Crossing Paths
Use and Occupation of Public Spaces, Linked to Religious Festivities: Main Square of Yumbel-Chile
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alejandro Lara
This research was based on the analysis of the spatial occupation of the Main Square of Yumbel, with the purpose of relating the uses and social practices, with its respective spatial design. To do this, the function of the projected spaces was related to the social practices that these spaces make possible, revealing whether there is coherence or incoherence considering function and use. Using observation, semi-structured interview and planimetric analysis, as data collection techniques. Main results indicated that, the good use of the public space would be linked to the elements that make up the design of the main square, generating a diversity of acts and appropriations, which are more significant during religious festivities carried out either by the inhabitant of the city or the visitor.
Genius Loci : Can the Spirit of a Place Initiate Social Interactions with the Structures of Society?
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anum Jamal
A city is a conceptual entity, shaped by the various incidents, stories, and anecdotes that flavor it towards being a unique place to reside in. This kind of amalgamation initiates the concept of cognitive mapping and how the physical, as well as the mental presence of a habitant, constructs the spirit of the place, also known as genius locus. Such interaction of the citizens, primarily in Karachi, my home-city, reflects on their social interaction with the architectural structures, which eventually makes them the foundation of the metropolitan city and solidifies art’s impact on it. This research led to creation of QR codes which, when decoded, present about 30 physiognomic profiles of the strangers who I have come across, each highlighting particular aspects of their complexion, clothes, features, body language and actions, thus celebrating these profiles and providing them a new habitat of sort. This paper includes selected prose and the process/reasons behind converting them into QR codes. Furthermore, it discusses how the codes were eventually converted into installations, one of which was in the First Karachi Biennale (October 2017), in which the public decoded while experiencing the installation, thus taking prose with them in their mobile phones. A discussion of their reactions and transcribed conversations with me and how those quotes created further public artworks is shared. Moreover, the exploration also reveals how blogging aided me to open dialogue of making conversations amongst strangers and eventually with the city.
Steps Towards the Disruption of the Public Sphere: The Algorithmic Production and Control of Rhythms, Mobilities, and the Formation of a Rational Critical Public in the Smart City
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Harris Mark Breslow
In this study, I examine the relationship amongst urban social space, the rhythmic patterns of mobility within this space, the formation of subjectivity and the articulation of a public sphere and a rational critical public. In so doing I argue that the production of a public sphere and a rational critical public comprised of political subjects is a rhythmic and repetitive event, which exists as spatial and cultural ritual. The process of formation of the public sphere is threatened by three forms of spatial control within the smart city: The acceleration of subjects within the smart city, which functions through a regime of algorithmic governance, and in so doing speeds up spatiomaterial processes to that of real time, thereby accelerating subjective experience, now characterised by instantaneity and fragmentation. The smart city algorithmically increases the scope and speed of the mobility of its subjects. This leaves subjects vulnerable to what Yeung calls the ‘hypernudge’; the ability to influence decision-making through behavioural modification techniques in the algorithmic standards that delimit the choice architectures available to subjects moving through the city. The production of a perpetual arrhythmia within the city through the proscription of subjects’ movement. This is a tactic employed by the Israeli Defense Force in its occupation of the Palestinian territories and is enacted through a tripartite spatial matrix that employs barriers, roadblocks, checkpoints and layers of movement restrictions. In so doing the ability of Palestinians to establish and maintain the spatiotemporal rituals that are productive of a public sphere are short-circuited.
A Typology of Café con Piernas in Santiago
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Christine Steinmetz
Although a mere facet of the night-time economy, the adult entertainment industry is perceived by many to transmit negative externalities – aesthetic, economic, and social. However, it does play an important, albeit somewhat controversial role, in contributing to its vibrancy, place-branding, recreation, and business, and the creation of a more gritty and somewhat taboo urban experience. This paper presents a typology of atypical ‘adult entertainment’ venues — coffee shops. And, just as the numerous blends they serve, varied theme of décor, uniforms for staff, and locations throughout the city, finding a coffee shop in Santiago, Chile is not difficult —they are ubiquitous. Santiago is home to over 100 café con piernas; a uniquely Chilean, predominantly Santiagan, alcohol-free venue, touting a combination of generally mediocre coffee, mixed with an erotic ambience, designed to promote a subtle, sexual frisson between client - predominately male, and waitress - predominantly young and attractive. The paper seeks to (i) capture the notion that there is a complex topography to the café con piernas couched within the bigger city sexscape of Santiago; and, (ii) that because of practices surrounding these cafés, they exist in a variety of spaces - urban, suburban, and (sub)urban– within the city. Overall this paper considers the geographies of café con piernas in Santiago, Chile and suggests that a feminist critique could bring overdue attention to these contentious gendered spaces.
