vol. 9, no. 2
Democratic Space
Proposals due: June 17, 2024
Manuscripts due: September 9, 2024
Abstract
What are the characteristics of a democratic space? How can we design spaces, forms and places that evoke and promote the idea of democracy?
At a time when democracies around the world are challenged, weakened, deceivingly or blatantly eroded, if not flat out attacked, thus showing their innate fragilities, which call for our support, advocacy and defense, it is fitting to interrogate ourselves on how architecture can contribute to uphold and reinvigorate the very idea of democracy. Aside from activism and political engagement, how can architects, designers and urbanists help envision and construct the public realm, the public sphere, in essence, at all scales, examples of “democratic space”?
If democracy is to be seen as constitutive of the very spirit of modernity, how can modern architecture contribute to reifying (with Jürgen Habermas) “authentic modernity as opposed to mere modernism,” 1 and re-frame its strategies and tools in order to shape more democratic environments?
Lina Bo Bardi has once famously observed, while placing these concerns at the center of her design research and reflections, that “architecture and architectural freedom are above all a social issue that must be seen from inside a political structure, not from outside it.”
More recently, Michael Murphy maintained that: “all architectural decisions have social and political implications, whether we acknowledge them or not. The spatial world affects us every day, affects our ability to live healthy lives, affects our environment, affects our communities… There’s no neutrality in design decisions.” 2
Be it a public space, an urban landscape, a public or commercial building, or a housing complex, what are the characteristics of a democratic space? What are the determinants that architecture design and urbanism can analyze, control and affect in order to suggest and foster a liberating, democratic (inclusive and equitable) environment? How can we design spaces, forms and places that evoke and promote the idea of democracy?
The TPJ seeks proposals to explore and disseminate relevant research, innovative pedagogy and experimental practice to explore forms, constructs and meanings around these and other questions that can help us understand what can possibly constitute a “democratic space.”
Submission Options
Priority for peer-review evaluation and publication will be given to complete manuscripts, but proposals in the form of long abstracts [300/500 words] are also encouraged as a first step in the editorial review process. Authors of accepted proposals will then be invited to develop complete manuscripts, which will then go through the peer-review process.
Submitting proposals as a first step is only an option, and full manuscripts are encouraged also as first submissions.
Timeline
- Proposals due by
- Preliminary feedback sent by
- All complete manuscripts due by
- Accepted and edited manuscripts expected to be published on-line by
- Printed version of the issue expected to be available by
To Submit
Please log in and register on the TPJ manuscript management system “Editorial Manager”: https://www.editorialmanager.com/tpj/default.aspx
Once registered, from the “Author Main Menu” go to “New Submissions,” then select “Submit New Manuscript,” then, from the scroll down menu, select the article type “Article/Essay/Research” for a full manuscript submission or “Abstract (only)” for a proposal submission. Then, either way, follow the prompts.
Notes
- 1. Jürgen Habermas, “Modernity: An Unfinished Project,” in Habermas and the Unfinished Project of Modernity, eds. M. Passerin d’Entrèves and s. Benhabib (Cambridge MA, USA: The MIT Press), 38-55 (38).
- 2. Michael Murphy, interviewed by Paola Antonelli, “Architect Michael Murphy on designing healthcare systems,” Wallpaper (Oct 18, 2022) - https://www.wallpaper.com/design/michael-murphy-designing-healthcare-systems
This call is for
15 essays
Peer reviewed
Articles
Position Paper
Open Access
Towards a Spatialized Model of Democracy
by Teresa Hoskyns
pp. 337–348
This position paper describes diverse models of democracy in political philosophy and discusses how these models can produce the public spaces of the city. In late neoliberal western societies privatization of public space has greatly diminished the democratic infrastructure of our cities, and we have witnessed a corporatization and commercialization of the public realm. This paper contrasts public space in late neoliberal society in the West with public space in China. Since the start of Deng Xiaoping’s reform era, China has seen a focus by communities and government on developing new public space and I argue that a civic, collaborative, community model of public space is emerging. I find that the focus on the creation of new community public spaces in China is a key tool towards its democratization and call for a radical democratic rethinking of public space as the space of democracy in the West. By thinking spatially about democracy, we can move towards a model where diverse models and practices co-exist.
