Urban beach

Urban beach

An urban beach, or urbeach, [ [http://www.eyetap.org/~isaacharris/paper.pdf The development of urban renewable energy at the ETRC] ] is defined as a space that includes an intellectually, artistically, or culturally sophisticated water feature that is also an aquatic play area, and is located within a culturally or artistically significant area of a city. In this sense, urbeaches differ from the splash pads and "spraygrounds" that are also found in city centers, in the sense that the urbeach aquatic play area is designed to appeal to people of all ages, not just to children. In this sense, the urbeach has taken on a social function similar to the village well, pump, or the social dynamics of the watercooler. Typically urbeaches are important architectural landmarks that run 24 hours per day, for most or all of the year, not merely playgrounds that run only during the day. [http://www.readingt.readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/comments/3579/ Reading Cities] , 2006-12-07]

Many cities include more than one urbeach. For example, Toronto has four urbeaches: a rooftop urbeach on the roof of the Existential Technology Research Center (ETRC); [http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S136403210500002X doi:10.1016/j.rser.2004.11.006] ] Dundas Square; The Teluscape Hydraulophone facility and water maze; and, most recently, the HTO project.

Urbeaches may include sand, but many do not include sand, since urbeaches are often in civic spaces where large numbers of people pass through or where sand would otherwise cause problems. Urbeaches may be used for beach-like activities in a city space that would not usually allow for those activities. Urbeaches need not be built close to a natural body of water but almost always consist of some water feature that is suitable for aquatic play as at least one of its uses.

Differently from a waterpark where people go mainly for aquatic play, an urban beach is a multi-use space where people can engange in several activities such as sunbathing, relaxation, reading, aquatic play (to swim or to frolic in a water feature), walking, or jogging. An urban beach is a playful and relaxing place in the inner city where people can wear beach attire and splash around without being in violation of the laws and standards of appropriateness that otherwise may exist within the formal downtown setting.

Origins

Perhaps the first large urban beach was created in North Adams, Massachusetts by artist Eric Rudd. In July 1999, 250,000 pounds of sand were brought in to a narrow historic street, curb to curb, for the entire block for the first Eagle Street Beach event. Hundreds of families came out to make sand sculptures, and prizes were handed out. Many regional newspapers wrote about the event. This one-day urban beach event has continued for ten years and is an annual event in the city of North Adams.

An important seminal work in urbeach culture was that of William Masie, associate professor of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who created an exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art PS1 space, entitled "Playa Urbana", which explored the sensuality of "surf" and "surface". [http://www.arch.rpi.edu/faculty/playa2002.htm Playa Urbana / Urban Beach (2002)] ] Masie's work builds upon a tradition at MoMA's PS1 space of challenging the traditional boundary between the formalism of a gallery/museum and the playfulness of a beachlike space in the museum in which shirts and shoes are not required.

:The central element of the project is a group of three shallow reflecting and wading pools made of foam covered by plastic with a phosphorescent sheen....When unoccupied, the surface of the still water reflects the light and color of the sky, uniting the natural and urban landscapes....Walls made of evenly spaced PVC tubing undulate throughout the courtyard in shapes that echo waves, providing shade. In the smaller courtyard is an enclosure in which visitors can shower.

MoMA is largely responsible for the introduction of the concept of blending beach culture with formal "high culture" by introducing a number of courtyard exhibits in 2000, 2001, and 2002, of which Masie's work is one example.

An important philosophical dimension of the urban beach is to challenge the pre-conceived notion that formal civic life/work and play should be separated. Whereas traditionally playgrounds are relegated to areas apart from the more formal cultural, civic, and business core of a city, urbeaches like Playa Urbana, Dundas Square, and Teluscape break down this boundary by thrusting aquatic play right into the epicenter of formal civic life.

ustainable development

The use of silicon instead of sand was explored as an artistic design element and architectural concept in which an urban beach has recently been reported in the literature, in which flexible photovoltaic roof membranes provide electricity from building "skin". Since silicon and sand are related, silicon provides the clean grit-free medium for the beach surface.

Controversy

Urbeach culture often challenges the formalism of the city, and the traditional "separation of work and play" ideal (i.e. that work/business areas and playground/waterplay areas should be separated). One common concern is that people in beach attire (i.e. people in swimsuits or their underwear) might not be in keeping with the implicit formal dress code of the urban space in which the urbeach is located. However, current trends are toward making the city fun, rather than formal. In the past, there has also been a common belief that architectural landmark fountains are to be seen but not played in. Dundas Square, for example, underwent an adjustment period in which the security staff thought that the fountains were only decorative and thus kept people from playing in them, when in fact the space was originally designed and envisioned by Brown and Storey architects and artist Dan Euser as an urbeach. [ [http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/articles2(4)/urbeach.pdf People Watching People Watchers] , Surveillance and Society, Vol2, No4]

