The editors of The Ecologist have a similar intuition about the proper size for units of local government. (See their Blueprint for Survival, Penguin Books, 1972, pp. 50-55.) And Terence Lee, in his study, “Urban neighborhood as a socio-spatial schema,” Ekistics 777, August 1970, gives evidence for the importance of the spatial community. Lee gives 75 acres as a natural size for a community. At 25 persons per acre, such a community would accommodate some 2000 persons; at 60 persons per acre, some 4500.
2. The visible location of local government. Even when local
build outdoor details to finish the outdoors as fully as the indoor sfaces ;
241. SEAT SPOTS
242. FRONT DOOR BENCH
243. SITTING WALL
244. CANVAS ROOFS
245. RAISED FLOWERS
246. CLIMBING PLANTS
247. PAVING WITH CRACKS BETWEEN THE STONES
248. SOFT TILE AND BRICK
I I 17
| 241 SEAT SPOTS** |
|---|
 |
1118
. . . assume that the main structure of the building is complete. To make it perfectly complete you need to build in the details of the gardens and the terraces around the building. In some cases, you will probably have laid out the walls and flowers and seats, at least in rough outline; but it is usually best to make the final decisions about them after the building is really there—so that you can make them fit the building and help to tie it into its surroundings—path shape (121), activity pockets (124), PRIVATE TERRACE ON THE STREET (140), BUILDING EDGE ( I 60) , SUNNY PLACE ( I 6 I ) , OUTDOOR ROOM (163), CONNECTION TO THE EARTH (l68), TRELLISED WALK ( I 74) , GARDEN SEAT ( I 76) , etC.
First, the outdoor seats, public and private.
Where outdoor seats are set down without regard for view and climate, they will almost certainly be useless.
We made random spot checks on selected benches in Berkeley, California, and recorded these facts about each bench: Was it occupied or empty? Did it give a view of current activity or not? Was it in the sun or not? What was the current wind velocity? Three of the eleven benches were occupied; eight were empty.
At the moment of observation, all three occupied benches looked onto activity, were in the sun, and had a wind velocity of less than 1.5 feet per second. At the moment of observation, none of the eight empty benches had all three of these characteristics. Three of them had shelter and activity but no sun; three of them had activity but no sun, and wind greater than 3 feet per second; two of them had sun and shelter but no activity.
A second series of observations compared the numbers of old people sitting in Union Square at 3:00 p.m. on a sunny day with the number at 3:00 p.m. on a cloudy day: 65 people on the sunny day and 21 on the cloudy day, even though the air temperature was the same on both days.
It’s obvious, of course—but the point is this—when you are going to mark in spots in your project for the location of outdoor
seats, sitting walls, stair seats, garden seats, look for places with these characteristics:
1. Benches facing directly onto pedestrian activity.
2. Benches open to the south for sun exposure during winter months.
3. A wall on those sides where the winter wind comes down.
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| New England benches. |
4. In hot climates—cover to give sun protection during the midday hours of summer months, and the bench open to the direction of the summer breeze.
Therefore:
Choosing good spots for outdoor seats is far more important than building fancy benches. Indeed, if the spot is right, the most simple kind of seat is perfect.
In cool climates, choose them to face the sun, and to be
protected from the wind; in hot climates, put them in shade
and open to summer breezes. In both cases, place them to
face activities. . „
windbreak
If these seats can be made continuous with stairs or building entrances or low walls or ballustrades, so much the better—
STAIR SEATS (125), FRONT DOOR BENCH (242), SITTING WALL
(243)* ' ' •
I I 20
| 242 FRONT DOOR BENCH* |
|---|
 |
I I 2 I
. . . seat spots (241), acting within several larger patterns, creates an atmosphere around the edge of the building which invites lingering—arcades ( i 19), building edge (160),
SUNNY PLACE ( I 6 I ) , CONNECTION TO THE EARTH ( I 68) ; it is
most marked and most important near the entrance—entrance room (130). This pattern defines a special seat spot (241): a bench which helps to form the entrance room and the building edge around the entrance. It is always important3 but perhaps most important of all, at the door of an old age cottage (155).
❖ ❖ *5*
People like to watch the street.
But they do not always want a great deal of involvement with the street. The process of hanging out requires a continuum of degrees of involvement with the street, ranging all the way from the most private kind to the most public kind. A young girl watching the street may want to be able to withdraw the moment anyone looks at her too intently. At other times people may want to be watching the street, near enough to it to talk to someone who comes past, yet still protected enough so that they can withdraw into their own domain at a moment’s notice.
The most public kind of involvement with the street is sitting out. Many people, especially older people, pull chairs out to the front door or lean against the front of their houses, either while
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| Front door benches in Peru. |
they are working at something or just for the pleasure of watching street life. But since there is some reluctance to be too public, this activity requires a bench or seat which is clearly private, even though in the public world. It is best of all when the bench is placed so that people are sitting on the edge of their world on private land—yet so placed that the personal space it creates overlaps with land that is legally public.
Therefore:
Build a special bench outside the front door where people from inside can sit comfortably for hours on end and watch the world go by. Place the bench to define a half-private domain in front of the house. A low wall, planting, a tree, can help to create the same domain.
The bench may help to make the entrance visible—main entrance (iio)j it can be part of a wall—sitting wall (243), with flowers in the sunshine next to it—raised flowers (245). Place it with care, according to the rules given in seat spots (241). . . .
1123
| 243 SITTING WALL** |
|---|
 |
I I 24
. . . if all is well, the outdoor areas are largely made up of positive spaces—positive outdoor spaces (106) ; in some fashion you have marked boundaries between gardens and streets, between terraces and gardens, between outdoor rooms and terraces, between play areas and gardens—green streets (51), pedestrian