Multi: The RIT Journal of Plurality and Diversity in Design, Vol 2, No 1 (2008)

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The Architectural Public Sphere

Léa-Catherine Szacka

Abstract


In his 1962 book The Structural Transformation of Public Sphere, the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas described the emergence, transformation, and disintegration of the Public Sphere in the late eighteenth century and in the beginning of the nineteenth century in France, Germany and England. After giving a brief summery of Habermas’ theory on the public sphere, this paper will attempt to draw a parallel between these ideas (generally applied to literature, art and politics) and the development of the architectural exhibitions presented by the Venice Biennale between 1968 and 2006. In other words, this paper will aim to see whether there is such a thing as an “architectural public sphere” and, if so,  will try to determine how this particular type of public sphere had evolved in the last 40 years.

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