Social Interaction Activities In Public Spaces Cultural Studies Essay

friendly Interaction Activities In customary Spaces pagan Studies Es reckonThese domain lieus argon mathematical functiond for various activities based on which the activities female genitalia be divided into necessary activities, optional activities, and social activities. required activities include those, which are much or shortsighted compulsory red ink to school or work, shitping, spill to supermarkets, waiting at batch foregos or waiting for a person, running errands, distri excepting mails- in peeled(prenominal) words, single activities in which those involved are to a bang-uper or lesser degree required to fractureicipate. In general, solely everyday activities and pastimes are include in this group. The major activities included are roughly walking associate ones. As these activities are necessary ones and will take gravel throughout the year, under roughlyly altogether(prenominal)(prenominal) conditions, and are more(prenominal) or less independent of the exterior environment. The participants train no choice.Optional activities this category includes such(prenominal) activities as taking a walk to get a hint of fresh air, standing airlessly enjoying life, or razzting and sunbathing. These activities can only take devote when the run conditions are favorable. This relationship is particularly big in connection with physical planning because most of the recreational activities that are winning to pursue outdoors are found precisely in this category. These activities are e oddly dependent on exterior physical conditions. kindly activities are those that depend on the presence of near most early(a)s in the globe steads. Social activities may include children at play, flock greeting each other, a lot of communal activities. Simply seeing and talk of the town to each other are similarly included in this category.Public quadruplets are of rattling importance because they shape volumes experience about understanding the urban center and of the market-gardening. They drop dead the citys identity. Lawrence halprin describes this process our collective perception of cities depends on the landscape of open spaces. In our imagination of cities it is these open spaces that we remember. They are the places where tidy sum congregate to walk and shop and picnic, to play and bicycle and drive. It is these places that we use and in which we encounter each other and participate in that communal life we call city. ( Halprin, 1981, p.4)This is a allow of the way race use the city, the way they commute or turn on approximately the city, the placement of major civic and humanity institutions, social and crowd spaces, ceremonial spaces, location of significant human beings events, and spaces for recreation and leisure. These places are an contemplation of the in the habitual eye(predicate) culture of a city interchangeable the way pubic institutions are. They demonstrate the r elationship between the state and the citizens and express the cultures urban values. pubic space plays an all- great(prenominal) role in the citys social and environmental life.Public space is often mistaken as the space between 2 buildings or, merely the all the remaining spaces and street corners. Initially no purpose was wedded to the planning of universal spaces, buildings were con side of meatred more important. aft(prenominal) placing all the structures and important buildings the remaining area was converted to unexclusive space. Buildings were considered as the life of cities and were derive iconic. Lot of money, manpower and energy was spent in the make of an iconic structure. But an iconic building cant make a city iconic. What makes a city iconic are its public and open spaces and when these public spaces are actively utilise by people they add to the excess value.A public space is named public because of the people using it. It belongs to the public of that are a or city. Everyone are free to use it and dont have to fall in every entrance fee to use or approach shot it. It is a place where people from all caste, culture, religion and years can source, tantalise or take advant shape up of. I believe that public space should be a place for everyone and that a place should not be defined by its excogitationer, but by its user. Currently m any public spaces are impersonal with little thought into the facilities offered for the people who use it. If topical anesthetic people do not get connected to a place it decays and social interaction around the place is lost. The aim is to create zesty places increases the enjoyment people have in those spaces or add more or lessthing to lively locations in order to encour duration a positive response to that space where people interact with the environment and with each other.Elements of a public space. any(prenominal) public space gets affected by a number of constituents. on that point a re reasons why a particular space is formed or you may say re intentional. Some spaces such as public squares or plazas were formed in the early 18th or early nineteenth century due to the revolution taking place. The main purpose nooky creating these public spaces was that people could gather here during times of trouble or any event. overly these squares were centrally located so people could access them from anywhere plus they re make uped the citys history, culture and became iconic sites of the cities. They became one of the most visited tourist destinations. The affectionateness square largely contained important art or statues of the person responsible for the cities enlighten and formation. Some of them were formed due to the policy-making scene of the city. During election times some party made some good public spaces. Some public spaces like street markets, leafy vegetables, centre squares were formed or intentional taken into account the citys social and ethnic scene. While some of street markets were just formed by the local people or the community animation there marking the culture of the space. Some spaces were just formed due to the citys demands and needs. Other factors which affect or make a public space are streets, climate, interaction, furniture, shop, culture, playfulness, rallys, religions, money, demonstrations, events, material, health, legislation, policies, law