Urban beach

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A jogger cools off at the splash fountains in the heart of downtown Toronto at Yonge and Dundas Square (multiple exposure picture).
A jogger cools off at the splash fountains in the heart of downtown Toronto at Yonge and Dundas Square (multiple exposure picture).
A desired feature of urban beaches is that, like natural beaches, they have no boundaries of time or space. Unlike waterparks that require planning (matching of schedule, bringing a swimsuit, etc.) people can make a brief one or two minute visit to the urbeach while passing through the city, at any time of the day or night.
A desired feature of urban beaches is that, like natural beaches, they have no boundaries of time or space. Unlike waterparks that require planning (matching of schedule, bringing a swimsuit, etc.) people can make a brief one or two minute visit to the urbeach while passing through the city, at any time of the day or night.
Unlike waterparks, the urbeach aquatic play facility lends itself to enjoyment in the wintertime, as well as summer. Just as one can walk along a natural beach in winter, a well designed urbeach aquatic play facility can be enjoyed at any time of year.
Unlike waterparks, the urbeach aquatic play facility lends itself to enjoyment in the wintertime, as well as summer. Just as one can walk along a natural beach in winter, a well designed urbeach aquatic play facility can be enjoyed at any time of year.

An urban beach, or urbeach,[1] is defined as a space that includes an intellectually, artistically, or culturally sophisticated water feature that is also an aquatic play area, and is located within a culturally or artistically significant area of a city. In this sense, urbeaches differ from the splash pads and "spraygrounds" that are also found in city centers, in the sense that the urbeach aquatic play area is designed to appeal to people of all ages, not just to children. In this sense, the urbeach has taken on a social function similar to the village well, pump, or the social dynamics of the watercooler. Typically urbeaches are important architectural landmarks that run 24 hours a day, for most or all of the year, not merely playgrounds that run only during the day.[2]

Many cities include more than one urbeach. For example, Toronto includes four urbeaches: a rooftop urbeach on the roof of the Existential Technology Research Center (ETRC);[3] Dundas Square; The Teluscape Hydraulophone facility and water maze; and, most recently, the HTO project.

Urbeaches may include sand, but many do not include sand, since urbeaches are often in civic spaces where large numbers of people pass through, or where sand would otherwise cause problems. Urbeaches may be used for beach-like activities in a city space that would not usually allow for those activities. Urbeaches need not necessary be built close to a natural body of water, but almost always consist of some water feature that is suitable for aquatic play as at least one of its uses.[2]

Differently from a waterpark where people go mainly for aquatic play, an urban beach is a multi-use space where people can engange in several activities such as sunbathing, relaxation, reading, aquatic play (to swim or to frolic in a water feature), walking, or jogging. An urban beach is a playful and relaxing place in the inner city where people can wear beach attire and splash around without being in violation of the laws and standards of appropriateness that otherwise may exist within the formal downtown setting.

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[edit] Playa Urbana and Philosophical origns of the urbeach concept

MoMA PS1 exhibit entitled "Playa Urbana" which means "Urban Beach". This urbeach is made of sculpted plastics, bamboo, and PVC pipe.
MoMA PS1 exhibit entitled "Playa Urbana" which means "Urban Beach". This urbeach is made of sculpted plastics, bamboo, and PVC pipe.

An important seminal work in urbeach culture was that of William Masie, Associate Professor of Architecture at Rensselaer, who created an exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) PS1 space, entitled "Playa Urbana", which explored the sensuality of "surf" and "surface".[4] Masie's work builds upon a tradition at MoMA's PS1 space of challenging the traditional boundary between the formalism of a gallery/museum and the playfulness of a beachlike space in the museum in which shirts and shoes are not required.

The central element of the project is a group of three shallow reflecting and wading pools made of foam covered by plastic with a phosphorescent sheen.
...
When unoccupied, the surface of the still water reflects the light and color of the sky, uniting the natural and urban landscapes.
...
Walls made of evenly spaced PVC tubing undulate throughout the courtyard in shapes that echo waves, providing shade. In the smaller courtyard is an enclosure in which visitors can shower.[4]

MoMA is largely responsible for the introduction of the concept of blending beach culture with formal "high culture" by introducing a number of courtyard exhibits in 2000, 2001, and 2002, of which Masie's work is one example.

An important philosophical dimension of the urban beach is to challenge the pre-conceived notion that formal civic life/work and play should be separated. Whereas traditionally playgrounds are relegated to areas apart from the more formal cultural, civic, and business core of a city, urbeaches like Playa Urbana, Dundas Square, and Teluscape break down this boundary by thrusting aquatic play right into the epicenter of formal civic life.