Recently, amid plans to upgrade the fountain in Washington Square Park, City Councilmember Alan Gerson threatened to withdraw $16 million dollars in funding if any restrictions were made that would prohibit people from continuing the age-old tradtion of playing in the fountain, or if any changes were made to the fountain that would make it less desirable, safe, or suitable to play in. [ [http://www.thevillager.com/villager_143/gersonmaypullfunds.html Gerson may pull funds if fountain is no-play zone] , The Villager, Volume 75, Number 36 | January 25-31, 2006]

HtO controversy

The city of Toronto recently created a park near Lake Ontario, with signage indicating that it is an "Urban Beach", as well as a website that indicates it provides direct access to the water. Whereas the original plan was to have stairs going down into the water so that people could put their feet in the water, this plan was changed so that it now has no water access, thus, technically, HtO is not an Urban Beach in the sense that it has neither access to natural water, nor to any aquatic play features. Numerous critical articles have appeared, such as Christopher Hume's article that appeared in the Special Issue of spacing magazine on the theme of Water::Toronto's willingness to settle for second rate will condemn the city's waterfront to mediocrity, a process that has sadly already started. [Christopher Hume, "Water affront", spacing, pp24-26]

Much of this controversy arises from the difference between what HTO promises to deliver, and what it actually is. For example, the city's own press releases refer to it as a beach [ [http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/it/newsrel.nsf/9da959222128b9e885256618006646d3/7f91745eedbb2c6e852572f40058cb4f?OpenDocument Toronto residents gain new access to waterfront through HTO Park] ] and describe it as having access to the water by terraces. [http://www.toronto.ca/harbourfront/hto_design.htm The winning design: HTO] ]

Also promised is a collection of water features::A series of connected water elements will accentuate the theme of water returning to its source. Each element will be programmed to celebrate the intrinsic qualities of water. These include motion activated sprays, steam and fog, variations in colour and coloured ice.

urveillance

Natural beaches provide some measure of privacy in the sense that, although crowded, an individual bather (sunbather or person swimming or frolicking in the water) is afforded some form of symmetrical privacy in the sense that most of the others present are also bathers. The culture at natural beaches tends to have a negative view of both surveillance [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3798705.stm Australia's lifeguards go hi-tech] , BBC News, 2004 June 14] and sousveillance (i.e. those who come only to watch or take pictures). [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Charges-dropped-against-camera-phone-duo/2005/04/05/1112489474842.html Sydney Morning Herald] , April 5, 2005]

Video surveillance on natural beaches has been a controversial topic, as natural beaches have often offered some seclusion and a sense of privacy outside the urban core. However, urbeaches fall more within the surveillance-based tradition of city centers, where sousveillance is mostly unstoppable.

wimwear

Misunderstandings often create strange rules on certain urbeaches that do not normally apply on natural beaches or in waterparks. For example, at PPG Place, swimwear is not allowed::On a visit to the fountain recently, however, we got more of a chill than we were expecting. According to a security officer who approached us, individuals must wear street clothes. No swim attire -- even for small children -- is permitted. We were surprised because our children in the past had worn swimsuits there. The officer indicated the rules are out of respect to the tenants of PPG Place. [ [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06208/708899-110.stm "Policy all wet"] , Paula Cerrone, Thursday, July 27, 2006, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Design

Some urban beaches consist of an area of beach sand and beach furniture with a park and grass area adjacent to them in order to recreate a beachlike environment similar to a natural beach.

However, many urbeaches are instead surfaced in specially textured and easy-to-clean granite, crumb rubber, or other materials that provide a clean grit-free and grime-free alternative to beach sand. Therefore they can be used without necessarily needing to clean oneself afterwards. These "clean" (sand-free) urban beaches can be enjoyed spontaneously for a few minutes, unlike natural beaches or oceans, lakes, pools and waterparks that usually involve planning a day trip. For example, a trip to an urban beach might be as short as a minute or two when people run through the sprinklers to cool off, and then proceed on to another activity. Urbeaches have the unique attribute of facilitating visits as short as a minute or two as people walk through the space as they take a short-cut through a part of a city. Because urbeaches are often located in a civic center or as part of the main entrance to a building, many see continuous traffic. For example, the main architectural centerpiece of the Teluscape urban beach is an aquatic play feature that is located right in the center of the main walkway leading into one of Canada's landmark architecture sites, the Ontario Science Centre. Because of the high foot traffic right through the center of this urban beach, the introduction of sand is not practical.

Urban beaches provide an urban oasis that is often incorporated directly into what is known colloquially as the city's "concrete jungle". Urbeaches afford places to relax, contemplate and congregate. Ideally they are located within walking distance of workplaces, so that users can spend their lunch hour there to enjoy a break from the city. Typically water features also create white noise that masks the sounds of traffic and other city noises.

Urbeaches can also have spray features such as fine mist, which are designed to be moderate enough for young children to play in. Other urban beaches have more vigorous splash fountains designed for older children and adults, e.g. for joggers or concert goers to cool off. The splash fountain in Toronto's city center, Dundas Square, features 600 spray nozzles that shoot water straight up through stainless steel grilles set right in the middle of the main walkway. The nozzles rise and fall in unison, like the waves on a beach, so there are times when the water level is low enough for children to also play in the water. The heights of all the fountains rise and fall in unison, in a sinusoidally time varying manner, so that users can wait for the fountains to reach a desired height before passing through them.

