SOCIAL – POLITICAL - ECONOMICAL

SOCIAL SPACEHenri Lefebvre,1991

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SOCIAL SPACE by Henri Lefebvre

Social Space (1974) “The production of space is a search for a reconciliation between mental space and real space… He seeks… to bridge the gap between the realms of theory and practice, between mental and social, and between philosophy and reality.”

The Production of Space, Henri Lefebvre

“Lefebvre contends that there are different modes of production of space from natural space to more complex spatialities whose significance is socially produced (i.e. social space).”

Place, A Short Introduction, Tim Cresswell

1901Born

1918-1920Studied in Paris

1928-1958Joins FrenchCommunists

1961-1965Professor,Strassbourg

1965-1991Professor,Nanterre

PRODUCT

NATURE

WORK

VENICEVENICE…

Or VENICE?

RIGHT TO THE CITYDavid Harvey, 2008

Right to the City by David Harvey

“The freedom to make and remake our cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet most neglected of our human rights.”

The Right to the City, David Harvey

“Since urbanization depends on the mobilization of a surplus product, an intimate connection emerges between the development of capitalism and urbanization.”

The Right to the City, David Harvey

Local Urban RenewalParis, 1853-1868Baron Haussman

Paris Commune1871

• Transformed scale of urbanization• Annexed suburbs & redesigned

neighborhoods• New debt financing institutions

Paris became the “city of lights” and the “great centre of consumption”

• Overextended and speculative financial system crashed

• Napoleon defeated

Nostalgia and a desire to take back the city motivated revolution from the dispossessed

National SuburbanizationUnited States, 1940s, 50’s, 60’sRobert Moses

1968 Revolts

• Transformed scale of urbanization• Radical lifestyle changes• Shifted center of political

conservatism

• Feminist, civil rights, and anti-war movements

• Violence after MLK assassination• Paris – Left Bank Expressway protest• Global property bubble burst in early 70’s

Part of the revolution centered on urban housing and life, which had changed dramatically after white flight

Global Urbanization1980s-

Mortgage Crisis? Occupy Movement? Global Protest?

• Again transformed scale of urbanization

• Privatization of control over public urban space

• Lifestyle shift to “pacification by cappuccino”

• Large scale “creative destruction” and class dispossession

Is it possible for scattered local opposition movements to come together to address global issues?

Dispossession & Gentrification in Chicago?

QUESTIONS

What is the role of Architects?How can we create spaces that are social works? How can we protect and promote people’s right to the city?