The Market Square: A Gathering Place 04
The Market Square, the Town, and the Planet
Published in the Stratford Gazette, 15 March 2012.
In towns and cities around the world, public squares are not places to park your car, or to wait for the bus. Many of them are not even just places to walk or cycle or drive through. They are places to be, destinations, places where people want to spend time, where they go on purpose because of what there is to do and see there. Nathan Phillips Square, Trafalgar Square, Times Square, Place des Vosges – all are places where local people as well as out-of-town visitors deliberately go to spend time. They shop or loiter, they sit in the sun or the shade, reading or texting, talking with friends, eating and drinking. Children play. Meditative individuals watch the fountain, if there is one, or the birds, or the children, or the passers-by. They stroll and watch each other; they applaud a street performer or listen to a busker. A few years ago I spent a wonderful evening in a square in the Netherlands drinking beer and listening to a jazz concert. People using a square in this way know that they are in a significant, interesting, delightful place.
Paul Zucker, in Town and Square: from the Agora to the Village Green, writes: “The physical and psychological function of the square does not depend on size or scale. The village green in a small New England town, the central square of a residential quarter within a larger city, the monumental plaza of a metropolis – all serve the same purpose. They create a gathering place for the people, humanizing them by mutual contact, providing them with a shelter against the haphazard traffic, and freeing them from the tension of rushing through the web of streets. The square [is] a psychological parking place within the civic landscape. If one visualizes the streets as rivers, channeling the stream of human communication – which means much more than mere “traffic” – then the square represents a natural or artificial lake.”
In Stratford, we know how important a lake can be in the life of a city, and that makes it easy for us to visualize what Zucker is talking about. Streets flow into the Market Square, and the renovated Square will provide an area where people can slow down, sit and rest and enjoy the weather and each other’s company.
Spending time in a public square – a gathering place – is partly a matter of individual, private, maybe impromptu gatherings. It’s also a matter of public events, and in the last few years our Market Square has seen a number of these. There have now been eleven Canada Day celebrations. The Olympic Torch event was held there, and so was a vintage car display organized by Heritage Stratford. In the summer of 2011, the Slow Food Market was held in the Square every Sunday between June and October, and part of the Savour Stratford event was located there. So was Fayre Day in Camelot, organized by the Stratford Festival. The frequency of these events is increasing as more event organizers see the potential of the area.
These events only begin to explore the space, as it is at this moment – which, with the parking meters down the middle and the exposure to sun and wind, is not ideal. The renovated Square would be much more welcoming. The Plant Architect Inc. design provides various kinds of spaces. There will be open space for large gatherings. There will be an area with trees for shade in summer and a visual softening of the hard lines of the surrounding buildings – a space where, for instance, art exhibitions might be held. There will be an area with raised steps which would be suitable for performances. The cafés and restaurants around the square would provide refreshments.
People will go there on purpose because it will be a lively, interesting place to be.
The Plant Architect Inc. design for the Market Square can be found at www.stratfordmarketsquare.com
Paul Zucker was an architect, art historian, and city planner – and, incidentally, a stage designer – trained in Berlin. After 1937 he was a professor at the New School for Social Research in New York. He was interested not only in the architecture of buildings but in the spaces between them. http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/zuckerp.htm
Brandis has lived in Stratford since 1996 and is a full-time writer. She is the author of a number of books - visit Marianne's website
Published in the Stratford Gazette, 15 March 2012.
In towns and cities around the world, public squares are not places to park your car, or to wait for the bus. Many of them are not even just places to walk or cycle or drive through. They are places to be, destinations, places where people want to spend time, where they go on purpose because of what there is to do and see there. Nathan Phillips Square, Trafalgar Square, Times Square, Place des Vosges – all are places where local people as well as out-of-town visitors deliberately go to spend time. They shop or loiter, they sit in the sun or the shade, reading or texting, talking with friends, eating and drinking. Children play. Meditative individuals watch the fountain, if there is one, or the birds, or the children, or the passers-by. They stroll and watch each other; they applaud a street performer or listen to a busker. A few years ago I spent a wonderful evening in a square in the Netherlands drinking beer and listening to a jazz concert. People using a square in this way know that they are in a significant, interesting, delightful place.
Paul Zucker, in Town and Square: from the Agora to the Village Green, writes: “The physical and psychological function of the square does not depend on size or scale. The village green in a small New England town, the central square of a residential quarter within a larger city, the monumental plaza of a metropolis – all serve the same purpose. They create a gathering place for the people, humanizing them by mutual contact, providing them with a shelter against the haphazard traffic, and freeing them from the tension of rushing through the web of streets. The square [is] a psychological parking place within the civic landscape. If one visualizes the streets as rivers, channeling the stream of human communication – which means much more than mere “traffic” – then the square represents a natural or artificial lake.”
In Stratford, we know how important a lake can be in the life of a city, and that makes it easy for us to visualize what Zucker is talking about. Streets flow into the Market Square, and the renovated Square will provide an area where people can slow down, sit and rest and enjoy the weather and each other’s company.
Spending time in a public square – a gathering place – is partly a matter of individual, private, maybe impromptu gatherings. It’s also a matter of public events, and in the last few years our Market Square has seen a number of these. There have now been eleven Canada Day celebrations. The Olympic Torch event was held there, and so was a vintage car display organized by Heritage Stratford. In the summer of 2011, the Slow Food Market was held in the Square every Sunday between June and October, and part of the Savour Stratford event was located there. So was Fayre Day in Camelot, organized by the Stratford Festival. The frequency of these events is increasing as more event organizers see the potential of the area.
These events only begin to explore the space, as it is at this moment – which, with the parking meters down the middle and the exposure to sun and wind, is not ideal. The renovated Square would be much more welcoming. The Plant Architect Inc. design provides various kinds of spaces. There will be open space for large gatherings. There will be an area with trees for shade in summer and a visual softening of the hard lines of the surrounding buildings – a space where, for instance, art exhibitions might be held. There will be an area with raised steps which would be suitable for performances. The cafés and restaurants around the square would provide refreshments.
People will go there on purpose because it will be a lively, interesting place to be.
The Plant Architect Inc. design for the Market Square can be found at www.stratfordmarketsquare.com
Paul Zucker was an architect, art historian, and city planner – and, incidentally, a stage designer – trained in Berlin. After 1937 he was a professor at the New School for Social Research in New York. He was interested not only in the architecture of buildings but in the spaces between them. http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/zuckerp.htm
Brandis has lived in Stratford since 1996 and is a full-time writer. She is the author of a number of books - visit Marianne's website