Understanding What Public Spaces Are, Article Writing Example

A Comparison of McHarg’sOn Values and Jackson’s The American Public Space

What is a public space? Practically, the modern consideration over this matter does not completely agree with the traditional idealisms on what a public space really is. Perhaps following the development of time and modernization, public spaces have gained particular reputations that are now recognized to serve human concerns that are more than just focused on the capability of an area to serve the public. In line with the desire to describe what public space is, McHarg takes the more traditional option of defining the said aspect of architectural design in his written article entitled “On Values”. In the article, he presents the fact that back in the days of the American ancestors; public places served a valuable representation of the society. Serving as places for chatting, meeting the community and other important measures that defined the human society in the past, public spaces were the epitome of unity in the past communities. He further points out that public spaces were noted for their ecological and environmental worth; people used to respect these spaces due to their natural beauty and the imposition that they make on the being of the people; they used to be the open areas that are well protected by the people so as to pass them on to the next generation of civilizations.

Modernity however has caused this vision of public spaces to change. Today, Jackson’s article on The American Public Space suggests that more than just a beautiful space, these areas now serve as places for leisure and relaxation, following particular codes of being established, other than simply created with natural resources, most public spaces now are concrete with a very few elements of natural beauty; all are constructed to follow the demands of the public who are to use it. Controlled and maintained by the government, these spaces are expected to make remarkable function for the society who is intended to enjoy its benefits.

In the course of further developing the worth of architecture in a modern world, the definition of public spaces are hoped to be inter-connected basing from tradition and modern ways of living. It is expected that in the future, the collaboration of man-made structure combined with the luscious greens of natural creation be considered to make up sustainable and enjoyable public spaces that are able to comprehend with the expected function they are hoped to provide for the people.

References

Jackson, JB. The American Public Space. Reprinted with permission of The Public Interest, 74 (Winter 1984), pp. 5245. Copyright O 1984 by National Affairs, Inc.

McHarg, I. The Context of Architecture: On Values.