ANTI-COMMUNITY
Architecture has a problem, an overabundance of “community spaces.” It seems that every building that is designed these days has some area marked off as public or community space when in reality, most of the time it is no more than a lobby into the building. Architects have this utopian idea that if a space is labeled “community” on a drawing, somehow this will open it up to all sorts of users. This does not work.
The next two topics help define anti-community. The question that I raise is:
Can a building with a morally questionable program (in terms of a “prude” society) support or survive within the public realm?
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACE
The end of public versus private space is close at hand. That is if you define public space as a space open to everyone and space that can’t be owned. What is taking its place is called collective space.
Collective Space: Previously called public space. Nowadays, the relation between property and use has disappeared. Private property is used publicly (shopping centers, airports, etc.) and vice versa. Public space is absorbed by private space. A new reality is created in which the collective, an ample group of individuals, is the only constant characteristic.[1]
This mixing of public and private space is creating a new breed of architecture, one that is simultaneously private and public.
Will this make places like the public square extinct?
What happens at the intersection on the public and private?
VICES, SPECIFICALLY SEX
One of my more recent interests that developed has been sex in terms of a vice and in relation to society. This started as I gained interest in fine art nude photography. As I dove deeper into the subject, I saw how nudity (and the association with sex) made a lot of people uncomfortable. This is intriguing. Here is something that everyone is familiar with and sees on a regular basis (a nude figure) and it offends some people. This was compounded when for our semester ending exhibit on campus we were told we couldn’t show any nudity. After this I began researching sex in terms of society and saw that this idea of prude-ness and censorship is prevalent in the U.S. especially.
This made me start to think about buildings (programs) that evoke these same emotions. Places like brothels, casinos, strip clubs and even bars are morally wrong to groups of people.
How do these buildings respond to these issues architecturally?
How can these buildings progress the good aspects of vices?
What happens when these spaces “intrude” on the public?
Architectural Themes:
· Privatization of Public Space
· Publicization of Private Space
· Ambiguity between public and private space
· Building censorship
Theoretical Position:
· Can a building that historically hides its program, act as a promoter in the public realm?
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