Exercise Three.gavin Doheny

Open Spaces Public Spaces

Mezquita, Cordoba. Perspective Axonometric Scale 1:1000

Sede Central de Caja Scale 1:1000

Calle de las flores Scale 1:500

Exercise Three. Gavin Doheny Open Spaces

Public Space

Closed Spaces

Exploded isometric showing clearly the primary access of the streets located around the Mezquita and the secondary access which feeds into the contained open space. Scale 1:1000

Sketch plan of the contained open space in the Bank building Sede Central de Caja Granada. Scale 1:500. Thr controlled access points are locted along two primary routes. The regulated access is expressed in this sketch as yellow. Note the scetions below showing how the controlled space is contained while the public space is open at all times. The issue of scale also becomes apparent and influences the uses of these spaces.

Scale 1:1000

Private Space

Sketch plan of the Calle de las flores and the public square which is located along the route

Scale 1:500

Granada Cathedral with context, public square Scale 1:1000

This is an indepth study and close analysis of the differences between two comparative spaces found within the urban city fabric - Open spaces vs Public spaces. For the purpose of this investigation - measuring space - comparative examples of open spaces include the Mezquita-Cathedral in Cordoba and the Granada Bank building - Sede Central de Caja Granada. Similarly public spaces are sited and researched through Calle de las flores and its public square in Cordoba and Granada Cathedral. These examples are positioned form left to right. The study suggests one primary difference between open and public spaces - access. Public spaces are usually found along a route through which one must pass in order to reach the given location. These spaces remain constantly ‘open’ or accessable, whilst there is no sense of dominance or continuous ownership within the space. Open spaces such as the Mezquita or the bank building are perhaps better understood as controlled environments where access is regulated. These open spaces are therefore not found along a given path rather they are located off it. Gates and doors open and close the space to the public at given times. Although often considered public these spaces are owned by a group or community and contained within a given boundary. The open space located within the bank building is also fully covered, in effect becoming a room or an interior space, yet the scale of the space gives the percecption of a public square or space. This open space is accessed off a main routeway through controlled doorways which can be seen in the sketch plan. Open spaces are more regulated and defined than public spaces. Within the open space of the bank there is a clear example of this definition of expected use where one is allowed and perhaps expected to sit through the careful positioning of furniture. Similarly the seating which is provided inside the Mezquita’s open courtyard space is carefully positioned and has a clear defination of use. The small 9m x 9m public square has perhaps no intended use and yet offers a space within which insidents of meeting and activities occur. These public spaces offer themselves as a welcome break along a given path. The steps found in Granada Cathedrals public exterior space were intended as a means of passage yet the public nature of the space has led to spontanious acts occuring, which are not confined to given time periods. The use of the steps as seating and similarly the smooth ground surface as a means of public furniture, examples of which can be seen on the photographs below, are clear tools in enebaling the space to function. The use of trees within the Mezquita’s contained open space is another tool which enables the space to function in the controlled manner it does. The lime trees positioned at intersecting points along a grid enable the spaces created to be used by individuals in an individual manner yet being part of the collective. In this way it may be seen how a public space on an individual scale is created within an open space. Perhaps a best example of the complexity which characterises the identification of both open and public spaces.

Scale 1:10

Scale 1:500