The Art of Planning - Columbia University Graduate School of ...

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Bushwick, I wanted to present a collection of
non-traditional public spaces, with the hope
of generating interplay of ideas between the
differing spatial and emotional experiences.
The spaces include a vacant lot left over
from a razed building, an overgrown field
surrounded by an unfinished warehouse
foundation-wall, a stretch of freight train
tracks crossing an industrial waterway, and a
recently completed parking lot surrounding a
large condominium. In addition to generating
various architectural, archeological, and
emotional experiences, I am also interested in
making the sites more public through physical
appropriation and by inviting others to explore
spaces that might otherwise be considered
off-limits.
Postscript: It is my hope that planners and
artists will continue to dialogue about the
issues that have been raised by this interview.
Certainly, planners must be aware that culture
has the potential to increase a neighborhood’s
desirability, thereby fueling gentrification.
But are the artists really to blame for the
displacement? Shouldn’t there be space in
the City for art-experimentation?
Diede: Do you have any ideas on how cities (or urban planners) can/should respond
to artists’ needs without limiting the creative possibilities that arise out of spontaneity
and freedom of, um, space?
Coreil-Allen: City governments and planners should hand over complete control of all
public spaces to decentralized, non-hierarchal community organizations. The planners
and politicians should be providing consultation to the community groups and not the other
way around. Public parks should have freely-accessible graffiti walls and installations
areas. All private commercial advertising should be banned from public spaces. I could go
on, but you get the idea.
One planning response to the arts is to
Image by Therese Diede
create ‘Arts and Culture’ districts under the
expectation that the label will attract more
art. However, more often than not, artists – whether transplants or locals – are priced
out of their own neighborhoods. The question then becomes: what role does the City’s
‘officializing’ of the arts play in gentrification, and what can planners do to ensure the wellbeing
of both community and artist? Perhaps the most important provision is space, in the
form of affordable housing and community-oriented public spaces…
Diede: I think that your recent art intervention, New Public Sites—Bushwick, might be of
interest to my fellow urban planners. What are you trying to accomplish with this project?
Coreil-Allen: My inspiration for this project was born out of the sublime experiences
I have had while exploring the liminal public spaces in my neighborhood. I have done
some similar installations in the past, all founded on a conceptual interest in investigating
the questions “What is public space?” and “What is public art?” For New Public Sites –
URBAN