Prospective Publics: Build Your Own Castle

Architectural and urban scholar Mariana Mogilevich and writer convened at the SVA last Monday for a conversation on Mogilevich’s recent book, The Invention of Public Space on the Lindsay Era in New York. The period around the former mayor’s term (1966-1973) is most commonly associated with a city in crisis, but Mogilevich reasons there might be something to how designers, government administrators, and residents sought to remake New York during this moment that’s worth revisiting.

The discussion ebbed and bobbed around unrealized proposals and partially built measures that tested various urban design strategies: a sanitary facility proposal from Louis Khan, pedestrianization efforts that feel similar to road closure strategies deployed during the pandemic, and an effort to design for multivalent “publics” with park spaces and activities such as “Build Your Own Castle Day” in Central Park. Mogilevich makes clear that while the Lindsay administration believed that public spaces are supposed to be for all, they often ended up working better for some. Yet when looking at present efforts towards a more public New York, Mogilevich laments that programming has regressed—targeting wealthier New Yorkers and selling the city as an experience. “It’s impossible not to compare the Lindsay and Bloomberg administrations because of the urban design strategies they deployed. However, if Lindsay’s New York was tragedy then Bloomberg’s New York was farce,” Jacobs agreed. The two contend that designers should continue to strive to make heterogeneous public spaces and for a plurality of publics. If the talk was a reflection of the book’s aspirations and informative content, I’ll have to buy a copy.