and order, lodging schemes, security, environment, crime scenes, government policies, art, architecture, construction details, local community and sound but not the to the lowest degree people.In short the main factors which affect any public space are listed belowPolitical mostly during countries reform or some election events and rallysEconomic the countries development affects its public space. develop countries have contrary public spaces whereas developing ones have a polar notion and atmosphere of public space.Cultural the countries culture affects the public space the most. Its mostly reflected in the appearance of the public space.Social the people living there are to ones which make their public spaces. Its said that people space their space and then in return the space shapes the people around.capital of the United Kingdom as a ethnic hub.From being home to many field treasures, museums, libraries, galleries and universities, capital of the United Kingdom is also a centre for global and contemporary culture. capital of the United Kingdom attracts many visitors for its popular and creative culture and also for its interactive casual arouse spaces. For example, you will see mechanics plating live music in most of the underground stations, theres live music passing play at Camden markets and other street markets. Also many stores and bookshops keep on holding any events and fares to attract customers. Its a city which makes peoples visit even more interest, interactive, delight and makes every visit of theirs outlay durat ion. When compared to the other cities around the world, capital of the United Kingdom leads with an impressive count.London is the largest city in Europe, with a dramatic variation of people from all ages and cultures go a huge amount of design opportunities. Population of London is approximately 7 one thousand thousand. London has a diverse range of population, which comprises people from Asia, China, and Europe and also from the states. London also shows diversity in age of this population. You find young school going children, to university graduates, mid age spatial relation crowd and also a large number of old retired people.Also you will find a number of school, colleges, universities spread all around London. Because of which it has become a hub for students and learning. Also many international companies have their home base here, which make it heapiness hub. The policy-making scene in London appears to be quite stable. Thus all the supra factors like, diverse culture, economic opportunities, age ratio, political stability, have made a huge intrusion on the public life and public places.Table 1.1 major cultural indicators (source cultural audit, 2009)IndicatorLondonNew YorkParisShanghaiTokyo no Of public galleries92N/A59640 none Of specialist art HE institutions127315N/A nary(prenominal) Of national museums22161968 no. Of other museums16285138 light speed71UNESCO world heritage sites41200No. Of public libraries395255303248369Table 1.2 creative industries indicators ( source cultural audit, 2009)IndicatorLondonNew YorkParisShanghaiTokyoNo. Of music venues400151122148132Music performances per year32.29222,204361211,7367419Theatrical performances per yr17,29512,04515,59831178281No. Of theatres concert halls215111158137132No. Of cinemas1052648849105No. Of bookshops9274981,076300N/ANo. Of nightclubs, discos etc306279277N/AN/ANo. O festivals.200814022N/ASocial interaction important element of public spaces.They are our streetscapes and promenadesAcco rding to us gardens, greennesss, squares are all the spaces that make a public space. This belief is not incorrect but has to transform. We need to poke out our views and think of the bigger picture. We conveniently forget about the streets, paths and the roads on which we travel everyday or rather use workaday. We dont consider the in a higher place ones as public spaces, but if carryed in detailed these are the ones, which are use publicly the most. We dont appreciate but these spaces offer a great deal to our lives than any other spaces. These streets and pathways is where maximum interaction takes place. Meeting people, talking to each other, greeting one another, flirting, talking over the phone while waiting for the passel, queuing at he tidy sum infract, all these activities leads to interaction and takes place on the streets, pathway, and bus give outs which we generally use for walking, travelling and to affect out to our final destination.All we expect from thes e connecting spaces is a flat pave area to walk on, a dustbin, sometimes a bench to sit to munch on a sandwich or sip coffee. A place where maximum interaction takes place offers us very little in terms of services and activities. All the attention is mostly given to the redesigning and improvement of parks, squares and the everyday active streets and pathways are ever omit. These spaces have always been overlooked and taken granted for.The streets and pathways become like a eateon place for those who dont have time to go to a restaurant and for those whos lunch just comprises of grabbing a sandwich and eating on the streets or the bus stops. evening with many coffee shops or restaurant options we still like to munch on the noisy streets or sip coffee looking at at the people pass by. The main reason behind this is that we recognize people, we like to watch people, we like interaction. Even though we eat but on the streets the sense of people being around makes us feel less l onely.Generally, these spaces whish are utilise daily have been neglect by the government and remain unimproved. Its the local community or some private organizations or simply the people residing in the nearby areas, which come ahead and make arrangements to make these spaces better. They make a sincere essay to convert these unpleasant under walks to cleaner, brighter and fresher places. Pleasant spaces that make our daily commuting journey memorable. Same way if the government looked into this matter and offered more to people using them, it would not only make our journey pleasant but also would make it healthier. For example, if the streets and pathways are made better by putting new paving, made wider, installed with street furniture where people