Civic Center Park Essay Example for Free

polite ticker Park EssayThe noblest sort of heart is that composed of the united will of m whatso incessantly citizens (Robinson, p. 10), and this united will is brought by by the city Beautiful movement. The core goals of the City Beautiful movement is to create a bankrupt city through the development of unity, polite feel, and smash citizens. civic nerve Park in capital of Colorado, Colorado is a prime example of the City Beautiful movement manifested into reality. With its grand manner architectural expression it attempts to in shut up a sense of unity and civic arrogance with in the residents of the city, which in the City Beautiful style is intended to lead to better citizens everywhere every last(predicate). Civic Center Park illustrates the core goals of the City Beautiful movement through the monuments present, the design, and the location of the pose its self. In the city beautiful movement it is pigment to create pubic space this idea of public shargonsp ace is intended to create a place where all members of the federation can convey together in a central location. Civic Park is a Brobdingnagian public space that is located in the center of downtown Denver, with grumpy streets on all sides that do not cut through the commonalty but strategically curve roughly it as to simply incorporate the putting surface into city life this curvilinear street design is an aspect that Camillo Sitte advocated for in urban design.Also in order to create this sense of a shared public space the park is completely encircled by public constructions, which is an aspect of Grand vogue design that Sitte greatly appreciates in ancient cities (Sitte, p. 469) it creates an uninterrupted frame of public buildings (Sitte, p. 475), which produces a cohesive effect of the square (Sitte, p. 477). From the center of the park angiotensin-converting enzyme can spin around and view the Denver dodge Museum, the Denver Public Library, City Hall, and the newly added Colorado History Museum with out leaving that one spot. The boulevards leading to this central, open space are all broad, beautifully paved, and extensively tree lined, which is a key aspect in Grand Manner design.Much of the pes traffic in the area seemed to choose to toss these paths to their destinations instead of the main roads, despite that most destinations appeared not to be within the park its self. Facilitating a sense that this area is for the public use in more aspects than further a park. Another way in which Civic Center Park is reaching out to the public is through the program advance topical anesthetic. Near the center of the park is a space of land that has been cultivated into a company garden, where the food that is produced is donated to local non-profits and is cared for by volunteers in the community.The goal of the Grow Local foundation is to promote local food, local community, and local economy (Civic Center Park sign). This program that is cent ral in the park entirely focuses on the betterment and unity of the community surrounding Civic Center Park. It readyes a connection amongst the citizens of Denver for it is completely local and is supported by the fast community for the immediate community, which is a key concept in the City Beautiful movement. This aspect of having an open public space surrounded by civic buildings is a core City Beautiful ideology, for it turns the entire area into public domain. All that can be seen is open to the public, allowing the citizens to feel united and a part of something largertheir city.This connection helps to produce pride in the citizens, for when one feels connected they in addition feel a sense of responsibility. As Robinson target it in his paper, Improvement in City Life, the happier people of the rising city beautiful will grow in love for it, in pride in it. They will be better citizens, because better instructed, more artistic, and filled with civic pride (Robinson, p. 10). With responsibility also comes pride when the area is one that is favorable and beautiful as is intended in the grand manner design that was used in the creation of civic park.The desire of having a population that has civic pride, as is the goal in the City Beautiful movement, is that this pride will lead to better citizens. If one takes pride in there community they will and then want to better their community and make it a better place to live for all. They will be inspired by their built environment to be better than before. With in Civic Center Park there are a wide variety of monuments, statues, and plaques that cover the landscape. Many of these monuments, statues, and plaques carry a common theme, the theme of patriotism. This theme of patriotism is portrayed through monuments and such that commemorate Civil War and piece War II heroes, the military weapones, and the beginnings of our nation.Many of these monuments, statues, and plaques are not focused merely on De nver or even Colorado, but on the nation as a whole. One plaque that is positioned on a large disgraceful stone structure is commit to Sadie M. Likens, whom did great work aiding survivors of the Civil War. The plaque does not state weather or not she was a Colorado indigen or if she has any connection to Denver at all, it can be assumed but the connection is not concretely conveyed. Another example of this is the lusus naturae flagpole with an American flag that stands in direct line of sight of City