I propose the negative axon as a tool for analysis, which enables us to visualize outdoor public spaces as rooms. Drawing on Camillo Sitte, I will argue that the architectural qualities of an urban room determine its ability to foster social activity, and that different types of virtual enclosures offer different social and political possibilities. The purpose of this analysis is to determine how different qualities of an urban room shape its influence on social activity. The critical factors in determining the character of an urban room are scale, enclosure, and circulation. Exaggerating or diminishing any of these criteria greatly affects the nature of the room, and pushing any to the extreme often dissolves any sense of a definite boundary. Through four case studies, I use the negative axon to determine how changes in scale, enclosure, and circulation affect the space and ultimately encourage some activities more than others.
Sitte stresses the importance of spatial enclosure in the Roman Forum, which creates a "sumptuous hypaethral interior." The Winterfeldplatz in western Berlin closely follows Sitte’s ideal, while the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica stretches out the implied interior to facilitate consumption. The urban room of the Seagram Plaza is primarily vertical, and quite porous, but creates a smaller, communal space through the details of the plaza topography. The circular, semi-porous layout of the Sony Center in Berlin allows for a mixture of private and public and lively cross-programming, though still under corporate surveillance.
Negative Axon of Roman Forum
Winterfeldplatz, Berlin
3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica
Seagram Plaza, New York
Sony Center, Berlin