Sixteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Places of retail can be challenging for public space as retail activities, per se, do not necessarily enhance social interactions. This paper is an opportunity to analyse how retail coexists with public space and, in certain circumstances, enhances it. The challenge to maintain real public space can be illustrated with Zaha Hadid’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza. The Plaza is a popular space of gathering, but the main driver of this attraction to the public is the image value provided by the brands that set the background of the public interactions. The choice, for this paper, is to present an example of programme that is not affected by the marketing strategies of brands, but where retailers respond to basic needs. This paper also discusses architecture outside of the predominant Western and Asian models and highlight architectural and spatial practice for remote Australian Aboriginal Communities. The decolonisation of architecture, in remote Australia and other parts of the world, enables adequate design of public space for Indigenous communities. This study considers the practice of architect Kevin O’Brien, and especially his project for the Retail Store and Offices in Lockhart River. It shows that culturally-specific design, in terms of spatial organisation and specific shapes, can remain partially porous to anyone from the public. In these examples, the thresholds are spaces of social interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people while reinforcing the bonds within the Aboriginal community.