At a Distance Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi on Making Enriching Public Spaces
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Nov 12, 2020 
Michael Manfredi, co-founder of Weiss/Manfredi and educator focused on parks and resilient civic work, and Marion Weiss, co-founder known for blending landscape, architecture, and art, discuss designing public realms that invite slowing down. They explore pandemic-driven demands on cities, choreography of movement in stairways and promenades, sensory-rich spaces, resilient landscape strategies, and rethinking cultural sites for broader access.
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Pandemic Reveals Public-Realm Urgency
- The pandemic has highlighted stark inequities between those who can work remotely and those who cannot.
- Marion Weiss says this moment foregrounds the urgency and value of the public realm for civic life.
Cross-Discipline Design Solves Complex Problems
- Complex challenges like climate change and social justice can't be solved by single disciplines.
- Michael Manfredi argues for synthetic practice that fuses landscape, architecture, infrastructure, and art.
Open Private Projects To The Public
- In private projects, push to give them a public voice by opening buildings to the street.
- Marion Weiss recommends breaking introverted programmatic barriers to participate in city life.