This program has tiered pricing. Please select the option that works for you:
$0 — Free RSVP
$10 — General
$20 — Extra Support
$30 — Pay It Forward
This witty and original film, the visual counterpart to William H. Whyte’s seminal book of the same name, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces is about the open spaces of cities and why some of them work for people while others don’t. Beginning at New York’s Seagram Plaza, one of the most used open areas in the city, the film proceeds to analyze why this space is so popular and how other urban oases, both in New York and elsewhere, measure up. Based on direct observation of what people actually do, the film presents a remarkably engaging and informative tour of the urban landscape and looks at how it can be made more hospitable to those who live in it.
Experience this newly restored version of the seminal, and delightful, exploration of civic design and architecture.
The screening will be followed by a moderated conversation between photographer Janet Delaney and designer Sofie Kvist who will take Whyte’s film and research as a jumping off point for exploring the different ways artists and designers “read” a city, as well as how urban design can shape and shift community.
“William Whyte is a legendary people watcher who likes to study the subtle ways public space is used. I think about this film constantly whenever I’m out shooting. It all feels very scientific, but he has a little fun describing human behavior, like when he identifies the ‘girl watchers’ hanging out in a midtown plaza. My favorite part is when he studies the way that people use chairs.”
— John Wilson
The restoration of the film was a joint project between Project for Public Spaces (PPS) and Anthology Film Archives (AFA), The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS).
Program overview courtesy of Anthology Film Archives.
The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces was produced by the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS), a civic advocacy organization where filmmaker William H. “Holly” Whyte was a board member. Founded in 1893, MAS has spent over a century advocating for a more livable New York City through architecture, planning, preservation, and public space. The film was digitally restored in 2025 by Anthology Film Archives, in partnership with MAS and the Project for Public Spaces (PPS).
Janet Delaney is a fine art photographer whose work explores the social and political dynamics of urban life. Her books include South of Market (2013), documenting a 1980s San Francisco neighborhood; Public Matters (2018), capturing public life during the Reagan era; and Red Eye to New York (2021), portraying 1980s Manhattan. She is currently working on a sequel to South of Market, focusing on tech’s impact on her former neighborhood, and a new book, Too Many Products, Too Much Pressure, about her father’s life as a mid-20th-century Los Angeles salesman. Delaney received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020 and three NEA grants. Her work is held in major institutions including SFMOMA, the de Young Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, and the High Museum. She has exhibited widely in the US and abroad. Delaney earned her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and taught at UC Berkeley. She lives and works in Berkeley.
Sofie Kvist is a designer and planner whose projects have spanned the globe. She is currently a director at Gehl, based in the San Francisco office. She brings her passion for people-centered design to a variety of project types and scales, including public realm strategies, urban transformation, and public space design with projects that have crossed the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Accessibility accommodations such as American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and assisted listening devices are available upon request ten business days in advance.
Please email publicengagement@sfmoma.org, and we will do our best to fulfill your request.
Presenting Sponsor of Thursday Night Live is Zoox.
Meaningful support is provided by Diana Nelson and John Atwater.
Additional support is provided by the Yerba Buena Partnership.