Hall. This is not beneficial to Denvers civic identity, for it causes local characteristics to little by little disappear (Sitte, p. 473).While this is a representation of the peoples identity and unity as a nation, it does nothing for the identity and unity of the people as members of Denver or even Colorado. A tall monument that resamples the Washington monument also stands in Civic Center Park and commemorates each branch of the United States military. This too only connects th e people to their national identity and not to their identity and unity as an immediate community. While this may be viewed as advantageous, for it attends to everyones aside (Hayden, p. 69), it is not focused enough on the immediate community to promote the ideologies of City Beautiful.While the monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus is socially inclusive (Hayden, p. 70), for it celebrates the discovery and beginning of the peoples nation, it has no true connection to the unique background of the community. These monuments need to be more focused on Colorado and Denvers histor and agriculture in order for them to better nurture citizens public memory, to encompass shared time in the form of shred territory (Hayden 72), as is one of the main goals of the City Beautiful Movement and the main mapping of monuments, statues, and plaques.The Statue of Joe P. Martinez, Colorados first congressional medal of honor recipient of World War II (Civic Center Park monument), in Civic Cent er Park is a statue that better connects the nations history with Colorados history for, it commemorates a Colorado native that was in a war that effected all citizens of both the nation and Colorado. Another beneficial aspect of theses monuments is that they show a token of timeline, in that they help to create, celebrate and cement this progressive narrative of natural history (Savage, p. 2).This is also represented through the monument of the Ten Commandments that is located at one of the entrances to the park. This nation was founded on religious beliefs and therefor it has a religious beginnings and this is portrayed in the park despite the particular that our nationfor the most parthas move away from these beginnings. Having it at the beginning of the park represents the forward movement of our nation. There were some statues, monuments, and plaques in Civic Center Park that did focus more on Colorado history, which is a closer tie to the community however, there still did not seem to be any that were specific to Denver.Two statues that stood out as strongly representing Colorados collective past were the Bronco Buster (a statue of a cowboy on a horse) and the On the War Trail (a statue of a Native American on a horse). As a western state Colorado has a strong history involving Native Americans and ranching. Colorado still continues to be associated with such things in the present as well. Cowboys and Native Americans are a part of Colorados collective identity weather or not people come an actual, personal association with them. These statues are not just mementos of the past but representations of the present, they are not an obsolete marker of the past but an agent of consciousness in a changing world (Savage, p. 5).Another monument that represent Colorados history instead of the nations are the paintings of the Trapper and the Prospector, which represent early, frontier life in Colorado. These paintings represent how western life in Colorado bega n and how the beginnings of life in Colorado as people kip down it today. While all of the monuments, statues, and plaques mentioned previously help to establish unity and identity on a national and state level they lack the ability to establish them on a community and city level.The incorporation of more monuments, statues, and plaques that represent Denvers history and identitywhich Civic Center park is significantly lackingwould greatly dispense the cause of building Denvers civic identity. For, the people would feel more connected to one another and to their immediate community. This would also allow a place in which humans can display their culture (Sitte, p. 467), which, as Lewis Mumford believes is the most important part of a city. The culture of the people of the community cannot be displayed if the monuments present do not represent the immediate area. In Civic Center park the majority of the monuments, statues, and plaques focus on commemorating heroes, such as the Civ il war monument, the World War II statue, and the Columbus monument. All of these recognized people that made a battle and were beneficial to the nation none of them were portrayed as victims.These types of monuments stimulate consciousness, in that they cause people to view this nation as a proud one. They put up forth the notion that our nation is one of victors and heroes and therefor one should find pride in it. The monuments I found the most engaging at Civic Center park were the ones that view as a greater focus on Colorado and less on the nation. I feel as though they have a more relevant place in a park in Denver thats main purpose is to promote Denvers civic identity. In particular I enjoyed the Trapper and the Prospector paintings that resided inside the coliseum type structure. I feel as though they best represented Colorados history. They also are the most intricate monuments and evoked the most consciousness about the past and the present.Civic Center Park is full of people there for