<p>The concept of public space, and particularly of civic public space, is certainly a constitutive element of Italy's urban culture. The design and spatial configuration of public spaces have always been a synthesis between deeply rooted models and political functions (the piazza, the palazzo, the church, the civic buildings), and of local circumstances and design inspiration. Hence the fascination of the piazza: while all piazze perform similar functions, they take very different spatial and

more »

... rchitectural characteristics, thus adding to the variety and the "magic", as it were, of public space experience.<br />The main purpose of this article is to celebrate the piazza as the core symbol of public space magic. In doing so, I set a modest linguistic goal: to discourage non-Italian speaking piazza fans from using the plural "piazzas" and to impose the Italian "piazze". As to the success of this endeavour, only future will tell.</p>