What Bambi can teach us about Placemaking
People dance in the dark - darkness is a security blanket.
- Questlove
There were approximately 7,000 young-minded, fun-spirited people on the promenade on Valentine's Day. I always feel safe + well-cared for (shout-out to DTSM, Legion Security + Block by Block) because hospitality is always on point.
If you are around downtown at all, ever, get to know the city's ambassadors - they are super helpful and know all the word on the street. Our safety + fun is their number one concern. Fist bumps and high fives are always appreciated.
While watching Questlove's masterclass, he said that darkness is the dance floor. Like, people will not dance until it's too dark to watch each other.
While it can't ever get quite that dark on the promenade (safety first!), it does provide an intimate enough environment for all three blocks to host three different DJ platforms and audiences.
I spent my Valentine's Day walking up and down the promenade for 4.5 hours, listening to multiple DJs.
Are you kidding me? That's every music lover's dream.
There was plenty of space to roam while the intimacy quandrants or linger nodes - the stage area vinguettes - in placemaking, the intimacy gradient - still held enough space to be bobbing your head and dancing closely while also providing enough space for the clausterphobic types to dance on the fringes.
There was a dance floor for everybody. Dogs. Kids. Whole families. The wheelchair people. People on bikes. All the people.
Those in town for the NBA All-Star weekend popped by for a while. Those stuck in traffic could bop their way about town, and others on dates bobbed their heads to their next location. Even though someone set MEAT on fire over on Ocean Ave. and all the fire trucks and cops were down the street, the fun seemed to continue seamlessly.
Unless the spaces in a building are arranged in a sequence which corresponds to their degree of privacy, the visits made by strangers, friends, guests, clients, and family will always be a little awkward.
It's the same reason Bambi trodded through the forest in the pattern that they did. The forest gave Bambi structure.
In the woods, Bambi could see in layers. Trees block the view in places. The canopy makes the space feel lower. Clearings appear and disappear slowly. You can look around without everyone seeing you. You can stick to the edges or step out, choosing how much you want to be seen.
The prairie doesn't offer any of that. Everything looks the same. There are no edges or places to hide. You are completely exposed. Bambi learned to avoid the meadow. Instead, Bambi sticks to safe paths, moves along the edges, and slips between sheltered spots.
The prairie makes you feel like you have to perform.
The forest lets you join in at your own pace.
Mandy Z.
President, Animated Minds
A Pattern Language: The Psychology of Space
Square Formation
What Bambi can teach us about Placemaking p. 602
610 (127) intimacy gradient
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