• OASE 77
        • Into the open
        • 2008

        Abstract
        In the modern world, urban public space is used more intensively than ever, and is often organized specifically for consumption. For decades, this was seen as a negative development; it was said that these regimented spaces are not ‘open’ spaces where people can spontaneously encounter the ‘other’, or where groups can congregate. They thus fail to meet the definition of the public sphere given by thinkers such as Hannah Arendt and Jurgen Habermas: a place for debate and democracy, for exchanging opinions. This issue of OASE shows that the tide is turning. The negative views of the past few decades should at least be qualified somewhat. Fears and concerns about the disappearance of the public domain seem to be giving way to a more positive and sophisticated point of view. This trend is particularly evident among architects and designers, not in large-scale ‘public’ projects, but in an approach to everyday assignments that strikes a balance between pragmatism and idealism. Such designers aim to create conditions in which the public can claim a space as its own. That requires a certain restraint, but there is no need for self-effacement; creating these conditions is an exciting design challenge. OASE 77 repositions the public sphere relative to contemporary social developments, offering critical reflection on a few key studies of the public sphere and the use of urban public space. This issue also discusses and presents positive design practices for urban public space, focusing on several projects from recent years.
        •  
        • René Boomkens
        •  
        • Hans Teerds
    1. 23/10/2024
      Call for Abstracts OASE 122

      Ecological Pedagogies / Written by Janna Bystrykh, Bart Decroos, Jantje Engels, Sereh Mandias, Elsbeth Ronner / Deadline 1 December 2024

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    2. 06/10/2024
      Call for Submissions

      Geert Bekaert Prize for Architecture Criticism

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    3. 21/11/2023
      call for conversations OASE 118

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      This Call is written by Justin Agyin, Bart Decroos, Christoph Grafe. The deadline is 17 December 2023.

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    4. 11/11/2023
      call for abstracts OASE 119
      1. Review of Jean-Louis de Cordemoy's Nouveau traité de toute l'architecture in Mémoires pour l'histoire des sciences & des beaux-arts, September 1706

      Book Reviews
      From Words to Buildings
      In this issue of OASE, the history of the architectural book review is outlined through case studies. This Call is written by Christophe Van Gerrewey and Hans Teerds. The deadline is 20 December 2023.

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    5. 06/03/2023
      BK Talks on 16 March 2023 about 'Design with Soil: Urbanizing the living surface'

      On 16 March 2023 the TU Delft will host a debate inspired by OASE 110.

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    6. 21/02/2023
      Call for Abstracts OASE 117. Village Variations

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    7. 31/01/2023
      Now available: OASE 113. Authorship

      What does the author’s ‘owning’ of a project mean? And does this sense of ownership still prevail in contemporary architecture culture? Other more open forms of cooperation and co-creation are emerging alongside the concept of individual singular authorship.

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    8. 02/12/2022
      Presentation OASE 112 on 8 December 2022 in Rotterdam, NL

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    9. 24/11/2022
      Call for Abstracts OASE 116
      1. Carmen Portinho in front of the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro (source: Wikimedia Commons)

      ‘The Architect as Public Instellectual’
      Deadline: 23-12-2022

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    10. 15/10/2022
      Now available: OASE 112. Ecology & Aesthetics

      Through a series of concrete projects, the contributions in this issue explore the field of tension between architectural aesthetics and issues of energy, technology and materiality. Ecological practices in architecture must not only be effective in providing solutions, but inevitably raise questions of beauty, affection and perception as well.

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    11. More news …