Come and get it!
‘On any campus, there should be at least ten interesting, well used public places that attract all kinds of people.’ This concept is what PPS -the project for public spaces- calls ‘The Power of Ten’. Within each place, there should be at least ten things to do, such as eating, drinking, reading, browsing, playing games, looking at art, and so on’. (http://www.pps.org).
Is our campus (becoming) such a vibrant campus? Do we have ten of such places? If I were to suggest a few, I could propose the Auditorium, our new MetaForum, and the sports centre as good candidates. I might mention the Dommel. Perhaps I should mention the market hall, but I won’t: too cold, too windy, too barren. Which places would be on your list?
Good places are unique, comfortable and meaningful: they bring people together, offer them ways to interact, make them return time and time again. They set the stage for informal get-togethers, scientific debates and help create a sense of community among us, the people at TU/e.
One process that characterises good spaces is ‘triangulation’, coined and described by William Whyte, the father of placemaking, as the phenomenon that interesting events or objects can make perfect strangers connect and interact as if they had known each other for years. Consider for instance the passing of the parade of professors on the dies.
To most communities, the culmination of these types of processes is found on the market: we love markets for numerous reasons, but most of all for being able to see others, to interact with them, and for the multitude of stimuli that tickle our senses. And because the bargaining and haggling are processes much more social than passing the register, no supermarket will ever be a better place than the market. For this reason I applaud the idea that TU/e’s Bachelor College is hosting a market to offer our freshmen a chance to rummage around through the numerous electives and elective tracks.
My vision: a hustle and bustle of the students passing endless rows of eager professors in colourful stalls calling out to them: Come and see! Come and get it! Fresh produce! SG-employees livening up the event much like street musicians around every corner. But please have it feel like your local farmer’s market, or our old-fashioned flee markets on Queen’s day, and not like one of those tourist traps you might run into during the holiday season. I want to experience the market like the pounding heart of our bachelor school community.
Discussion