Since being invited to design a plaza for Raleigh one year ago many things have happened. During my first visits to the site I met with many people from the community, members of city council, the arts commission, neighborhood associations, property neighbors, building owners as well as members of the existing design team for the restoration of Fayetteville Street and the downtown area. I understood immediately the complexity of the commission and how important the successful transformation of this space would be to the overall revitalization of the downtown area. When Fayetteville Street was interrupted by the presence of the old convention center a cul de sac resulted which transformed the remaining space into a place for people to gather for concerts and other events. When the convention center was demolished, this space just disappeared. The city expressed an interest in designing a new plaza which embraced the possibility to help regenerate the area, making it more attractive to people and keeping the soul or memory of the site as a place for gathering.

I spent a number of days listening to people's ambitions and dreams for this space: Cafes and restaurants, many trees, lawns and other greenery, water as a reminder of nature and for its cooling properties, places to sit and to gather informally. Finally what became clear to me was that people wanted a place for THEM, A place where people could relax and meet freely without rules. It was in this context where the project CITY SQUARE was born. I want to return to PEOPLE the main role in defining a public space. To give them not OBJECTS to see, but SPACES to use.

If a street goes through the middle of this space it will no longer be a plaza or a place, first and foremost for people. It will be a street for cars. I feel strongly that the proposed plan allows these two elements to co-exist. Nothing can be achieved without some compromise and the dreams of Raleigh's people may require a little sacrifice. I hope that for their sakes the city council will take this into consideration as they wrestle with the problems of traffic flow and budgetary realities.

As an artist it is part of my responsibility to introduce beauty into the places where people live and gather. I have to think about function of course, but function alone is not usually enough to nurture the soul.