ATHENS
a visual transition of a social crisis
Authors:
Elena Stamouli
How the political, financial and social crisis can be printed out and visualized in the urban fabric?
How the political and social instabilities can be printed out in urban public spaces? How the human
engagement in occupational movements and constrained inhabitation can highlight the value of
democracy and justice of urban public spaces in times of social uncertainty?
The research on the possibilities of an urban public space is certainly endless, even if we are
concentrated in a small part of it. Every alternate approach exposes its relative and intricate nature.
Each researcher approaches the subject in a specific manner using different tools of analysis.
Making a case study and concentrating in a certain urban environment allows me to comprehend in
depth the alterability of a public space and how it gets transformed according to the given
circumstances. A genuine public space is inseparably linked to the notion of democracy and
adaptability. Different people can use freely different spaces in different times. The social crisis and
the redefinition of values within a society can play a vital role to the future of the cities.
Two friends meet in a park before going to work, a homeless person begins his daily routine. The
space has simultaneously double purpose, meeting point and a home. One single space can
simultaneously receive interpersonal contact as well as singular and collective memory. The space can
be the tribune at which all voices find a way to be heard, or it can play the role of a shelter on which
someone can find temporary safety.
When conditions are already difficult in terms of social cohesion, all different faces of a public space
could be more easily distinguished. Seeking to comprehend the framework in which people co exist,
the relations and associations forming in flux between the place and the community and how users
leave their marks on the space, I made an effort to read the public space in two separate ways which
often interweave. I gave a role to the public space according to the way people decided or were forced
to act within it and redefine it; public space as a political stage and as a constrained
inhabitation…
