forest groves, bluffs, and tidal beaches; Discovery Park attracts many different types of wildlife, which is shared with the public patrons of Seattle. A more formal approach is taken to incorporate nature and public at Sculpture Park in downtown Seattle. The Seattle Art Museum wanted to create an urban beach that would not only attract peoples, but also change the quality of water to attract wildlife.


Westlake Park sits in the middle of downtown Seattle shopping district. A variety of uses compromise the concrete paved park. This area houses year-round art installations, the monorail station, retail stores, a fountain, community benches, and overall a lot of open land for the community within greater Seattle to congregate. The parks “sharing” success is most likely due to its central location within the city and the layout of the features within the space. Harbor Steps Park works as a set of stairs that connect the higher grade Seattle to the lower grade land. It is sandwiched between mixed-use buildings, offices, and apartments and thus the site context enforces the need to “share”. Occupants of this area usually gather on the steps’ landings that act as platforms for resting. Tables are temporary decorations that can be manipulated according to the usage of the shared space.

By Ann Tseng & Keri Woltz

Shared Spaces to Connect Spaces

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One challenge faced by landscape architects is how to connect green spaces within a city. This issue can be especially difficult in dense urban areas such as city centers, or for example, the area near the University of Washington in University District, Seattle. The greenway that connects Green Lake Park with Ravenna Park along NE Ravenna Boulevard is one such space that achieves this goal. Fredrick Law Olmsted designed the greenway in 1903 as part of the grand plan of Seattle's city parks. The thirty-plus foot green lawn that divides the roadway provides an aesthetically appealing connection for the two parks and has evolved over time to be an important space within the neighborhood.

Observations of the greenway on a chilly January day reveal that this is indeed a shared space even in the middle of winter. Drivers on the roadway, bikers, walkers, runners, area residents and business-owners all use it for different purposes. As such, the greenway is certainly an example of city sharing in Seattle. Business owners use the open space to place advertisements in plain sight of passers by. Runners have worn a path in the grass along the tree line from many years of use. The thirty-plus feet of green lawn is wide enough to play with dogs or pass a Frisbee between friends; and bikers, drivers and walkers all use the roadway as well. This greenway along with other shared spaces throughout the city help to create a flow of users from park to park; and therefore increase the functionality of the green spaces within the city as a whole.

By: Darcy Akers and Kenna Patrick

Flowing Cityscape

Flowing Cityscapes

Our group chose the Burke Gilman Trail to explore the idea of city sharing. On the day we walked the trail, it was overcast and bitterly cold. We started out at the corner of 15^th Ave and Pacific Street and walked to Gasworks Park. The trail offered different views, people’s activities, buildings, animals and vegetation all coalescing and intersecting along the sequence.

Generally the trail has blurry boundaries, fusing the natural environment and people, with an indistinct line between public and private land. The trail abuts apartment homes, street intersections, public art, views of the city and pocket parks. There was a portion of the trail where the boundary was not blurred, and compressed as we passed a construction site, and under a bridge next to the Wall of Death.

The trail also incorporates a multi-sensory experience. Overall the path offers beautiful views and a connection to the environment, which is both psychologically healing and visually pleasing. The site encourages people who are out exercising and experiencing the beauty that the city and the trail have to offer. The views of the city and green vegetation are relaxing. Everyone who passed the construction site shared the overwhelming acrid odor. People hear the noise of traffic passing under the bridge. The space compresses under a blanket in shadows, the art suggests a darker side to the sequence.

For us the Burke Gilman trail connects the diverse character of the city with the people in the city. At the end of our sequence, Gasworks Park stood as a landmark connecting the trail with culture, history, ecology and cityscape.

By: Gabriel Cash, Guanyi Gao, Zhehang Lin