Public Spaces, NY - Softcover

Meredith, Michael; Sample, Hilary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3038604348 ISBN 13: 9783038604341

Publisher: Park Books, 2025

Synopsis

• New book by acclaimed New York-based architects and educators Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample
• Features their latest research on legal frameworks, private interests, and community needs shaping urban public spaces
• Highlights how public spaces can both include and exclude and reflects on the larger social and political structures that govern them
• Invites an imagination of a more inclusive, equitable vision for the shared urban spaces we all navigate

In their new book, Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample, principals of acclaimed New York-based architecture firm MOS, offer a deep dive into the ever-changing nature of public spaces, revealing their complexity, instability, and contested nature. Through a focused examination of New York City—one of the most densely populated and symbolically charged urban environments—the volume explores how public spaces are shaped by legal frameworks, private interests, and community needs.

Drawing on historical context, legal principles, and detailed mapping of Manhattan's public spaces, Meredith and Sample illustrate how spaces like parks, sidewalks, plazas, and even cemeteries serve as arenas for expression, conflict, and negotiation. From anti-homeless measures to inaccessible infrastructure: they highlight the ways in which public spaces can both include and exclude, reflecting the larger social and political structures that govern them.

A sequel to their precious Vacant Spaces, NY (2021), Public Spaces, NY invites an imagination of a more inclusive, equitable vision for the shared urban spaces we all navigate.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample are the founder-principals of MOS, an internationally renowned architecture firm based in New York. Meredith also teaches as a Professor of Architectural Design and serves as Associate Dean at Princeton University's School of Architecture. Sample is the IDC Professor of Housing Design and Sequence Director of the Core Architecture Studios at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Park Books
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3038604348
• ISBN 13: 9783038604341
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 632