Public spaces have long been the object of countless studies. Yet, most of these have focused almost exclusively on the metropolitan setting, while neglecting the nature and function of public spaces in rural areas. This volume addresses precisely this gap, drawing from Henri Lefebvre’s theories in order to propose an alternative vision of public spaces – one which is centered on the local rhythms of rural areas and on their peculiar complexities. Rural public spaces can present all features of a Lefebvrian abstract space, just like cities do. However, their specific ‘otherness’ allows them to offer communal and organic responses to the pressure of global challenges, in a way that is largely precluded to cities.
Angela D’Ascoli is an architect and holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Humanities. She undertook her architectural studies at the Universities of Naples, Lille and Bologna and Copenhagen, and her philosophical research at the Universities of Urbino and Copenhagen. The issue of public space as the social space par excellence, closely studied during her stay at the Centre for Public Space Research of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts of Copenhagen, has become the central topic of her current research.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PREFACE
ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPACE
BEYOND THE DIVISION, THROUGH HENRI LEFEBVRE
0. ON THE ROAD TO LEFEBVRE
A Picturesque Backdrop
On Lefebvre’s Trail
1. THE FLOWING SPACE
1.1 Space as a Social Product
1.2 Everyday Life, the Setting of Counter-space
1.3 Rhythmanalysis and the Investigation of Daily Publicness
1.4 Beyond Lefebvre: from Theory to Practice
2. PUBLIC SPACE, THE SOCIAL PRODUCT PAR EXCELLENCE
2.1 Public Space or Public Spaces? Between Domain and Use
2.2 The In-Between of Public Space
2.3 The Public as the Stage of ‘Throwntogetherness’
2.4 From the Public Space a s a Network to thePublic Space of the Network
2.5 New Rhythms of Use of the Traditional Public Space
2.6 Possible Scenarios of Future Development
3. THE COUNTRY SIDE OF PUBLIC SPACE
3.1 An Apparent Oxymoron, between ‘Nature’ and ‘Culture’
3.2 Rural Public Space. A Renewed Form of Public Space
3.3 The ‘Proactivity’ of Rural Historical Landscapes
4. LEFEBVRE ‘APPLIED’
4.1 The Descriptive Moment. Setting the Stage: the Rhythms of the Esino River
4.2 The Analytico-Regressive Moment. Sailing the Past
4.3 The Historico-Genetic Moment. Back to the Present, Peeking at the Future
CONCLUSION
LIST OF REFERENCE