Columbus Circle

The following pictures are focused on Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan. The circle is located at the main entrance to Central Park and is surrounded by retail, commercial and museums. What makes Columbus Circle a place instead of an ordinary space is not its surrounding but what happens within the space. In most cases buildings create the form of a place but in this case the sidewalks, monuments and fountains create the form which in turn molds the place.

Directly in the center of Columbus Circle a monument where people seat, eat lunch, watch others and bask in the sun. The base of the monument unintentionally makes ideal seating for socializing

Surrounding the monument are additional seating that, by William H. Whytes requirements for seating, are perfect for everyday use by its users. The seats are double back wide to offer multiple seating options. People can choose to face the monument or the fountain while socializing, people watching or even eating lunch.

The fountain in the Circle provides white noise to block out the vehicular traffic around the circle.

Dogs and even some human users use the fountain to cool there feet from the hot pavement.

Sidewalks on the outer circle are busy with pedestrians traveling from one place to another.

Vendors provide street life for pedestrians. They are found along side the curb of the outer circle where they are close to  pedestrians, their target buyers.

Entertainment, such as the Statue of Liberty impersonator, provide additional street life.

Off the circle pedestrian areas where put in place alongside the road. By Whytes requirements  the pedestrians are not cut off from either buildings or traffic making it a successful social place.

We must also acknowledge that the transition from Columbus Circle to Central Park is  also very busy space. There is constant movement whether it be pedestrian or rickshaw. Vendors also flank the two entrances and the low wall creates perfect seating underneath the large trees that create shade from the hot summer sun.