Design for the crowd : patriotism and protest in Union Square / Joanna Merwood-Salisbury.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Merwood-Salisbury, Joanna, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

City planning--New York (State)--New York--History--19th century.

City planning.

City planning--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

Plazas--Social aspects--New York (State)--New York.

Plazas.

Union Square (New York, N.Y.)--History.

Union Square (New York, N.Y.).

New York (N.Y.)--History.

New York (N.Y.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 pages)

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2019.

Summary:

Situated on Broadway between Fourteenth and Seventeenth Streets, Union Square occupies a central place in both the geography and the history of New York City. Though this compact space was originally designed in 1830 to beautify a residential neighborhood and boost property values, by the early days of the Civil War, New Yorkers had transformed Union Square into a gathering place for political debate and protest. As public use of the square changed, so, too, did its design. When Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux redesigned the park in the late nineteenth century, they sought to enhance its potential as a space for the orderly expression of public sentiment. A few decades later, anarchists and Communist activists, including Emma Goldman, turned Union Square into a regular gathering place where they would advocate for radical change. In response, a series of city administrations and business groups sought to quash this unruly form of dissidence by remaking the square into a new kind of patriotic space. As Joanna Merwood-Salisbury shows us in Design for the Crowd, the history of Union Square illustrates ongoing debates over the proper organization of urban space—and competing images of the public that uses it. In this sweeping history of an iconic urban square, Merwood-Salisbury gives us a review of American political activism, philosophies of urban design, and the many ways in which a seemingly stable landmark can change through public engagement and design. Published with the support of Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund.

Contents:

Introduction

An ornament to the city, 1811-1850

The altar of patriotism, 1856-1865

Olmsted and Vaux's plaza, 1865-1872

The people's forum, 1872-1886

The home of discontent, 1886-1917

City Beautiful civic center, 1898-1933

Cold War park, 1934-1965

Renewal, revitalization, and place making, 1966-1998

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780226604909

022660490X

OCLC:

1109843259