‘Open’ and Other Spaces: Permanent Extensions, Temporary Grounds

… a fundamental belief in the power of the individual and explores a collective dream world of a continually transforming urban structure that will accomodate a society in flux.

“Utopia and/or Spectacle” – Lara Schrijver

The 20th century was a century of the world becoming “One” through the Expos, the Games, the World Wars and Travel. Cities became destinations, fantasies and a state of mind. With the TV and the Internet, images of the city vaporized as moments of a distant memory.

Diving into the 21st century, we recognize cities of having similar attributes, no longer city particular, as melting pots; for opportunities, identities and narratives. The specificity of one city from another loses ground as mobility for the Mass flourished, blurring the boundaries of citizenship and softening the thresholds of locality. The opacity of the City thickens as the locus of Travel emerges.

Cities offer little to have a personal connection and often serve as grounds of economic and political attachment for the Mass. These “Citizens of the World” often identify themselves as having a Third Nature, an attribute that is interest and ideal specific, offering a sense of individuality.

Thesis Intent

A critique on a truly ‘public’ public space on aspects of social engagement and ground conditions.

Identify grounds of urban dwellers’ participation within the socio-ecology of landfills in the city and effects on urban planning.

A projective on a city for spectacles as a medium of collective ownership and membership of public space, and in turn bringing a sense of identity at global and local scales, of the city.