Positive Outdoor Space
This pattern is shaped by
Problem
When outdoor space is merely the area left over between buildings — the gaps, the setbacks, the leftover corners — it has no shape, no enclosure, and no one uses it. Outdoor space only works when it is shaped by the buildings around it, the way a room is shaped by its walls.
Evidence and Discussion
Outdoor space that works has a convex shape — it is surrounded, embraced, defined by edges. A courtyard is positive space. A strip of grass between two parking lots is negative space. People gather in positive outdoor space; they walk through negative outdoor space without stopping.
Therefore
shape every outdoor space so that it is at least partially enclosed — bounded by buildings, walls, hedges, or changes in level on at least two sides. The space should feel like a room without a ceiling. Give it a floor (paving, lawn, gravel), edges (planting, seating walls, building faces), and a purpose (dining, playing, gathering, growing). If the space has no shape, give it shape before doing anything else.