A Community "Sound Cure"
Recently, while strolling through the Plaza del Sol in Madrid, I came upon this feisty group of men jazzing it up as the pre-dinner strollers passed by. They engaged people to dance with them and took great pride in their ability to freely jam without boundaries.
The festive atmosphere created not only from the community space (Oh if we only had more community spaces like Europe does here in the US!) but from the live music not only lifted the spirits of everyone there, but it also did many things sub-consciously. To me it said “It is safe here” – which was nice because I was traveling alone – as well as, “It is OK to dance and have fun!” and even “I belong and am accepted and not alone – these people will have my back if the chips are down.”
I’m trying to come up with a memory where I, while walking alone in a US city that I’ve never visited before, felt safe enough to just dance to the music. One memory of South Beach in Miami comes to mind, but oddly enough, it was to Spanish guitar.
Do you have a space, perhaps a commercial space, that could benefit from adding these subconscious vibes of safety and fun? How about creating an outdoor space that allows for spontaneous gatherings such as this?
Can we Americans learn from this perhaps? Can we design more outdoor public spaces in urban environments where spontaneous music and dance occurs? As a landscape architect and land planner myself, I say YES! I challenge all urban and land planners to think more “Euro” and I challenge all planning and redevelopment agencies to require such social spaces in new town development and redevelopments, as I feel it is the anecdote to ailments like depression and a host of other more typically “socio-American” issues. What do you think?
