"Recent Developments in Public Space Creation"

Tuesday, September 2, 2003
7:00p-9:00p

Ava Bromberg, from In the Field, will give a presentation on the past year of her research and travels: "Recent Developments in Public Space Creation"

Public space is not created and administrated by landscape architects, city planners, or municipal governments alone. A concrete square or grassy patch is not enough. Public spaces where persons can express themselves freely, criticize their government, discuss their desires, get access to non-partisan information, and be active in the decisions that shape their environments are necessary. They emerge as sites of democratic action and social change.

Ava will discuss locally organized projects, spaces, and initiatives and the kinds of public spaces they create in cities around the world. Examples will highlight the disconnect between “top down” or “planned” public spaces and public art and those created and defended by local communities.

Ava will present slides and ideas from her recently completed year of international research on the idea of public space and autonomous cultural production. Examples include contested urban land use and a discussion of squatted social centers in Italy and Spain. Over 12 consecutive months Ava researched in Australia, Thailand and Laos, 12 European cities, and Sao Paulo, Brazil with a grant from the Watson Foundation.