Public Space

Zaha Hadid's MAXXI, a public space born gated and under the electronic eye.

Why can’t public spaces be public anymore? After a fascinating weekend of conferences at the Biennale for Public Space in Rome (sponsored by INU at the ex-slaughterhouse in Testaccio), today I accompanied a group from Miami University in Ohio around contemporary Rome noting the crisis of public space. Meier’s Church at Tor Tre Teste, walled and gated. Calatrava’s Sports Center construction site; visible from afar.  Fuksas’ Nuvola. Off-limits as a construction site, of course, but who knows when it opens what access will be like. Libera’s Palazzo dei Congressi isn’t really gated (and in fact dates to before this current trend) but the rooftop garden, one of the best features,  is strictly VIP. After all, EUR is not really a neighborhood but a corporation, EUR Spa (Inc.).

At the end of the day the most frustrating place was Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI.  It’s fine for the museum to be closed on a Monday as most Italian museum’s are—recent budget cuts to culture make this understandable–but why does the PIAZZA have to be gated, closed to the public when the museum is closed? I was once told that this is because it contains art, to which I replied that Piazza Navona contains a couple of Bernini sculptures and it’s open 24/7.   At least the nearby Parco della Musica is open on days when there is no music at the Auditorium;  after all it is a public space.

The need for surveillance and control is a symptom of bigger problems in our cities, problems that can’t be addressed if we ignore the symptoms.