Essay
Subscribers
At Scale: Democracy in the Balance
by Edgar G. Adams
pp. 351–373
Democracies are in decline. Some blame the erosion of the public realm and proliferation of digital media for a decline in the means of authentic discourse and our capacity for building meaningful consensus. American democracy was uniquely shaped by the struggle against the tyranny of the Crown, and tenaciously clings to individual liberty and land ownership. Most European democracies evolved more gradually alongside hereditary monarchies maintaining stronger communal values. Consequently, many of our prized urban models and most vibrant public spaces, were created under aristocratic regimes or in republican city states with powerful religious influences. What can these examples teach us about the current potential for “democratic space” and what can we learn from its present impediments? This essay surveys the evolution of urban settlements in response to a range of influences, culminating with an examination of a potential combination and transformation of two paradigms, one historic and one contemporary, to create an urban framework that is reflective of democratic principles at various scales for our reflection and debate.
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Essay
Subscribers
The Experience of Space. The City as a Pedagogical Place: A Landscape of Spatial Learning
by Alessandra Gabriele
pp. 375–388
The paper reads the city as an educational resource, and architecture as a means to acquire spatial awareness. As a powerful communication tool, is architecture able to mediate spatial knowledge? Can architecture involve the user and make him more aware of his qualities? Can the space of a city become a place of learning? If education is political action and knowledge is a tool of liberation, architecture is a democratic media if it leads its inhabitants to develop a new and renewed spatial awareness: then the city becomes a great school where one can acquire spatial knowledge, to overcome the spatial indifference typical of contemporary society.
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Essay
Open Access
Exploring Expressed Democratic Attempts in Space: Architecture and Landscape in Pier Paolo Pasolini
by Riccardo Maria Balzarotti, Luca Maria Francesco Fabris
pp. 389–403
This article explores the works of Pier Paolo Pasolini, focusing on the interplay between his artistic output and spatial themes like architecture and landscape, particularly as they reflect democratic values. Pasolini viewed space as a physical entity and a site for political, social, and cultural interaction. By examining locations such as Friuli and Casarsa della Delizia, Pasolini’s youth environment, the paper delves into how these landscapes shaped his vision of democratic spaces. It also connects Pasolini’s perspective to contemporary public spaces, which, like his poetics, emphasize the role of dissent in democracy. The article further investigates how modern urban developments may limit this potential for democratic engagement by prioritizing aesthetic and commercial objectives over historical and social memory. Additionally, Pasolini’s involvement in education and local politics illustrates how spaces like schools and civic centers become arenas for resistance and public discourse. Ultimately, the essay argues that spaces become truly democratic when they foster active engagement and dissent, as reflected in Pasolini’s works and the symbolic power of place.
Article
Subscribers
Play for Democracy: Facilitating a Space for Children’s Involvement in Urban Development
by Per-Johan Dahl, Pernilla Theselius
pp. 407–428
Drawing on the quest to improve inclusion and social sustainability in urban planning process, a holistic approach on citizen participation in urban development is becoming increasingly important. One sector of society whose democratic rights remain overlooked in participatory action is children. It is therefore imperative to develop methods for processing the children’s rights to express their opinions when government is vested in the general population. This article analyzes the transdisciplinary project Play for Democracy (PfD), which was established in 2020. Building upon the five-stage design thinking model of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, its primary objective is to develop a new method for children to exercise their democratic rights in urban development process. The article traces the purpose of PfD and its expected impact on the broader socio-cultural context of urban development; it reviews the different phases of the four-week workshop; and it deduces a new method in which children can exercise their democratic rights through design. The method is extrapolated through text and diagram to be applicable to similar initiatives.