can sit, talk with each other, munch a sandwich or sip coffee, it would encourage people to walk down the corner or use cycles instead of cars for shorter distance, in a way also cooperateing in a healthier, greener environment. A depleted change can make a big impact on our lives. Same way making small changes on our everyday streets and pathways can have a huge impact on our lives. They would make our journeys memorable, pleasurable and healthier.Below are some elusion studies where streets and pathways are considered as public spaces and redesigned taking people into account and offering them what they demand for.People are better than no peopleThe above saying is said by an old woman counting her last breaths at a hospital bed, contact by a few nurses and a doctor she said people are better than no people. Even during her last few hours she wished for people, she wished psyche was there at her side during her last few hours. She wished her people were there beside her to make her feel estimable and comfortable. Even though she couldnt talk much she longed to see her loved ones. ripe the sight of a few nurses and the doctor made her comfortable and seize even during the most dreadful moment. She s aid even if we arent in talking terms with some of our loved ones just a sight of them is worth it than staying alone and dying a lonely death.It applies the aforesaid(prenominal) way to others also, to donation our happiness, to exchange the bad news in the most dreadful of all moments, in loneliness, in life and death we need people around. Even if not to share, the visual sight of people being around or just a person around makes us breathe a sign of relief. More than the need or want its the psychological factor because of which we long to see people or just a person around and need some physical contact. Hence more than the need, necessity and longing its the psychology and human behavior that leads us to talk to other people and interact. Socializing, communicating or meeting other people has a lot of other advantages than just the psychological factor. Firstly the good part is that we interact and talk to people, talking to other people teaches us a lot of things. We expre ss our thoughts, our feelings, and our views. We share our happiness and sadness we share our griefs and beliefs. They say that our happiness multiplies when shared with someone, while our grief minuses when told to someone. Great ideas come from others, same way, talking to others, sharing views leads to some new innovation everyday. Speaking to someone we acquire noesis about a lot of things before dark to us, like, we learn new things about the city, about the culture, history of the city. We understand new traditions and cultures. We get to know people from diverse cultures and their ideas about life, philosophy and lifestyle. We shit knowledge about the daily happenings, city status, country status, the latest news, political and social endeavors, weather updates, season changes, news about social events, sports activities, setting information and many other things. Finding out new things or getting to know about the happenings increases excitement in us. A seek also shows that talking to people reduces stress and tension. Refrence. Apart from acquiring knowledge a lot of other things are also learnt from interaction, like, we laugh, we inspire, we get inspired, we share, we learn, listen, we fight, we pray, we forecast and the most important thing is we care. All these emotions are very important to lead a healthy, happy and normal life.http//www.wikihow.com/Relieve-Stresshttp//www.essortment.com/all/stressreliefte_psh.htmhttp//www.tipsforpanicattacks.net/waystorelievestress.htmlTHE DESIGNIt all started with giving something more to people than they actually deserved, especially at spaces which they apply daily. These spaces were not parks or gardens but spaces like the streets, pathways which people used daily to travel, walk and reach their destination. Spaces were maximum interaction takes place by chance and which still have the capability to give more. Spaces where maximum people are already present, and all you have to do is give them some ch aracter, some urge, some environment, some force to interact.For the same I couldnt think of a place other than a local bus stop. A bus stop is one such place, which is accessed by one and all. Its a connecting or you may say a waiting point for people going to work, children travelling to school, people going to church, people going for grocery shopping or any other social activities. Its a waiting hub for a diverse range of people. You see people from different cultures, different age groups, different communities and religion waiting for a single purpose called commuting. Where you have so many people around and waiting, why not append some interesting features and make their wait fun? Why not create an environment which forces people to interact, to talk to each other? view on the same lines, it was possible to make peoples journey more fun, more interesting and more exciting. A wait in an environment where people interact with each other without realizing they are forced to d o so.For the same, the bus stop chosen was a local one called Christchurch located near the ealing broadway tube station, west London. This bus stop is on the uxbridge road and is the next to the mall, church, tube station, shopping stores, banks etc. Plus all the buses travelling towards uxbridge make a stop here. Its the centre of all the major activities, filled with people waiting for the bus almost at any time of the day.A live survey was done at the same bus stop al day long for three consecutive days.Busiest being the dawning hours from 8.00 am to 10.00 am and the evenings from 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm. The mornings and evenings at the mentioned time above you normally see a lot of office crowd, and the rest of the day specially at noon hours you meet a lot of old people.After interviewing most of the people it was found that waiting at the bus stop had been one of their major and daily activities. Specially the older people, their routine considers of going to the bus stop, th en grocery store, then back to bus stop and then back home. The main reason of having this routine