Universal Singular

Front matter

Sonia Curnier

Public space design of the early 21st century

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Introduction

Public space design, a critically underexamined activity

Restoring the focus on materiality Backtracking to design Taking a critical look

The public space, object per se?

Formal and material autonomy Semantic autonomy

Prelude (1980-1990): the laboratories The Barcelona model The Lyon model

Turn of the century: the emergence of a field of design Mid-nineties: generalization of the subject Concerns and vectors for change

А method for critical analysis of the project's genesis

Three investigations

ANIMATE

Place Simon-Goulart | Geneva | 2003-2013

A homogeneous island | Partitioning the space for distinct functions | Materiality at the service of spatial organization |

Urban storytelling as а project tool | Communal places, between banality and community

Place de la République | Paris | 2009-2013

A large pedestrian esplanade | A difference dictated by uses

Hesitations between modulation and unity | A surface, simultaneously special and commonplace | Abstraction and simplification of the area | Ambiguity of layout

Creating the commons

ORNAMENT

Place du Molard | Geneva | 2002-2004

Uncertain limits | A need to find a logic specific to the site | History revisited by a universal symbol | Background-figure ambivalence

Superkilen | Copenhagen | 2007-2012

Give the place an identity by a radical treatment of the surfacing | A superlative project | Ambivalence toward the context | The design of the red square as an example | A pictorial treatment of the public space

MFO-Park | Zurich | 1998-2002

Competition conditions at the origin of an extraordinary concept | A void, designed as a solid | A predominantly constructive rationality | An oneiric project narrative |

Autonomous or contextualized object?

Theaterplein | Antwerp | 2004-2008

Intellectual justification for the composition of the space | An air cube as a theater extension | Roof span reinforced by the ground treatment | Abstraction and monumentality:

symbols of a "social infrastructure"

Paseo Marítimo de la Playa de Poniente | Benidorm | 2002-2009

A conceptual gesture | A sculptural form of extreme complexity | From geometric complexity to site rationality Equivocal role of the natural referential field | A distinctive ground covering | The need to make a difference

Måløv Aksen - the Stationsplads | Måløv | 2008-2010 Wide-scale site assessment | The melting ice theme extended the Stationsplads: shaping a space for walking and exploration | A geometric and architectonic landscape |

A theme as a local anchor? | A fragmented network

of heterogeneous spaces

Sculpting to entertain

МАТИКЕ

Platz der Menschenrechte | Riem, Munich | 2005

An urban square at the beginning | A pine wood | Sensitive, poetic imaginary | Toward a formal singularization of

the square | A hybrid character

Bymilen | Copenhagen | 2007-2010

A dense and surprising forest on sloping ground | Elements embedded in a unifying surface | An environment to

be explored differently | A sensory aesthetic | Two natural imaginaries of differing value | Formal singularization

of the public space

Shards of nature

239 CROSS-EXAMINATION

241 An ambiguous relationship with the material context 245 Salutary designs: beyond the beautification project 247 А redefinition of the notion of context

250 Public spaces, purveyors of experiences

253 Singularize and universalize at the same time

257 APPENDIX

258 Bibliography

262 Documentation by project 267 Image credits

268 Glossary

270 Author's biography

РКЕҒАСЕ

Preface

What is public space? Interviewed by а specialized magazine, Sonia Curnier explained: "There are countless definitions of the term, but in my view, it is an open space, freely accessible to all, and designed to accommodate all activities whether necessary or just for leisure. It is part of the urban fabric with which it can interact. I insist on this precisely because my doctoral thesis reveals a tendency to consider it as autonomous: yet, in principle, urban public space is connected to a network of other spaces and always relates to its built-up environment.”

The scene is set. The term certainly has multiple meanings, with variations in time and according to disciplines. However, in its material sense and in an urban context, it implies а constant relationship between empty and built-up spaces as well as their surroundings. It also implies that public space is part of a network. Nevertheless, at the turn of the 21st century, evolution in the development of public spaces tends rather toward their autonomy. Are we facing а paradigm change, or a conceptual break with canonical practice?

