full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Elizabeth Diller: A stealthy reimagining of urban public space

Unscramble the Blue Letters


In 2013, we were selected to design a park in central Moscow. Thankfully, the city pivoted from its plan to bilud a giant commercial development on this hitrasoiclly sensitive and politically charged site, adjacent to the krelimn, Red saqrue and St. Basil's Cathedral. It would sit on the frpoinott of the former massive Khrushchev-era hotel "Rossiya."

We faced a moral diemmla. Was it possible to make a democratic public space in the context of a repressive regime? Despite being a stone's trohw from the Kremlin, we decided to focus on Moscow's aspirations of becoming a progressive, cosmopolitan city. As national governments are failing us, ciiets hold the promise of social reform. The park would be a site of civic esirxposen, a foil to the military parades and other detitnsrmoonas of power in Red Square.

Open Cloze


In 2013, we were selected to design a park in central Moscow. Thankfully, the city pivoted from its plan to _____ a giant commercial development on this ____________ sensitive and politically charged site, adjacent to the _______, Red ______ and St. Basil's Cathedral. It would sit on the _________ of the former massive Khrushchev-era hotel "Rossiya."

We faced a moral _______. Was it possible to make a democratic public space in the context of a repressive regime? Despite being a stone's _____ from the Kremlin, we decided to focus on Moscow's aspirations of becoming a progressive, cosmopolitan city. As national governments are failing us, ______ hold the promise of social reform. The park would be a site of civic __________, a foil to the military parades and other ______________ of power in Red Square.

Solution


  1. square
  2. demonstrations
  3. build
  4. cities
  5. expression
  6. footprint
  7. historically
  8. dilemma
  9. throw
  10. kremlin

Original Text


In 2013, we were selected to design a park in central Moscow. Thankfully, the city pivoted from its plan to build a giant commercial development on this historically sensitive and politically charged site, adjacent to the Kremlin, Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral. It would sit on the footprint of the former massive Khrushchev-era hotel "Rossiya."

We faced a moral dilemma. Was it possible to make a democratic public space in the context of a repressive regime? Despite being a stone's throw from the Kremlin, we decided to focus on Moscow's aspirations of becoming a progressive, cosmopolitan city. As national governments are failing us, cities hold the promise of social reform. The park would be a site of civic expression, a foil to the military parades and other demonstrations of power in Red Square.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
high line 9
public space 5
democratic public 3
million people 2
giant commercial 2
commercial development 2
red square 2
public spaces 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
democratic public space 2

Important Words


  1. adjacent
  2. aspirations
  3. build
  4. cathedral
  5. central
  6. charged
  7. cities
  8. city
  9. civic
  10. commercial
  11. context
  12. cosmopolitan
  13. decided
  14. democratic
  15. demonstrations
  16. design
  17. development
  18. dilemma
  19. expression
  20. faced
  21. failing
  22. focus
  23. foil
  24. footprint
  25. giant
  26. governments
  27. historically
  28. hold
  29. hotel
  30. kremlin
  31. massive
  32. military
  33. moral
  34. moscow
  35. national
  36. parades
  37. park
  38. pivoted
  39. plan
  40. politically
  41. power
  42. progressive
  43. promise
  44. public
  45. red
  46. reform
  47. regime
  48. repressive
  49. selected
  50. sensitive
  51. sit
  52. site
  53. social
  54. space
  55. square
  56. st
  57. thankfully
  58. throw