is meeting people at the grocery store, having some kind of interaction with at least the sales person or even with come of them at the bus stop.InteviewsHOW DID YOU COME TO THE CONCUSION FURNITURE IS BEST FOR INTERACTION.WHY FURNITUREExamples of good public spacesMillennium ParkVarious designersChicago, USA (2005)Millennium Park is a massive 10-hectare drop based in Chicago at a central location is a combination of art, architecture and landscape design as a single public space design. It was a 450 one thousand million dollar budget, centrally located and can be used as a public event space or even as an informal space. Its a major destination for all recreational activities. The protrude was created with an initial idea to create a green park to barricade the unattractive railway lines and car parks, which had strewn the lakefront. These tracks and car parks were seen since the c ity had neglected the lake and its development. A simple meet, which has turned out to be the most compulsive project in USA and one of the most successful public spaces in terms of aesthetics and the use by people. A perfective park with a blend in of space, form and function, which bring people in concert for recreation, interaction and fun contributing to a healthier life.The park has different elements designed by great architects and artists. Like at the centre of the park is a pavilion designed by Frank Gehry, which is used as an outdoor space for events, concerts and other social gatherings. It consists of a proscenium surrounded by Gehrys trademark curves of stainless brand name with a large steel trellis spanning the entire auditorium. Connected to the pavilion is the first bridge project which spans from Columbus drive, linking millennium park to daley bicentennial plaza and Chicago lakefront system. Connecting all the major points, and people can take a walk through all. Another interesting element is an elliptical jellifybean shaped sculpture by Artist Anish Kapoor, a graduate from University of Arts London, and his first public project in USA.its called the bean because its shape is like a bean. The elliptical jelly is inspired by the liquid mercury, and made of steel, so it reflects the city, clouds and people. Its makes us look at our feel that we are responsible for our city, our people, and the environment we live in. Its also a way to showcase the beautiful Chicago skyline and weather with people along.Another sculpture is a crown outflow designed by artist Laume Plensa, from Spain. The fountain comprises of black granite reflecting pool, placed between two glass block towers. The glass block towers are 15.24m high and at each end of the reflecting pool. They display graphic animation videos and photos, which are invariably changing with the help of LED lights. This was one of the most notable flora done by artist Laume Plensa, and is highly successful. It took about 18 million dollars to build this fountain, but the good thing is that it encouraged physical interaction between people and water. Most of the pictures and videos displayed on the tower are mostly of people from Chicago. So most of the people come to see this fountain hoping to see themselves on the tower. Its a perfect public play area, an interaction space and also an area to beat the heat during summers.Another interesting element is the garden located near the pavilion designed by the team of Kathryn Gustafson, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel. The garden is a combination of architecture, planning and lighting. The garden contains a variety of spaces, which helps people enjoy and encourages interaction. It contains small and large spaces, pedestrian areas, pathways etc. that invites more and more people.The millennium park is a perfect blend of pavilions, bridges, parks, sculpture, and art designed by various and famous artists and architects fro m all around the globe. Its a park which has all activities going on, thanks to the different elements present in it, like the pavilion, the elliptical bean shaped sculpture, the fountain, garden, and the bridge. With elements all over it attracts people and encourages interaction, being a perfect communities space. Though it contains sculpture and structures been designed taking into account peoples need, citys demand, environment, atmosphere but also doesnt neglect aesthetics.USF square off3RW ArchitectsBergen, NorwayThis public space was designed by local architects called 3RW architects and is situated in the Norwegian city of Bergen. This space was initially a car park, which used to be dusty in summer, filled with puddles in rains and slippery in winter. It demand a practical solution and redesigning hence it was decided to cover the whole area with concrete surface. This plaza is used as an artist workshop and also as a restaurant. During the redesign the clients initially cute a stepped plaza, but the architects convinced to have a sloping concrete surface. They made it as a concrete surface so that it would be rough enough and be less slippery especially during the unshakable icy weather. A special arrangement is made during winters, heating elements were lay under the concrete so the ice melts and can be used as a public area no matter any weather conditions. This plaza also leads to the cultural centre. Concrete was laid in a grid of 16ft X 16ft and fitted with corten steel strips to create dividers and make school gaps. To help make this place interesting at night theatrical role optics were put into two glass boxes in concrete. An architectural solution to help people use the public space any time they needed to enjoy the weather, have some recreation, interaction and fun. A space to near the water body, a calm restaurant invites many people and helps to put up social interaction.New public spacesThe growth of community led projects is cre ating public space that has a very local and specific uses related to local needs and physical qualities and features of their local environment.Give the people something different curving pavilionKensington garden, London.Serpentine pavilion is a different kind of public space, situated in Kensington gardens in London. Kensington garden is a huge park with people visiting at all times. To make it more exciting and invite more people