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

Connection & Circulation

Photo Diary: shared city 
Rao Fu, Tianshi Guo

Hi, great. here is the Harbor Steps. 

Located in the central downtown Seattle, Harbor steps is the popular residential area. Many apartments and companies settle down around the area. Our group went to there at Sunday morning; it is not a typical busy time as weekdays. But we still see and feel a quiet urban “corner garden” in busy Seattle.
Boundaries and connections
There is no clear boundary to define the open space, except the steps. Besides the Seattle historical area, facing to the Pike Market Place, Harbor steps stands as a symbol of modern Seattle. We started the observation from the high points, took stairs all the way down to waterfront.
Circulation and sharing city
The steps itself is the main path networking with the other part of the city. all kinds of people walking through the steps with all the purposes.


The white collars views this steps as the relax space besides their working places.
Visitors come to the steps as a scenic point in Seattle. Residents living there view the steps as their home. Based on our observation, children like this steps because the falling water go along the steps. Mosaic material and lovely water sounds not only attract children to play within it, but also attract adults to enjoy the rhythm of the water.

According to our experience, The Harbor steps worked as an “escape-garden”. Along the change of the stairs, the view of city changes. Down to the stairs, close view of the ferry station and Waterfront Park, it seems you standing at the lower part of the downtown. However, when you climb up to the high point of the steps, it is totally different view and experience of the city.

A Bifurcated Dichotomy

Ian Garnier, Patrick Pirtle, Joel Miller

Downtown Seattle encompasses the intermixing of residents and visitors. From Western Avenue through Belltown and beyond, the role of visitor and resident interchange between those who feel they belong, and the visitor passing through. Our groups' observations were taken over several afternoons downtown, from the waterfront to Interstate 5, and found several instances of the resident/visitor paradigm. First, homeless population in Seattle takes on both the role of resident and visitor. Among the posh developments of Belltown, the homeless are made to feel like visitors,
kept on the move through unfriendly design elements. At the same time, they display their "residency" by inhabiting the space that visitors do not, such as under the Viaduct and along the waterfront. Second, businesses that cater to tourism welcome visitors as residents, providing incentives for these visitors to stay such as dedicated parking in downtown. By doing this, it shows residents to move along, much like the design elements do to those hoping to linger in Belltown. Likewise, signs of downtown reflect this sentiment. Wayfinding assistance is given to those unfamiliar with the City’s layout. This assistance conceals the City’s attitude towards its residents, who are treated as visitors, prohibited from all but moving along its sidewalks. Visitors see the City through new eyes; exploring and capturing the sites residents take for granted. The final and most interesting notion of the resident/visitor relationship is local advertisements directed at the residents. These signs beckon residents to become the visitor, experiencing those new areas with new eyes while moving in, throughout, and back home again.

The Urban Gallery

On Sunday, January 20th we examined the process of privatization within the public spheres of the famous streets of the most touristic hotspot of the city, Pike Place Market. Our focus was centered on the unspoken private “businesses” of those individuals that shape our experience at the market, rather than the authorized shops and restaurants that only attract attention behind closed doors. The concept of designing an experience into a space as opposed to designing a space to match a certain experience, is greatly evident in the streets of downtown Seattle. Throughout our walkthrough we found it fascinating the utilization of street space by lower classmen and their positive impacts on the experiences that are designed into an area. Not only how they are purposely designed, but how they evolve organically. Among the arts we found were street performers, three-dimensional Sculptures, both approved and unapproved, and works that arise from the many hands, like the graffiti walls and the infamous gum wall. The streets became a stage for the performers, while the walls became a gallery all emphasizing the beauty behind the shared city.

Sculptures such as the Tree of Life and the Market Foundation Piggy Bank were public works constructed as art pieces for the city and its citizens. Both of these works were paid for in donation from private entities. As private businesses attempt to become more involved in communities, they simultaneously help pay for public works. Repetitive private advertising found throughout the community satisfies both the private sector and meets the public’s needs. On the other hand, the blurred boundary is found in organically formed art, in the form of street artists and street.

~Jake Mellinger, Nick Durig, and Yair Cohenca