Between Architecture and Cultural Studies : reflections on the Constitution and Devaluation of Urban Public Spaces

Abstract

This interdisciplinary paper aims to outline the role of architecture in the societal construction and devaluation of civic public spaces from the perspectives of theoretical architecture, cultural studies, and theory of culture. When perceived in the context of the agency/structure duality, urban public spaces could be seen as societal constructs whose character and identity can be traced to the holistic organisation of architectural forms within a given locale. At the same time, the deflation in the quality of public spaces may be explained by making references to mutually reinforcing processes of spatial commodification and symbolic violence which are both exercised by implanting pure, self-explicable architectural forms into well-entrenched urban spaces.