Piazza Study

Piazza di Pietra is a high traffic and very large piazza. It spans nearly the length of a football field and is located between the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. It was interesting to see all the different ways this piazza is used throughout the day and the human behavior patterns found throughout. 

I spent around thirty minutes sitting and observing what happens in Piazza di Pietra at the following times: 10:45am, 11:45am, 2:15pm, 5:00pm, and 6:00pm. Since this piazza is in such a central location, it was always busy. In the mornings there were many locals leaving their apartments for the day. In the afternoon there were many tourists out and about with a few street vendors. In the evenings there were many tour groups and even a street performer. Although the piazza has consistent foot traffic, it seems to come alive in the evenings. With so many different things happening at once you could sit and watch for hours. 

The more dense areas of the piazza are in front of the temple and the east side road. Most people travel between two places just making a straight shot through. People are also avoiding the sun since the temple provides shade throughout most of the day. It is not often that someone walks through the center of the piazza. Mostly the locals leaving apartments or the tourists heading to the restaurants would do this. There were many times that the corner of the piazza to the west side of the temple would create a bottleneck. It is bound to happen considering the high traffic, and how the wide open piazza turns into a small street at that point. 

During the 6:00 study, a street performer showed up. When people gathered around to watch, this created an obstruction in the path. People did not seem to know what to do. Most stopped to watch, but those who did not were forced to go around. This pushed them to walk on the north side of the piazza in the sun that everyone was trying to avoid by walking on the south side.