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UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Embodying Civil Society in Public Space: Re-envisioning the Public Square of Mansfield, Ohio A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE in the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2005 by Seth Douglas Wilschutz B. S. Architecture, University of Cincinnati, 2003 Committee Chair: Gordon Simmons Abstract Public architecture that frames civic space, enlivens political debate, and embodies democratic ideals is the focus of this thesis. In the United States, civic architecture historically sought to express the purposes and ideals of the new institutions of a representative democracy. Civic architecture further shaped and bounded the civic sphere of public discourse. The decline of the public realm in the nineteenth century has, by extension, resulted in a decline of the civic realm. This thesis investigates how civic architecture can best reflect and embody, represent and nurture, a civil society appropriate to a twenty-first century representative democracy, while seeking to frame a contemporary civic realm. The analysis continues to the symbolic and spatial evocations of civil society ideals within American architecture, and an investigation into the changing concepts of civic architecture. Finally, the design project seeks to express and realize such civil society ideals through an urban design project for the public square of Mansfield, Ohio, and the design of a new county courthouse. Wilschutz 1 Table of Contents List of Illustrations & Diagrams.........................................................................3 Introduction.......................................................................................................10 PART I: Public Space, Civil Society, Democracy, & Architecture 1: Declining Civic Realms and the Importance of Civic Architecture ..........14 2: The Public and Civic Realms Inherited.......................................................22 Historical Developments: The Greek Agora.....................................................................24 The Public Realm in Early American History....................................................................28 The Contemporary Crisis of Public Space .......................................................................32 Emerging Technologies and Virtual Space ......................................................................34 Imagery in Civic Place Making .........................................................................................37 3: Civil Society and Civic Realism...................................................................46 Civil Society ......................................................................................................................46 Civic Realism....................................................................................................................51 4: Civic Realism and Democracy in Practice..................................................60 The Piazza del Campo, Siena..........................................................................................62 The National Mall, Washington, D.C. ...............................................................................74 Santa Barbara County Courthouse ..................................................................................85 Marin County Civic Center................................................................................................93 Wilschutz 2 PART II: Re-envisioning the Public Square of Mansfield, Ohio 5: Mansfield and its Public Square................................................................102 Early History .................................................................................................................. 108 The Court Houses of Richland County.......................................................................... 109 Demographics and Social Conditions ........................................................................... 116 Civic Realism in Mansfield............................................................................................. 121 6: Program for a County Courthouse............................................................131 Program Summary ........................................................................................................ 131 Space Requirements ..................................................................................................... 133 Conclusion ......................................................................................................148 Works Cited.....................................................................................................152 Wilschutz 3 List of Illustrations & Diagrams Introduction 0.1 The Plaça dels Paϊsos Catalans, Barcelona ............................... 10 (University of Virginia School of Architecture [online]) 0.2 Siena’s Piazza del Campo and Palazzo Pubblico ...................... 11 (Photograph by QT Luong/terragalleria.com, used with permission.) 0.3 Mansfield’s Public Square .......................................................... 12 (Photograph by author.) Part I: Public Space, Civil Society, Democracy & Architecture 1: Declining Civic Realms & the Importance of Civic Architecture 1.1 Boston City Hall and Plaza ......................................................... 14 (Bennett, 67) 1.2 Shopping Mall, Connecticut ....................................................... 16 (AP Photograph, Bob Child, 1997, used with permission.) 1.3 Franklin Square Park, Philadelphia ............................................ 16 (AP Photograph, H. Rumph, Jr,1997, used with permission.) 1.4 Revolution Square, Romania, 1989 ........................................... 16 (The Embassy of Romania to the Kingdom of Norway [online]) 1.5 University of Virginia Academic Village ...................................... 19 (University of Virginia Library [online]) 2: The Public and Civic Realms Inherited 2.1 Detail, Flagellation of Christ, Piero della Francesca, 1455 ......... 22 (Courtesy of ARTstor Digital Library.) 2.2 Greek Agora Model .................................................................... 24 (Jencks, 11) 2.3 Reconstruction of the Bouleterion .............................................. 24 (Jencks, 13) 2.4 Athenian Agora Plan, c. 300 B.C. .............................................. 26 (Suzanne [online]) Wilschutz 4 2.5 Independence Square, Kiev, Ukraine ........................................ 27 (AP Photograph, used with permission.) 2.6 Governor’s Palace Portico, Santa Fe ......................................... 28 (Greenspun [online], used with permission.) 2.7 Jackson Square, New Orleans ................................................... 28 (Photograph by Gary Pirnat, used with permission.) 2.8 Mansfield Sanborne Fire Insurance Map, 1850 ......................... 29 (Henney, 92) 2.9 US Capitol, West Façade ........................................................... 30 (Courtesy of ARTstor Digital Library.) 2.10 Shopping Mall, Connecticut ....................................................... 30 (AP Photograph, Bob Child, 1997, used with permission.) 2.11 Salon in the Rue des Moulins, Toulouse-Lautrec, 1894 ............ 32 (Courtesy of ARTstor Digital Library.) 2.12 Kennedy-Nixon Debates, 1960 .................................................. 32 (Courtesy of ARTstor Digital Library.) 2.13 View of National Mall Looking East, 1989 .................................. 36 (Longstreth, 246) 2.14 Corridors Diagram ...................................................................... 39 (Vale, 424) 2.15 Traces Diagram .......................................................................... 40 (Vale, 428) 2.16 Watches Diagram ....................................................................... 41 (Vale, 432) 2.17 Mount Vernon ............................................................................. 41 (Digital Library Federation Academic Image Cooperative, courtesy of ARTstor Digital Library.) 2.18 Ways Diagram ........................................................................... 41 (Vale, 435) 2.19 Boston State House ................................................................... 42 (Courtesy of ARTstor Digital Library.) Wilschutz 5 3: Civil Society and Civic Realism 3.1 Civil Society Diagram ................................................................. 46 (Diagram by author.) 3.2 Civil Society Developmental Roles Diagram .............................. 48 (Diagram by author.) 3.3 Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park, London ....................................... 49 (Photograph by Günter Krumme, used with permission.) 3.4 Skating in Central Park, New York City, 1890 ............................ 53 (Courtesy of ARTstor Digital Library.) 3.5 Civil Society Normative Dimensions Diagram ............................ 56 (Diagram by author.) 3.6 Civil Society Balancing Tests Diagram ....................................... 56 (Diagram by author.) 4: Civic