Article Atmospheres of stillness in Bristol’s Bearpit Michael Buser University of the West of England, UK Abstract This paper studies atmospheres of stillness in a contested urban public space known as the ‘Bearpit’. The purpose is to provide a nuanced account of stillness and its relationship to atmosphere. Drawing on an ethnographic examination of the Bearpit, the paper finds that the positive and beneficial aspects of stillness can be found in unexpected and unconventional places. However, there is no single, unifying experience of stillness, but rather a plurality of ‘stillings’. The paper highlights three forms of stillness distilled from study of the site – calmness, control and withdrawnness – and demonstrates how these modalities emerge from and contribute to the construction of atmospheres in the Bearpit. Moreover, these atmospheres have direct political consequences for those who take part in city life. The paper’s contribution is found in the advancement of non-anthropocentric understandings of atmosphere and the development of stillness as a way of understanding city life. Keywords Atmosphere, ambiance, stillness, public space, non-representational theory, Stokes Croft Introduction ‘‘I’m in the Bearpit, in a shipping container, there’s only so much ambience I can create’’ (Mandy, 1 trader) This paper is about atmosphere and stillness in the St James Barton Roundabout, a small public space in the city of Bristol (UK) known as ‘the Bearpit’. Constructed in the 1960s, the Bearpit is representative of urban transport designs of the time which sought to improve roadway efficiency, mobility and safety by separating pedestrians from cars. In addition to the creation of a large roundabout, crossings were removed and pedestrians were diverted underneath the roadway via four interlinked tunnels which open onto a large, sunken open space area at the centre (Evening Post, 1967a, 1967b, 1968). In the years following construction, this interior area of the roundabout became known as a site of illicit activities such as street drinking, drug trading and violence (Bristol Post, 2010a, 2010b, 2015). By the 1990s, the Bearpit was largely considered a derelict public space and Corresponding author: Michael Buser, Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, Room 3Q13, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane BS16 1QY, UK. Email: Michael.Buser@uwe.ac.uk Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 2017, Vol. 35(1) 126–145 ! The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0263775816658480 journals.sagepub.com/home/epd