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Amy Danner, CoA/CQGRD
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Atlanta (August 31, 2009) — Benjamin R. Barber, The Nation
Despite the recent trend of carving out pedestrian space from once vehicular thruways, public space must be created and planned for. In order for it to succeed according to Barber, “public space will demand greater public investment and better understanding of the role artists and the arts play in putting such investment to imaginative uses.” This calls for greater investment, especially from artists, in shaping public spaces and putting them to imaginative uses.
Artists must contribute to this imaginative use by envisioning “a space where visitors are encouraged (but not constrained) to move in certain ways, inspired (but not forced) to use the space creatively, pulled (not pushed) to feel they are helping to shape the space even as they enjoy themselves in it.”
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's premiere research universities. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report's top 10 public universities, Georgia Tech educates more than 16,000 students every year through its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech maintains a diverse campus and is among the nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. During the 2003-2004 academic year, Georgia Tech reached $341.9 million in new research award funding.