[edit] Urbeaches and sustainable development

Silicon instead of sand, as the beach surface, provides a grit-free alternative to beach sand. The flexible photovoltaic building skin (roof membrane) supplies power to the building. An aquatic play feature cools urbeach goers, as well as the photovoltaic membrane thus improving its efficiency. This blueroof drains to a green roof on a lower rooftop, so that wastewater from the blue roof urbeach irrigates a green roof below. A windmill with 3phase turbine that pumps water to the aquatic play feature as well as supplies power to the building also forms part of the structure of the aquatic play feature.
Silicon instead of sand, as the beach surface, provides a grit-free alternative to beach sand. The flexible photovoltaic building skin (roof membrane) supplies power to the building. An aquatic play feature cools urbeach goers, as well as the photovoltaic membrane thus improving its efficiency. This blueroof drains to a green roof on a lower rooftop, so that wastewater from the blue roof urbeach irrigates a green roof below. A windmill with 3phase turbine that pumps water to the aquatic play feature as well as supplies power to the building also forms part of the structure of the aquatic play feature.
Closeup picture showing silicon sand surface
Closeup picture showing silicon sand surface

The use of silicon instead of sand was explored, as an artistic design element and arechitectural concept in which an urban beach has recently been reported in the literature, in which flexible photovoltaic roof membranes provide electricity from building "skin". Since silicon and sand are related, silicon provides the clean grit-free medium for the beach surface.[3]

[edit] Controversial aspects of urban beaches

Urbeach culture often challenges the formalism of the city, and the traditional "separation of work and play" ideal (i.e. that work/business areas and playground/waterplay areas should be separated). One common concern is that people in beach attire (i.e. people in swimsuits or their underwear) might not be in keeping with the implicit formal dress code of the urban space in which the urbeach is located. However, current trends are toward making the city fun, rather than formal. In the past, there has also been a common belief that architectural landmark fountains are to be seen but not played in. Dundas Square, for example, underwent an adjustment period in which the security staff thought that the fountains were only decorative and thus kept people from playing in them, when in fact the space was originally designed and envisioned by Brown and Storey architects and artist Dan Euser as an urbeach.[5]

[edit] 16 million dollar controversy regarding the right to play in a public fountain

Recently, amid plans to upgrade the fountain in Washington Square Park, City Councilmember Alan Gerson threatened to withdraw $16 million dollars in funding if any restrictions were made that would prohibit people from continuing the age-old tradtion of playing in the fountain, or if any changes were made to the fountain that would make it less desirable, safe, or suitable to play in.[6]

[edit] HtO controversy

Toronto's HTO Park, located at the city's waterfront. Originally it was to provide direct access to the water, and thus be an urban beach, but water access was subsequently removed.
Toronto's HTO Park, located at the city's waterfront. Originally it was to provide direct access to the water, and thus be an urban beach, but water access was subsequently removed.
Parks are usually adjacent to urban beaches like in Toronto's HTO Park.
Parks are usually adjacent to urban beaches like in Toronto's HTO Park.
City and beach are put side by side in modern urban beaches like this one in downtown Toronto.
City and beach are put side by side in modern urban beaches like this one in downtown Toronto.

The City of Toronto recently created a park near that water's edge, with signage indicating that it is an "Urban Beach", as well as a website that indicates it provides direct access to the water. Whereas the original plan was to have stairs going down into the water so that people could put their feet in the water, this plan was changed so that it now has no water access, thus, technically, HtO is not an Urban Beach in the sense that it has neither access to natural water, nor to any aquatic play feature(s). A number of critical articles have appeared, such as Christopher Hume's article that appeared in the Special Issue of spacing magazine on the theme of Water:

Toronto's willingness to settle for second rate will condemn the city's waterfront to mediocrity, a process that has sadly already started.[7]

Much of this controversy arises from the difference between what HTO promises to deliver, and what it actually is. For example, the city's own press releases refer to it as a beach[8] and describe it as having access to the water by terraces.[9]

Also promised is a collection of water features:

A series of connected water elements will accentuate the theme of water returning to its source. Each element will be programmed to celebrate the intrinsic qualities of water. These include motion activated sprays, steam and fog, variations in colour and coloured ice.[9]

[edit] Urbeach surveillance

Urban beaches in the "concrete jungle" are often under heavy surveillance. Sunbathers on the cement shores of the Queensland Cairns beach get little privacy from the authorities or from the many nonbathers that walk along the busy sidewalks. Because there is no sand at this location, there is no need for a grit-free buffer zone, so the busy sidewalks run right beside bathers on the concrete shores.
Urban beaches in the "concrete jungle" are often under heavy surveillance. Sunbathers on the cement shores of the Queensland Cairns beach get little privacy from the authorities or from the many nonbathers that walk along the busy sidewalks. Because there is no sand at this location, there is no need for a grit-free buffer zone, so the busy sidewalks run right beside bathers on the concrete shores.

Natural beaches provide some measure of privacy in the sense that, although crowded, an individual bather (sunbather or person swimming or frolicking in the water) is afforded some form of symmetrical privacy in the sense that most of the others present are also bathers. The culture at natural beaches tends to have a negative view of both surveillance[10] and sousveillance (i.e. those who come only to watch or take pictures).[11]

Video surveillance on natural beaches has been a controversial topic, as natural beaches have often offered some seclusion and a sense of privacy outside the urban core. However, urbeaches fall more within the surveillance-based tradition of city centers, where sousveillance (i.e. throngs of tourists with cameras) is mostly unstoppable.

