This selection of articles from the archive of Domusweb collects a series of reflections and projects on public space. In these contexts, the actions of the arts and architecture have often been decisive in redefining the use of a space, bringing it back to its collectivity of reference.
Retrieving public spaces: 10 case studies
From Domusweb archive a selection of strategies where art and architecture have redefined the public space.
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- Giulia Ricci
- 14 September 2018
The concept of public space has radically changed in the last decades. The resulting ambiguity emerged from the split between ownership and the use of shared space. The phenomena that have affected the contemporary city, from the privatization of public spaces to the progressive densification of large cities, are among the reasons for this shift. Shared space has assumed a political value over time, often becoming an emblem for the community that has recognized itself in that space and has claimed its right to use. Consequently, this is the privileged terrain in which conflict, negotiation or mediation take place, and therefore the right to the city, to put it in the words of Henri Lefebvre. In these contexts, the arts and architecture played a substantial role in the re-appropriation of the city by its inhabitants and visitors.
At the Storefront, architectural researchers and designers worked with the Marching Cobras, a youth drum and dance team, to explore the link between performance craft and the politics of public space.
The work by Mark Reigelman II is central in the redevelopment of Domino sugar refinery’s site, on Williamsburg waterfront.
The Rome-based architecture collective designed a modular wooden structure, a playground dedicated to leisure and encounter.
In Hudson Yards, Kunlé Adeyemi designed a temporary pavilion interpreting the social role of arts and popular culture.
Located in Ritsona, Greece, the new project of the multidisciplinary team urges to rethink the very nature of refugee camps.
Following the Tunisian Revolution, the streets and squares of the country have increasingly become a space for expression and communication, from established festivals to transient performances.
“Placemaking” marched into the glossary of expressions linked to public art before stretching its boundaries to northern-European artistic practice and subsequently the so-called Global South.
“Teatri i Gjelbërimit” shows the overabundance of sketches, thoughts, ideas, and dreams of Tirana as a giant, overstocked theater bursting at the seams – as a love letter to the city.
The Museo del Novecento in Milan retraces the story of the famous inflatables that, for fifteen years, the artist left in public spaces for an unpredictable use.
The Arch, a social experimental laboratory for construction that engaged with the community of the Belgian mining city.