ENGAGING SPACES

I have been looking at ideas and ways to design space within parks to engage people. Playgrounds is an obvious one for children, but I am also finding other examples that invite people.. The examples I found for spaces which successfully invite peoples attention all had something in common. There was an interesting element about these spaces, each of these parks or spaces created an experience out of the ordinary, changing the everyday context that the environment might otherwise be experienced in. This promise of a different experience is drawing people to the place and appealing to them to interact with the space. Some examples of successful spaces involve an unexpected scale, others unexpected forms. In the example shown in the lecture, the New York Highline park, the ordinary context is changed.. the park exists on an old railway. It is risen above the city and the park is enjoyed from a very different perspective than ordinary.