City Quiet

Office developments are often required to provide public space in exchange for planning permission. Much of it sits empty because nobody realises they are allowed in.

Large Victorian cemeteries are among the biggest and quietest green spaces in most older cities. Using one respectfully is easier than it sounds.

Hospitals, airports, and some universities keep a small room open for anyone who needs it. They are almost always empty, and using one does not require you to believe anything.

The permanent collection on a weekday morning is one of the few places you can sit still indoors, in public, for an hour, without anyone wondering why.

For several weeks a year, a city campus is an unusually pleasant empty space that almost nobody thinks to use.

Public reading rooms are the most reliable free quiet in most cities, but only for about sixty minutes after opening. Here is what that hour is actually like.