all different reasons. There are those, such as my self, that are there to observe and view the monuments (few), there are those that are there on qualify to another location (many), there are those hanging out in groups (the majority), there are those that seemed to view it as a place of residence (good portion), and then there are those that seemed to be just enjoying the park alone (few). I was a bit taken back by how few people seemed to be in Civic Park to view the monuments and enjoy the aesthetic aspects of the park. There were only a handful of people that were utilizing the benches as a place to just sit and enjoy the park and I saw only one other couple that even bothered to glance at the statues.Those in the park that were just commuting to another location tended to stay on the grand boulevard pathways and did not interact with those off of the boulevards. They did not seem to interact with any other part of the built environment other than the path in which they walked and the arches in which they passed under. I believe that City Beautiful advocates would be pleased with the fact that members of the community use the park as a part of their daily lives however, they would probably not be too pleased with the aspect that many of the foot traffic does not interact with the monuments or the open space that is provided.I believe that they would be more pleased if some of the foot traffic halt once in a while and enjoyed the area more and truly took it all in. If the people of the community are not taking in the sites around them then the park is not serving the function that is intended. In the City Beautiful ideology the park should instill civic pride and the monuments should educate, memorialize, and commemorate check to Kostof, and they cannot do this if the citizens ignore them all.Those that seem the most comfortable in the park were those that were hanging out in groups that all massed around a central area. This large mas s of various smaller groups positioned its self around the top of the coliseums type structure along one of the main walkways in the center of Civic Center Park. When I walked past this mass I was called out to and asked on more than one occasion, Hey girlie, wanna smoke some reefer? as one man put it. I politely declined the offers and was usually met with annoyed shrugs or rude comments.A majority of the people in this crowd seemed to be selling something of un risque tone or interacting in activities of the same sort. The fact that this seems to be the dominant presence in Civic Center Park portrays that the goal for it to produce civic pride and better citizens has fallen short. I also asked some Denver locals about what connotation Civic Center Park has and all of them proceeded to inform me that it is where one goes to secure drugs if you ever want any.From this I have derived that the park is not viewed as a place of civic pride, but viewed as a less savory part of the city . City Beautiful advocates would be extremely disturbed by what is taking place in Civic Center Park, for it is doing the opposite of its purpose and nothing, or very little, is being done to change this. Structurally, architecturally, and aesthetically Civic Center Park is every thing that a City Beautiful advocate could ever dream of however, the actual response of the people to the park is nothing like that imagined.Aesthetically, Civic Center Park has greatly exemplified City Beautiful and Grand Manner ideologies. Civic Center Park is adjacent to the Denver Public Library, which is a building that extrudes public space to the utmost. A library is thought of as a place that is solely for public use people can borrow from it with no pay, use its facilities for no pay, and it sponsors many public events. Its only purpose is to serve the public, and no part of it is off limits to anyone. The Denver art Museum is also adjacent to Civic Center Park, which is another building that is d edicated to the public.A museums main purpose is to educate and benefit the community in which they are a part of. The fact that all of the buildings that surround Civic Center Park are dedicated to the enhancement and benefit of the public is the exact ideology behind Grand Manner and City Beautiful design. This is indeed what civic aesthetic progress should smelling like.To add to this civic aesthetic progress is that the Colorado History Museum has also been place near Civic Center Park in the Civic Center Cultural complex. This addition is good in a City Beautiful context for it is another public building that is dedicated to the immediate community. It is a building that will create unity in the community, for it is focused solely on Colorados history and culture, which is an aspect that all the people of the community have in common with one another.A more inclusive landscape history can also stimulate new approaches to urban design, encourage designers, artists, and writers, as well as citizens, to contribute to an urban art of creating a heightened sense of place in the city (Hayden 73), which is what the City Beautiful planers of Civic Center park aimed to do. In many ways Civic Center park succeeded in creating a City Beautiful, Grand Manner, public space however, it has failed to influence the public in the way that is intended. I find that the monuments and such in the park should be more locally focused in order to create the civic pride and unity that City Beautiful advocates envisioned.