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Article
Subscribers
Digital Participatory Design as a Tool for Inclusive and Democratic Post-conflict Reconstruction in Damascus, Syria
by Karam Alkatlabe
pp. 429–450
This research investigates the implementation of digital participatory design to include the engagement of externally displaced persons (EDPs) in envisioning the future of their neighborhoods in post-conflict cities. In a world where conflicts cause large-scale displacement, the conventional top-down framework for reconstruction cannot achieve democratic and sustainable recovery as it excludes EDPs. It has become critical to shift toward a digital, bottom-up participatory approach to steer the reconstruction of space. This study is the first to investigate how EDPs can remotely participate in rebuilding their destroyed cities. It offers insights into how architects and urban recovery practitioners can emphasize the critical role of architecture in enhancing democracy in post-conflict cities. The findings show that a participatory approach helps engage EDPs and leads to an inclusive democratic reconstruction process. Digital participatory practice can also increase drivers of democracy, including social cohesion and citizens’ sense of ownership, and legitimize reconstruction planning. Despite its challenges and limitations, this approach assists architects in forming a deeper understanding of the contextual challenges facing destroyed cities to facilitate creating spaces shaped by the input of EDPs.
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Article
Subscribers
Medialab Prado: Images, Discourses and the Silent Erosion of Citizen Participation
by Juan José David, Haitam Daoudi
pp. 451–472
Medialab Prado, renamed “Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga” in 2022, originally emerged as a counter-narrative to Madrid’s cultural policies and the promotion of the “Paseo del Arte” for global tourism. It championed the production of art, science, and technology, advocating for the citizen’s right to shape the city, opposing the museumification of urban spaces. The 2022 transformation into an art gallery raises key questions about the motivations behind this change, why the building’s form was preserved but its principles discarded, and the broader implications for urban cultural policies. This research compares the building across its phases and examines narratives constructed by citizens, media and institutions. It argues that while the physical structure remains intact, the programmatic shift diminishes user engagement, moving from active participation to passive spectatorship. The findings reveal a shift from a determined physical community space to decentralized and virtual ones, reflecting broader trends in citizen engagement to a more transient and guerilla-like approach. The current situation is reminiscent of the original name proposed by Langarita-Navarro, “Street Fighter,” a call from the citizens for their right to decide.
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Article
Subscribers
Democratic Light: Daylighting Design and the Tate Hall Building Restoration
by Mary Guzowski, Abimbola Asojo, Anna Pravinata
pp. 473–495
A case study of a recent project at Tate Hall on the University of Minnesota campus illustrates how the architectural firm Alliiance employed the concept of “daylight democracy” as a primary design driver for renovations and an addition to the building that is located in the Northrop Mall Historic District. This article identifies strategies used in the project to foster more democratic, equitable, and accessible approaches to daylighting that support program tasks and activities, visual comfort, and health and well-being for all building occupants regardless of the types of space and program activities. The discussion includes: (1) an overview of daylight strategies at the site, building, and room scales, (2) whole building daylighting analyses using DIVA, ElumTools, and Licaso software to evaluate illuminance levels and visual comfort, and (3) a Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) of the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) to document user satisfaction, comfort, and well-being. Daylighting design conclusions summarize the strategies that are most effective in supporting the design goal of “daylight democracy.”
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Essay
Subscribers
Tracing Democratic Space of a Public Square: The Case of Square Victoria in Montreal
by Karim W. F. Youssef
pp. 499–516
The question of design for democratic space may be formulated through the lens of effect on subjectivity. Under that lens, the paper borrows Norberg-Schulz’s spatial notion of domain to denote the spatial openness of place for gathering things within it, revealing and making their presence tangible through its spatiality. Thus, it follows that good design of a democratic space is a synthesis of form and image in its embodiment of difference and multiplicity. A democratic space is an architectural image of the city as a whole, an image that reflects the psyche as a spatial mode of being. To advance our understanding of the socio-political dimension of space and to take an initial step toward the design of democratic space, the paper revisits the tracing of the morphological development of a public square in downtown Montreal, Square Victoria, as a leitmotif of urban change since its inception in 1810 as a hay market and subsequent effect on subjectivity that its successive redesign promoted.
