I am very much a fan of the square as an urban space - be it the grand civic/ceremonial piazza, or the lively church or market square that serves as a bustling meeting place, or, most especially, the charming garden or residential square - those lovely, quiet little pockets of greenery and solitude offering peaceful respite from the city. Considered a British invention, the garden square is mostly associated with London, where there are more than 600 of them, although they were built throughout the British Isles with other notable examples in Dublin and Edinburgh. These squares were exclusive sorts of places, generally built for the upper middle classes who lived in elegant rows of townhouses overlooking the communal, and usually gated, central gardens; residents had a key to the gardens. Today, the squares are usually open to anyone to enjoy. Place des Vosges, where my picture for this post was taken, is a deservedly famous Parisian take on the residential square. There are also examples of garden squares in American cities such as Boston, Savannah and San Francisco, a city that I am currently visiting and where, this afternoon, I plan to find my way to two of its most noted examples of residential squares, South Park and Alamo Square.
In Australia, the concept of the residential square never really developed much traction, perhaps because of the preference for private backyards. St Vincent's Place in South Melbourne is one of the best examples of an English style residential square in Australia. Today the gardens in the centre of that square remain a beautiful and much loved green space in this very charming area of the city, and they are a lovely place to spend an afternoon with a book. Wellington Square in North Adelaide is another example, slighlty larger in scale, of an Australian residential square. I can't think of many other examples of genuine Australian residential squares.
I think it is time for the idea to make a comeback, especially as we move towards more higher density living and less private backyard space. The residential garden square is an elegant, environmentally and socially sustainable solution to how we can increase our residential densities but still retain some greenery and open space in our cities.
