- 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.
- Editors of this issue
- Tom Avermaete, Klaske Havik, Hans Teerds
- December 2008
- Dutch/English
- Paperback/Illustrated (b/w)
- 170 × 240 mm
- Order this issueas hard copy or ebook
- ISSN0169-6238
- ISBN978-90-5662-661-7
- © NAi Publishers, 2008
- Subsidising institutions
- Netherlands Architecture Fund, Van Eesteren-Fluck en Van Lohuizen Stichting
- 081
- 091
- 23/10/2024Call for Abstracts OASE 122
Ecological Pedagogies / Written by Janna Bystrykh, Bart Decroos, Jantje Engels, Sereh Mandias, Elsbeth Ronner / Deadline 1 December 2024
- 06/10/2024Call for Submissions
Geert Bekaert Prize for Architecture Criticism
- 21/11/2023call for conversations OASE 118
- Rationalism RevisitedThis Call is written by Justin Agyin, Bart Decroos, Christoph Grafe. The deadline is 17 December 2023.
- 11/11/2023call for abstracts OASE 119
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.
- 06/03/2023BK 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.
- 31/01/2023Now 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.
- 24/11/2022Call for Abstracts OASE 116
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
- 15/10/2022Now 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.
- More news …