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Article
Open Access
Architectures of Dissent: Building Memorials to Gandhi through Everyday Praxis
by Sarosh Anklesaria
pp. 517–539
As the residence of M. K. Gandhi from 1917-1930, the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad was central to India’s freedom struggle and an active community of everyday resistance through practice. It embodied dignity in labor, swadeshi (localness), vegetarianism, and literacy, reflecting Gandhi’s commitment to ethics and self-sufficiency beyond political independence. Today, the site is mired in controversy over a redevelopment plan by the Modi government, aiming to transform it into a “world-class memorial,” involving demolitions with little democratic process. This essay outlines various modes through which Gandhi has been memorialized in present day India to offer a detailed critique of the current redevelopment plan and unpack its hegemonic underpinnings. It then proposes alternative and radical ways to situate Gandhi through anarchistic, non-state lenses rooted in everyday practice using the work of an advanced architecture design studio. The essay advocates for programs that support grassroots democratic praxis through a close reading and analysis of existing or abandoned programs at the ashram. The projects, seen cumulatively, envision radical, liberatory futures that emphasize acts of everyday care and dissent against proposed “world-class” makeovers.
Article
Subscribers
Facing the Backside of Garibaldi: Democracy, Socio-Spatial Justice and Regeneration in Brescia, Italy
by Marco Alioni, Barbara Badiani
pp. 541–563
This paper examines planning logic and practices of a large-scale urban regeneration project targeting the artery Via Milano and surrounding district (Brescia, Northern Italy). The project aims to revitalize and gentrify historically industrial and working-class neighborhoods, now also home to a conspicuous migrant population. The paper argues that, while intended to improve the “urban quality” of the area, the municipality’s approach is leading to the stigmatization of the residents and disrupting the diverse community practices that have developed over time. Drawing on six years of ethnographic research and by discussing two significant examples, the paper questions whether these regenerative efforts are genuinely democratic and inclusive or if they are neglecting both residents’ needs, as well as undermining local community practices. The contribution also discusses how these interventions are affecting the neighborhood’s inherent vitality and whether they fulfill their goals of pursuing urban revitalization while promoting social integration.
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Book Review
Urbanism
Open Access
Richard Sennett’s Take on Democracy and Urban Form
by Carla Brisotto
pp. 567–570
Democracy and Urban Form By Richard SennettCambridge MA, USA:Harvard Design Press, 2024London: Sternberg Press, 2024Foreword by Diane E. DavisIntroduction by Moshe Safdie4.8 x 1 x 7.3 in. [12.1 x 2.5 x 18.5 cm] 264 pagesUS$27.95 / €21.95 / CAN$36.95 (hardcover)ISBN: 978-1915609472
Book Review
Criticism
Open Access
Assembly by Design: The United Nations and Its Global Interior
by Olivia Hamilton
pp. 571–576
Assembly by Design. The United Nations and Its Global Interior By Olga TouloumiMinneapolis MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press, 20247 x 10 in. [17.8 x 25.4 cm] 119 illustrations (106 b/w, 13 color plates)312 pagesUS$140 (hardcover)ISBN: 978-1517913328US$35 (paperback)ISBN: 978-1517913335US$35 (e-book)ISBN: 978-1452971544
Book Review
Cross-Disciplinary Studies
Open Access
Democracy and the Place of No-Thing
by Maurizio Sabini
pp. 577–582
The Empty Place. Democracy and Public Space By Teresa HoskynsAbingdon, UK: Routledge, 201463/8 x 5/8 x 91/2 in. [16.2 x 1.6 x 24.1 cm] 23 illustrations (b/w)222 pagesUS$142.50 (hardcover)ISBN: 978-0415724371US$52.49 (paperback)ISBN: 978-1138216976US$52.49 (e-book)ISBN: 978-1315851617