Design Rules

Best of all, this space encourages human theater, with the lawn in the center functioning as a stage that's encircled by walkways and benches. People who sit on the lawn are the players. Those who linger at the periphery are the audience. At lunchtime, the place is packed.

But the beauty of Post Office Square isn't simply that it's a destination, a place for people seeking a shady spot to eat lunch: It's also a crossroads -- a welcoming, accessible concourse where people's paths converge. You could be going about your business, and suddenly you happen on this wonderful refuge. The opportunity to take a moment to rest and to sit quietly in nature, or to watch the human theater around you -- those are the things that the best public spaces provide.

Alex Krieger (akrieger@gsd.harvard.edu) has designed the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Art. Most recently, he created a design for a new Fenway Park in Boston.