New Thoughts (Ottawa again)
Byward Market at night.
We are complete only outside ourselves, in the human plenitude of an assembly, but we become complete only if, as we gather together, we do so in a way that responds to our intimate desires.
-Georges Bataille, “The Absense of Myth”
Shortly after my last blog entry in April, my second child arrived. While this made me too busy (and happy) to write, it gave me some time to think about cities, and wandering, notably during my commute to and from work. While moving through Ottawa, Ontario, and thinking back to my upbringing here, and some discussions with urban planners, I would like to append my previous description of what’s required to have a “wandering” city from just 'something to go and something to see along the way' as follows:
Somewhere to go and something to see along the way.
A reward for going the wrong way.
Going somewhere that wasn’t intended.
As I mentioned in my previous post about Ottawa, so many of the city’s social areas are linear. They are nice to walk along, but turn any corner and the social space is gone. Quickly, you’ll be on a street of private homes, away from the crowds, away from the activities. Between these areas of “interest” is often a space, not uninteresting, but private. This creates a disconnect between social spaces, which interrupts a wandering journey. When turning a corner yields little to nothing of similar interest as where one just was, the idea of wandering and discovering lacks a reward for happening upon something new. The lack of free wandering in a city not only discourages social movement, it also creates an urban plan based around destination-based activity. This means that you need or want something, you go to where that thing is, then leave to the next place. This is going somewhere, not being somewhere.
The difference between sdmewhere to go and somewhere to be can be described in many ways, but the simplest might be a description of how many activities people do, how many places they visit, other than what and where they set out for. It’s not about great buildings only, it’s about connections. In my work as an architect, I focus heavily on connections, and the way people move through and around places. Historically, city planning often divided activities, one from another. This is for living, that is for working, this is for fun, that is for quiet, this is public, that is private. When this is met with a focus on car and vehicular traffic, the space for people to interact is further diminished. Blurring the lines between public and private, between uses, however, has produced some of the most social, and beautiful cities in the world.
I have been communicating with the planning department in Ottawa, and the work they have been doing has been beyond fascinating. This city is working on creating connections between areas, connecting spaces by permitting and integrating a multitude of uses. Coincidentally, Ottawa has also been working diligently on improving its movability by connecting safe and useful bicycle paths, pedestrian routes that are not only interesting, but offer opportunities to various routes and discoveries, and a cross-town light rail line that will unite the city by providing quick access across a large area, and much more importantly, provide immense opportunities for neighbourhood development at nodal points. With these and other initiatives, the City of Ottawa is taking great movement towards becoming a wandering city. I’m excited to be here at this time, as part of the process.