To understand what is emerging, we need а change of focus: while much attention has been paid to the use of public spaces, very little effort has been given to their material reality, and even less to their design. The originality of Sonia Curnier's approach is certainly that she has tackled this question from а new viewpoint, distinguishing her conclusions from those of the past, and which could lead to a renewal in future research on the subject.

Her analysis starts with a critical portrait of the recent evolution of European public spaces. This portrait is founded on a rigorous, well-supported investigation, incorporating research into numerous architectural and landscaping journals, printed as well as online, and books of references. This first step allowed Sonia Curnier to draw up а panorama of the evolution of the practice over the last four decades and to identify a turning point in the history of public-space design, on which she has based her approach. This turning point appeared in the 1980s, when artists and landscape architects got involved, leading to a blurring of the boundaries between disciplines and to multidisciplinary approaches to projects.

The author follows on with an analysis of a limited corpus of ten case studies, which is aimed at explaining this turning point. To acquire in-depth knowledge of these projects, she mobilizes four tools: investigation of the critiques of these public space designs through publications, extended visits of the projects in situ, archival study of the genesis of the projects, and finally interviews with the designers. The result is a sharp, novel view of the subject, one likely to inspire other works in the field.

But let us return to the paradigm shift mentioned above. The traditional designs of streets, places, and squares (those "open-air rooms” as Louis I. Kahn called them) are gradually being replaced by new ones. We are far removed from the time when the spatiality and character of public space were defined by the facades of the buildings that bordered it, as in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, or even more recently in Barcelona or Lyon.

Sonia Curnier demonstrates that public space at the beginning of the 2151 century is apprehended as an object per se, whose autonomy, obtained through new forms, materialities, and references, is becoming clear. This increase in autonomy — on a theoretical level — will obviously have consequences on their design: it relegates the traditional relationship between architecture and urbanism to the background to create the conditions for an emergence of other design forces, echoing the evolution of society, mores, and lifestyles. The author emphasizes the aesthetics of experience, saying: "The will of designers is clearly to create urban experiences, corresponding to our entry into a society of experiences, in which unique and memorable moments must be consumed daily. Designers have found several ways to create such experiences: they focus on sensory and bodily perception, promote the social interactions of living and meeting places, or seek to project users into distant universes.”

"Distant universes”: the very notion of context is thus renewed. The context is neither а “pre-existing” one, linked to а vision of historical continuity, nor а local physical entity, with which the project dialogues: it is now intertwined with new fields of reference and narratives - often stemming from the designer's own imagination, inspired by nature, art, technology, or even games — which invest these places, creating ambiences that are both ambiguous and evocative.

From this perspective, it can be seen that the design of public spaces is the result of a paradoxical movement reflecting the present-day oscillation between the local and the global: the author concludes that it tends to become both singularized and universalized. This paradox results in proposals that are similar even though they are situated in very different places and contexts - it is striking and intriguing to note that а square can take a somewhat similar form in Geneva and in Copenhagen.

Sonia Curnier's work is an original and essential contribution that takes a critical look at a nascent field, reaching out beyond the sole field of architecture. Although her perspective remains that of an architect-urbanist, she has succeeded in addressing design

PREFACE issues that are of course related to the urban sciences, but which are even more relevant to the city and its inhabitants, through the social and public character of our urban spaces.

This last point is fundamental to me: indeed, throughout my career as a teacher and professional, I have seen the importance of the quality of public spaces in the affirmation of a convivial and inclusive urbanity. In this, the adaptation of Sonia Curnier's thesis as а book that is accessible to a wide readership — including practitioners, researchers, public authorities, students - is а valuable contribution to а subject that is certainly topical, but oddly still a very lacunar one.

Bruno Marchand, Professor EPFL Lausanne, October 5, 2021

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