Jack Self

Life Without Debt

Real Estates

Myria Georgiou

Saskia Sassen

Alfredo Brillembourg

Brooke Holmes

Ian Strange

The Politics of Public Space is a quarterly publication of transcripts that speak directly to the city and the way we read it. The publication is edited and published by not for profit, design and research practice, OFFICE. Beginning in 2018 at OFFICE curated a series of informal lectures within contentious public places around Melbourne. Every Wednesday evening via an Instagram tip-off, students and members of the general public would meet for the discussions. The theme for the series was the Politics of Public Space, and it only seemed fitting for this to occur in situ. Thirty-one speakers have contributed to this discourse so far with backgrounds in; architecture, landscape architecture, planning, law, criminology, activism, urban design, public housing, sociology and public art, all with varying readings of the city. Each issue draws out new forms of investigation between the individual practices and the content gathered from the discussions.The second volume addresses the effects of COVID-19, including the sudden changes in the way we interact and view our public spaces. It contains excerpts from Myria Georgiou, Saskia Sassen, Jack Self, Brooke Holmes, Ian Strange and Alfredo Brillembourg.This publication curates a series of global perspectives as we all come to terms with a new way of life due to the virus. Myria Georgiou observes the emergence of digital solidarity groups throughout the UK as inequalities and vulnerabilities are foregrounded. World-renowned sociologist Saskia Sassen reveals the pervasiveness of power as the fragility of our global connectedness is further disclosed. The true publicness of our cities is revealed in Jack Self's account of protest and opposition to the political structures. Brooke Holmes depicts an interconnectedness between the health of the city and it's citizens traced back to antiquity. Australian artist Ian Strange unpacks his understanding of the home as he recounts a decade of practice into the subject. And Venezuelan architect Alfredo Brillembourg calls to arms the architecture profession to deal directly with issues of injustice within the built environment.

Public Lectures in Contentious Places

The Politics of Public Space, Volume 02

"A book about modernist architect Mies van der Rohe's only design for the UK, a bronze tower and grand plaza in the heart of London. After decades of struggle, Mies' plans for Mansion House Square were scuppered. In Thatcher's Britain, popular opinion turned against modernism, Prince Charles criticised the work, and the government feared new public spaces. Stopped dead by an Inquiry, and mired in controversy, Mies' masterpiece was all but erased"--Publisher's website.

Mansion House Square Project : Feasbility Study for an Office Building : Mies Van Der Rohe, Architect

Mies in London

Symbolic Exchange

Remnants

Jack Self

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