The Dundas Square fountains are maintained to a high quality of cleanliness("pool water or better" standards, according to the maintainers of the facility) because, unlike most city center fountains, these were designed for waterplay, in addition to their excellent architectural beauty and effect (soothing city noise-masking). Special nonslip granite slabs were installed to ensure the safety of children and adults alike who splash in the water.

List of urban beaches available for public use

* [http://wearcam.org/osc/opening/ FUNtain Hydraulophone, the centerpiece out in front of the Ontario Science Centre/TELUSCAPE, an aquatic play space consisting of a fountain that is also a hydraulophone]
* [http://www.arch.rpi.edu/projects/faculty/massie/ New York's urban beach with sunbathing and waterplay areas, as well as a wading pool in the courtyard of the Contemporary Art Center]
*Jamison Square: [http://northwest.construction.com/features/archive/0405_Feature1.asp On a busy summer day, Jamison Square in Portland's Pearl District draws people of all ages from all parts of the city.]
*Dundas Square, located at Yonge and Dundas streets in the heart of downtown Toronto
* [http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/harbourfront/hto_design.htm Proposed urban beach at Harbourfront to include motion-activated waterplay fountains]
*Paris Plage - [http://www.memyi.us/2004/07/beautiful_urban.html Temporary urban beach constructed right in the middle of the busiest street in the city of Paris, with sprinklers, and a swimming pool set up to provide a bathing area in the street]
* [http://qa.newyork.construction.com/projects/03_BestOf/HudsanRiverPark.asp Hudson River Park] , within the [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/press_releases/press_releases.php?id=16911 Greenwich Segment] which includes:
** [http://www.wirednewyork.com/piers/pier45/ Pier at the end of New York's Christopher Street with splash pad]
**Pier 45 sunning lawn with shade structures
**Pier 51 playground with spray showers
*Franklin Park (in or near Chicago) Millennium Exhibit: An open space between two opposite walls that spray water at random, was designed as an architectural sculpture, and has become a favorite play area.
*Martin Place in Sydney, this includes mist sprayers, water feature and an area frequently used for skating but is not a 'full' urban beach.
*There is an urban beach outside the Arkadia shopping mall in Warsaw, Poland.
*Urban beach with spray showers outside Bugis/Parco shopping centre in Bugis, Singapore.
* [http://www.readingt.readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/comments/the_urban_beach_meets_steve_manns_hydraulophone/ READING CITIES]
*Washington Square Park in New York
* [http://www.watertaxibeach.com/ Water Taxi Beach in LIC NY 11101 on the property of the Port Authority of NY and NJ.]
*Brooklyn Bridge Park Beach operated from July 4th of 2007 through Labor Day Weekend of 2007 as pilot project.
*Urban Beach George's Quay Plaza Dublin Dockland's in the Republic Of Ireland opened to the public in July 2008. It is all part of the major redevelopment of Dublin's Dckland's.Complete with sun lounger's,Palm tree's and Sand.

Notes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Beach furniture — is furniture designed for use with or in an urban beach or natural beach.Typically beach furniture is made of plastic, concrete, or of stainless steel.For example, the Dundas Square urbeach area includes a number of stainless steel chairs that… …   Wikipedia

  • Beach — A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of a body of water. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, or cobble. The particles of which the beach is composed can… …   Wikipedia

  • Beach (disambiguation) — A beach is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles along the shoreline of a body of water.Beach may also refer to:In architecture: *Urban beach, a portion of sand or park land located in an urban area. In literature: * Beaches… …   Wikipedia

  • Urban rail in the United Kingdom — Urban rail, commuter rail, regional rail, or suburban rail, plays a key role in the public transport system of many of the United Kingdom s major cities. Urban rail is defined as a rail service between a central business district and suburbs or… …   Wikipedia

  • Urban contemporary — is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and… …   Wikipedia

  • Beach & Urban Premium — (Аликанте,Испания) Категория отеля: Адрес: San Francisco, 28 2, 03001 Алика …   Каталог отелей

  • Beach & Urban Attic — (Аликанте,Испания) Категория отеля: Адрес: San Francisco, 28, ático, 03001 Алик …   Каталог отелей

  • Urban golf — is a game, derived from the original game of golf, in which individual players or teams hit a ball into a hole or at a specified target using various clubs.Urban golf is currently becoming popular across the world in many varying formats. Its… …   Wikipedia

  • Urban Design Group (UDG) — offers architectural, interior, planning and urban design services to its worldwide clientele from studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and Dallas, Texas. UDG was founded in 1975 by John M. Novack, Jr., FAIA, after leaving his position as Design Director …   Wikipedia

  • Urban sprawl — Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is the spreading of a city and its suburbs over rural land at the fringe of an urban area. [http://www.sprawlcity.org/hbis/wis.html What is Sprawl?] . SprawlCity.org . Retrieved on 2008 02 07.]… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”