Public space in its physical aspects is considered commonly accessible. Over the course of time, its traditional, historical forms have been transformed and re-interpreted. Once pragmatic, representative, evocative and symbolic, public spaces are now embodying new forms of relationships. The article analyses the social nature of public space regarded integral part of urban morphology on the example of Curtural Congress Centre in Lucerne and National Museum Art Centre in Madrid, both by Jean Nouvel. Since his early works, Nouvel has shown particular interest for blurring the boarders and integrating interior with exterior. In the first of the two examples, the surrounding landscape has been integrated with the interior, in the later – the entire city. This approach is analogical to the one presented in the Nuova Topografia di Roma (1748) by Giambattista Nolli where enclosed public spaces (porches, courtyards, etc.) and public interiors (mostly referred to churches) are undoubtedly an extension of streets and squares. It is the general approach for contenporary public building design to make a building strongly interlaced with the network of open public spaces rather than an isolated entiny.

Public space in its physical aspects is considered commonly accessible. Over the course of time, its traditional, historical forms have been transformed and re-interpreted. Once pragmatic, representative, evocative and symbolic, public spaces are now embodying new forms of relationships. The article analyses the social nature of public space regarded integral part of urban morphology on the example of Curtural Congress Centre in Lucerne and National Museum Art Centre in Madrid, both by Jean Nouvel. Since his early works, Nouvel has shown particular interest for blurring the boarders and integrating interior with exterior. In the first of the two examples, the surrounding landscape has been integrated with the interior, in the later – the entire city. This approach is analogical to the one presented in the Nuova Topografia di Roma (1748) by Giambattista Nolli where enclosed public spaces (porches, courtyards, etc.) and public interiors (mostly referred to churches) are undoubtedly an extension of streets and squares. It is the general approach for contenporary public building design to make a building strongly interlaced with the network of open public spaces rather than an isolated entiny.