Public space’s normality

Exterior: Empty

Public space is what keeps city life going, claims Ibelings, and the pandemic underlines how essential it is for our social life. The lockdowns have robbed us of those casual encounters in public space, and the part of our social life that simply happens every day, unplanned, accidentally, and without anyone paying too much attention to it: the pleasure of anonymous proximity to other people, the random small talk, the brief eye contact.

Cuypers passage as an urban interior

The Cuypers Passage is an underpass that offers the shortest connection for cyclists, and pedestrians, between Amsterdam’s historic centre and the waterfront and the ferries to Amsterdam North. Put his way, it is just another regular piece of infrastructure that eliminates what Dutch cyclists like the least, which is being forced to make a detour. But the tunnel is not only the desired shortcut but also a remarkably dignified space.

In Defence of the European Urban Public Space

"At the basis of the European Prize for Urban Public Space lies the conviction that a well-designed and well-intended public space is conducive to bettering the lives of people and the health of society at large"

New Book on Experience Gained from the Prize

Europe City: Lessons from the European Prize for Urban Public Space is a compendium of lessons learnt from the first eight awards (2000-2014).

Middle Ground

“There is a European-wide consensus that public space contributes to the common good, and that the quality of public space can and does make a difference. This consensus is grounded in a very implicit yet fundamental belief in the values of democracy, and how they play out into public space.”