The Good Life:
New Public Spaces For Recreation

(click image to buy)

Edited by Zoë Ryan
Van Alen Institute

Distributed by Princeton Architectural Press

The Good Life shows seventy new designs for public spaces of recreation from around the globe in one colorful collection. From Acconci Studio's Skateboard Park in San Juan, to SHoP's East River Project in New York City, to muf art and architecture's Barking Town Square in London, to the Santa Fe Railroad Park by Ken Smith Landscape Architect, Frederic Schwartz Architects, and Mary Miss, these spaces are some of the most imaginative works around. Stripped from the structural constraints and serious programs of so many building types, the projects here are designed for fun.

The Good Life was organized by Zoë Ryan, Senior Curator at Van Alen Institute and editor of this 112-page volume, published in September 2006. A broad range of creative experts, including Paola Antonelli, Janet Abrams, Michael Bierut, Susan T. Rodriguez, Steven Johnson, and Diana Balmori have contributed their thoughts in a series of roundtable discussions, printed in this publication. The list of contributors reads like a who’s who of design: Stan Allen, Martha Schwartz, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, David Adjaye, and many more. An exhibition of the works is on view in September 2006 on New York’s waterfront.