Shrinking Cities

I was invited recently to speak at the Design Conversation meeting in October. This month’s topic will be “Shrinking Cities.”

Baltimore’s population has been declining for a decades. Once a city of more than 1 million people, it is now a mere 600,000. Vacant lots and dilapidated buildings line the city’s streets. Can we use design in creative ways to revitalize these spaces?

When posed with this question, I thought of graphic designer Stephan Sagmeister. In his book Things I have learned in my life so far, Sagmeister uses typography to show statements of life lessons.

(Stefan Sagmeister, Trying to look good limits my life. Part of Things I learned in my life so far series, 2004. Mixed Media.)

(Stefan Sagmeister, Complaining is silly. Either act or forget. Part of Things I learned in my life so far series, 2005. Newsprint. Lisbon, Portugal.)

What if we took our vacant spaces and used them to highlight our own statements surrounding a common theme? Rather than thinking of the empty space as a void, view it as a gallery space.

Another example is the Savannah College of Art and Design’s “Functional Follies” (1998). Twenty architectural designs were commissioned and displayed throughout the city. Most of them were temporary structures, but a few stood for several years. This work by Patrick Dougherty was built on a side of a SCAD building.

(Patrick Doughterty, Cell Division, Savannah College of Art, Savannah, Georgia, 1998.)

Dougherty’s work is usually outside, and he uses found objects to create or cover structures to make them appear as if they grew there naturally. Here are a two more of his pieces:

(Patrick Doughterty, Nine Lives, Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, Ohio, 2006)

(Patrick Doughterty, Max Azria Melrose Avenue Boutique, Los Angeles, CA.)

Lastly, what if we generated audience participation? In Anthony Gormley’s European Field, the audience assists in its creation by moulding the clay pieces and stabbing the upper portion twice with a pencil. The public ended up making little human forms that Gromley used to fill spaces. The little clay figures are very much like humans in that we are all different yet the same.

(Anthony Gormley, European Field, 1993. Terra-cotta, Östra Grevie, Sweden.)

By using these vacant spaces as a gallery, the art becomes more accessible to the public. People who wouldn’t normally think of frequenting an art museum are exposed to the art and will hopefully take a moment to think about the message it communicates. And if we go the extra step and encourage the community to participate in the work, it can function as a vehicle to help bring Baltimore together.

If you had a vacant lot or run-down building, what would you want to do with it?

Go to ShrinkingCities.com to read the research that has been conducted on other cities with declining populations. Also check out Pop Up Cleveland to read about their creative uses for vacant spaces.