[edit] Swimwear controversies in urbeaches

Misunderstandings often create strange rules on certain urbeaches that do not normally apply on natural beaches or in waterparks. For example, at PPG Place, swimwear is not allowed:

On a visit to the fountain recently, however, we got more of a chill than we were expecting. According to a security officer who approached us, individuals must wear street clothes. No swim attire -- even for small children -- is permitted. We were surprised because our children in the past had worn swimsuits there. The officer indicated the rules are out of respect to the tenants of PPG Place.[12]

[edit] To sand or not to sand

Some urban beaches consist of an area of beach sand and beach furniture with a park and grass area adjacent to them in order to recreate a beachlike environment similar to a natural beach.

However, many urbeaches are instead surfaced in specially textured and easy-to-clean granite, crumb rubber, or other materials that provide a clean grit-free and grime-free alternative to beach sand. Therefore they can be used without necessarily needing to clean oneself afterwards. These "clean" (sand-free) urban beaches can be enjoyed spontaneously for a few minutes, unlike natural beaches or oceans, lakes, pools and waterparks that usually involve planning a day trip. For example, a trip to an urban beach might be as short as a minute or two when people run through the sprinklers to cool off, and then proceed on to another activity. Urbeaches have the unique attribute of facilitating visits as short as a minute or two as people walk through the space as they take a short-cut through a part of a city. Because urbeaches are often located in a civic center or as part of the main entrance to a building, many see continuous traffic. For example, the main architectural centerpiece of the Teluscape urban beach is an aquatic play feature that is located right in the center of the main walkway leading into one of Canada's landmark architecture sites, the Ontario Science Centre. Obviously because of the high foot traffic right through the center of this urban beach, the introduction of sand is not practical.

Urban beaches provide an urban oasis that is often incorporated directly into what is known colloquially as the city's "concrete jungle". Urbeaches afford places to relax, contemplate and congregate. Ideally they are located within walking distance of workplaces, so that users can spend their lunch hour there to enjoy a break from the city. Typically water features also create white noise that masks the sounds of traffic, thereby transforming the space into a virtual beach resort. While reading a novel at an urban beach, one will quickly forget that one is in the heart of the city. The soothing combination of sun and water, punctuated by the shrieks and laughter of children playing in the water, temporarily transforms the mind into the same state as when one is on vacation at a beach resort in the Bahamas.

Urbeaches are characterized by nearness and the facilitation of spontaneous visits, in which patrons may not have remembered to pack their swimsuits. Thus dark coloured fast-dry shorts, together with a dress shirt (a shirt with a collar), and dress shoes, provide transformability. For beaching, one simply has to take off his shirt and shoes.

Urbeaches can also have spray features such as fine mist, which are designed to be moderate enough for young children to play in. Other urban beaches have more vigorous splash fountains designed for older children and adults, e.g. for joggers or concert goers to cool off in. The splash fountain in Toronto's city center, Dundas Square, features 600 spray nozzles that shoot water straight up through stainless steel grilles set right in the middle of the main walkway. The nozzles rise and fall in unison, like the waves on a beach, so there are times when the water level is low enough for children to also play in the water. The heights of all the fountains rise and fall in unison, in a sinusoidally time varying manner, so that users can wait for the fountains to reach a desired height before passing through them. The sinusoidal surf, together with a gentle whistling sound of all 600 nozzles running together, creates a wonderful beach-like ambiance.

The Dundas Square fountains are maintained to a high quality of cleanliness ("pool water or better" standards, according to the maintainers of the facility) because, unlike most city center fountains, these were designed for waterplay, in addition to their excellent architectural beauty and effect (soothing city noise-masking). Special nonslip granite slabs were installed to ensure the safety of children and adults alike who splash in the water.

[edit] List of urban beaches available for public use

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The development of urban renewable energy at the ETRC
  2. ^ a b Reading Cities, 2006-12-07
  3. ^ a b doi:10.1016/j.rser.2004.11.006
  4. ^ a b Playa Urbana / Urban Beach (2002)
  5. ^ People Watching People Watchers, Surveillance and Society, Vol2, No4
  6. ^ Gerson may pull funds if fountain is no-play zone, The Villager, Volume 75, Number 36 | January 25-31, 2006
  7. ^ Christopher Hume, "Water affront", spacing, pp24-26
  8. ^ Toronto residents gain new access to waterfront through HTO Park
  9. ^ a b The winning design: HTO
  10. ^ Australia's lifeguards go hi-tech, BBC News, 2004 June 14
  11. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, April 5, 2005
  12. ^ "Policy all wet", Paula Cerrone, Thursday, July 27, 2006, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette