You (Still) Have to Pay for the Public Life

artsresearch.brighton.ac.uk

The theme of this paper is to consider the increasing commodification of space and the role of architecture and urban design within this schema. It will examine public space and consider where it resides and how this is shifting. It will look at the mechanisms that operate to control and recover public space and how architects' representations are bound up within this process. The paper will expand upon architectural proposals and constructions of real space. It will examine an ongoing project of 'The travelling panorama rotunda', which aims to offer a resistance and critique of these design practices, through the construction of an event space, using architectural representation. It will propose a theoretical investigation through an architectural practice. The paper will look at the work of Henri Lefebvre, and examine how public space is being capitalized. It will also consider the role played by redevelopment strategies, as defined by Neil Smith in his analysis of the processes of gentrification. The project also offers a reconsideration of the ideas of the Anarchist Architect Colin Ward and grass roots movements from the 1970s for reclaiming and occupying and how these might be reinterpreted in the contemporary context, through an 'Open school' proposal. The architectural projects that have been developed as part of this process use event architecture, drawing and other architectural representations and these will be analysed in order to project a utopian analysis of public space and the potential reclamation and occupation of public space. Reclaiming Public Space. A Critical Architecture. Space as Commodity If it is accepted that architectural representation prefigures actual built space then it is clear that not only does public space become subject to reclaiming in the ongoing privatization of space, but it is also occurring within the space of its representations. This paper will examine architectural projects and will describe a theoretical investigation through spatial practice. It is important to describe in some detail the categories of space that will form the framework for analysis. For the purpose of this analysis the term 'space' will be prioritized over time or place and might be considered through Gottdiener's discussion of Lefebvre's notion of praxis, where he argues that: "Space cannot be reduced merely to a location or to the social relations of property ownership-it represents a multiplicity of socio-material concerns. Space is a physical location, a piece of real estate, and, simultaneously an existential freedom and a mental expression. Space is both the geographical site of action and the social possibility for engaging in action. That is, on an individual level for example, it not only represents the location where events take place but also signifies the social permission to engage in these events.

Journal of Architecture Education 50:2 , 1996

Rights to the City. International Geographical Union, …, 2005

Much of the literature on public space focuses on how people use it, or are excluded from it, and even on how it is part of certain economic modes of production, but almost never on how urban designers situate lbemselves within those modes and therefore bow they mediate contending relationships in actual public space designs. I propose to problematize the liminal position the urban designer holds between the public and their clients, by examining the design process, the ooo ceptualizations of public space by design ers, and the financial and political relation ships they cultivate. I analyze these aspects of public space production through a study of a recently re-designed public space in Syracuse, NY. orkin, M., 1992, Variations on a

1969

A persistent narrative of loss permeates contemporary writings on comparative urbanism, urban design, and urban space.[1] This narrative has several recurring themes: placelessness, anomie, social insularity and loss of community. In Brave New Neighborhoods, Margaret Kohn emphasizes still another theme of loss, namely the atrophying of the public sphere resulting from increasing commodification and privatization of public space. This book is a rigorous yet passionate argument against the current shifts in public spaces. Essentially the author argues “that public life is undermined by the growing phenomenon of private government” and proposes to demonstrate “why the disappearance of public space has negative consequences for democratic politics” (p. 3). In developing these arguments, Kohn draws from “political theory, cultural analysis, and free speech jurisprudence” with implications for urban design, planning and public policy.

The Art of Architecture / The Science of Architecture, 2005

Familiar territory-part of the public realm and engaged on a daily basis by a multitude of city residents, but unseen and uninhabited in a significant way. Designers rarely address the edges and leftover spaces between one thing and another, where urban and architectural scales and uses collide. This paper discusses research into everpresent, but unacknowledged spaces or site(s) out of mind. 3 Zones of high-speed movement, their edges (right-of-ways), and the nonexistent sites above highways and railways (air rights) are a compelling condition through which to question contemporary conceptions of the public realm. How does one construct a public realm in a site that has yet to exist-specifically in conjunction with spaces of high-speed movement? Highway air rights discussions often search for all-purpose "solutions" to the "problem," but there is nothing generic about such conditions. These (non)sites have specific histories and characteristics that must be examined and understood during the design process. The Urban Bridges project, our winning design in an international Design Competition for Massachusetts Turnpike air rights in Boston (image above), 4 will be used to elucidate a position on both the necessity of design research, and how one might construct a public realm within private dwellings on unseen sites.

2023

There is a big debate about whether the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) can be deemed a good public space. Mass media and government advertisements perfectly represent the continuous lawn, the sculptural public furniture, the almost unobstructed harbour view and the art institutions, providing people with a good weekend sitting-out area, one where people of all ages can engage freely with nature. These spaces are in fact not uncommon in Hong Kong. Based on Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department, there are 131 public pleasure grounds just in the Central and Western district, provided under the supervision of the Hong Kong government, not to mention some other pocket spaces with public furniture serving as informal gathering spaces. Despite efforts to allow people to extend their leisure realm to these public spaces, due to the high-density living condition, minimal attention is put into analysing what makes a good public space and how people can most efficiently occupy these spaces. This essay aims to uncover the problems of public spaces in Hong Kong through a housing design project that sits on a site in Sheung Wan, reflecting the effectiveness of the decisions made during the design process. The essay also aims to critically discuss the podium tower typology that was sitting initially on the site of the design project and its relationship, if not repercussions, to public spaces in its surrounding.

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Places, 2005

When applied to public architectural art, the instability of copyright law is emphasised by the presence of many conflicting interests as well as by the identitarian dimension that architectural expression conveys. After surveying the struggle to obtain copyright protection for architectural works, this article analyses these conflicting interests and the unpredictable contours that architectural copyright encompasses which are the result of cultural and economic demands as well as the social and environmental needs expressed by individuals, public bodies or collective entities. Then, the identitarian dimension of the architectural phenomenon is addressed to show that public architectural art can be, at the same time, an expression of individuals, communities and the state – where by ‘expression’ we refer to both the interests involved and the reason why protection is given to a specific interest. This exercise aims at understanding how to cope with copyright instability in public architectural art and facing the unpredictable effects that it may cause by giving a more concrete meaning to ‘the public interest’ and, more precisely, by giving more substance to the identities that this concept expresses.

International society for the philosophy of architecture.