On September 23, about a hundred urbanists and architects gathered on Zoom to discuss the recent gains of the ground plane in public life, and how to consolidate them.
Billie Tsien:
I have never walked so much in my entire life. We always thought that the streets were primarily for parking and for cars. Now we see they are an asset for human beings. It recalls a time in New York when artists took over the ground floor spaces—at 101 Spring Street, now a hallowed space, Donald Judd transformed a storefront that wasn’t being used. So you think, “If the streets are for people, then also maybe the ground floors are for people,” and the world becomes flatter. It reminds me of step-wells in India. In the past, we were always going up. Maybe here we are going horizontal and going down.
Tod Williams:
The intersection of Mother Earth and the sky is the most sacred spot we’ve got. That’s where life really emerges and eventually submerges. I want to focus on 20 feet above that ground plane and 20 feet below. How can we mak…