When I visit a foreign city, it is the public spaces and shared experiences that I remember, as much as the façades or interiors of individual buildings.

Architecture is not about buildings viewed in isolation, but about the experience of cityscapes, about how buildings respond to topography, frame space and create the structure of cities. I love the way that narrow alleyways, with the sunshine turned to shadow on buildings, pavements and pedestrians, suddenly explode into the dazzling light of piazzas.

Public spaces - our streets and squares, parks and pavements -are the stages for public life; the public realm is at the heart of our life as social animals.......Continue Reading

Top image: Richard Rogers, courtesy of CNN Style

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