The circle

Category: public open space. Subcategory: plazas and squares. Rotary, circle, and circus identify urban spatial elements associated with circular traffic movement. The first tends to occur towards the Rural end of the Transect, the last towards the Urban Core, while variations on the circle occur in between. Circle and circus differ in important ways. The concave building faces around a circus (see June issue) create a spatially stable place with center emphasis, while those around a circle are convex, emphasizing not a common space, but themselves as an independent mass. A circle balances movement and placeness. The idealized drawing (right) depicts a particular point on the Transect with sufficient mass to define a place. The space flows outward — thus this is a circle. The number of entering streets may increase (Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, has eight), or the circle diameter may be reduced. In these cases the building faces become the "prows" of flatiron buildings, and space is not automatically perceptible. In a circle, therefore, centroidal civic art, such as fountains and obelisks are required. The intrinsic individuality of the buildings around a circle lends itself best to multiple architects, while a circus is best when all buildings are designed by a single hand. The visual effect of both circus and circle is so strong and memorable that they are best used sparingly for orientation within the urban fabric.