Public Space
Tamiko Thiel is one of the pioneers of the augmented reality art scene of this century and has captured artists’ imagination as harbinger of a new activism
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Instead of a Silicon Valley culture, Bologna has opted for a Mediterranean model for its innovation ecosystem with a strong social and environmental vocation
BOLOGNA, METROPOLITAN CITY OF BOLOGNA, ITALY
Public Space
As productivity-free conversations in cities are dwindling, people need ‘third places’ for communication and listening like the Zuhörraum in Munich
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
A group of researchers navigating city archives are opening a more inclusive past to a broader public to build the cities of the future
PARIS, FRANCE
Public Space
Nicholas Okwulu on urban regeneration and “giving local people an opportunity to be part of something that they thought was too far away”
LONDON, UK
Public Space
Jo Muñoz and Diego Peris’ work has been crucial to citizen activism in Madrid – their last intervention stirs consciousness about migration.
MADRID, SPAIN
Public Space
Residents in Northern Paris are fighting to prevent an ‘Olympic Legacy’ that has repeatedly failed people in cities. Will the city's 2024 Games be any different?
PARIS, FRANCE
Public Space
Could a museum change a city? This museum of contemporary art invites urban dwellers to rediscover their city together, break barriers and reconnect outside the institution.
ESSEN, GERMANY
Public Space
The revitalization of the river in Berlin challenges the top-down creation and interpretation of urban heritage in the city's historical centre.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Public Space
Zoning laws in cities that prevent high-density buildings are controversial. In Athens, the battle of its residents and the Acropolis set the tone.
ATHENS, GREECE
Public Space
The initiative 'De BuurtBankjes' is shaping the sidewalk experience. Chatty couples to street kids, refugees to yuppies and expats to bubbly grannys. These connections happen on couches outside homes in Amsterdam. In New York in stoops.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Public Space
Increasingly, more activist voices are advocating to reconsider the superblocks in Barcelona. Initially planned as a project of great urban transformation, it threatens to result in a giant greenwashing operation.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Public Space
In Berlin grassroots initiatives and municipality are masterminding a town hall of the future in a pioneer quarter to decouple the city's economic growth from environmental impacts, in addition to an avant-garde cultural approach.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Public Space
In Berlin urban garden pioneers have spotted the potential of increasing idle space at cemeteries to foster sustainability and fulfill the purpose of remembrance.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Public Space
Luca Ballarini, and the collective Torino Stratosferica, turned an abandoned tramway into a park to demonstrate the potential of Turin and project the city into a sustainable future.
TURIN, ITALY
Public Space
The Night Mayor in Amsterdam is leading nightclubs through change against homophobic, sexist and racist overtones to advance diversity and inclusivity in the city.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Public Space
A small city in Northern Spain has helped citizens to overcome their reluctance to talk about dying and heal a disconnected society from the end of life. Can death revitalize the city?
LOGROñO, SPAIN
Public Space
‘Bankerl’ is a film project for the public, which praises conversations between strangers. Interviews with passers-by provide insights into individual life situations and reveal the overall mood across the city.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
A poetic and provocative campaign by Gretta Louw challenges urban dwellers to reflect on the nature of the public sphere. A reflection of how the health of our democracies is linked to the health of our public spaces.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Breakdance kept Aloun Phetnoi Ferzandis out of trouble. But not off the streets, rather breakdance granted him an identity and sense of belonging to the city.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
The city of Munich is challenging the ways in which children could connect with the streets independently. The interactive game kreuz & quer is reclaiming the lost art of playing outside.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
The role of religious buildings can’t be underestimated in our urban landscape. The connections between them and the city are undeniable.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Urban planning often underestimates sunlight in cities. Two students in Munich fought for their right to light.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
BCN Helpers is a twitter account for citizen collaboration in Barcelona, which maps in real time criminal offences on the streets to make the city safe.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Public Space
Two brothers, one dream. Julian and Daniel Hahn are the masterminds behind the transformation of unused public space in Munich into dreamy places.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
In diverse neighbourhoods lies a wellspring of creativity and urban identity that make cities thrive. At Portobello Road silent technology is an effective way to content all citizens.
LONDON, UK
Public Space
You have an obligation to feel good at Nomadic Gardens. People grow food, create art and share skills. It is quite a community space out of the straightjacket of conventional urbanism.
LONDON, UK
Public Space
Backed by the willingness of conscious consumers Addiopizzo supports shopkeepers who don't pay extortion money to the Mafia in Palermo.
PALERMO, ITALY
Public Space
While his camera captures life and race in Baltimore, Devin Allen puts cameras into kids’ hands against gun violence — both in pursuit of social justice
BALTIMORE, MD, USA
Public Space
‘Segregation by Design’ offers images and maps of racist “urban renewal” in US cities to thousands of followers — but that’s only part of a bigger mission
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
How artist Mercedes Dorame challenges traditional monuments in Los Angeles and demands the return of indigenous land
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
Public Space
A human-scale city or stratospheric urban planning? Such is the ongoing conflict among New Yorkers over the plans for Penn Station. But this fight, claim activists, is another one.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
The initiative Signal Station North has put together a unique collaboration of neighbours, local artists, designers and nonprofits for street lighting advocacy in Central Baltimore. Exhaustive urban analysis and lighting interventions reveal how to support wellbeing.
BALTIMORE, MD, USA
Public Space
We Build The Block, a community-led movement co-founded by Michael K. Williams, Dana Rachlin and Shani Kulture, creates opportunities for youth to hold positions of power and reimagine how public safety is achieved in their neighbourhood.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
The urban intervention Parasite Parking occupied parking spaces in Chicago and tested the limits of their use. Their privatization years ago led to a loss of agency in the city. What will happen when parking spaces are no longer needed?
CHICAGO, IL, USA
Public Space
The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space in New York offers an empowering alternative approach to the way museums are typically run, through activism, transparency, and direct action that expands beyond conventional exhibitions.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
Last week artworks from over eighty artists worldwide were distributed randomly to people on the streets of New York. It was the culmination of an unconventional public art project to create social engagement and change.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
Chiene Jones, awarded 2020 Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year, is determined to use basketball to create powerful future women, specially in underserved urban communities.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
In New York the combination of roads closed off to traffic and the need to reduce tensions on the street has a name, Play Streets. Now it's time to revive them.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
A community-led initiative revives a contemporary ruin in its quest to fight against the excessive privatization of public space in Bangkok
BANGKOK, THAILAND
Public Space
Instead of falling into despair, a newspaper kiosk has been turned into a cultural space to make diverse sources of information accessible to the public
VALPARAíSO, CHILE
Public Space
Interventions in the public space by Peshcom are without permissions and fewer repercussions. Is this a sign of progress in the post-Soviet city of Bishkek?
BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN
Public Space
In Kasserine, Tunisia, democracy is flourishing in public space. How is the city of Munich involved?
KASSERINE, TUNISIA
Public Space
Over the years the jazz dancers of Santa Amalia have forged a dancing community in their neighbourhood that has become a philosophy of life in Havana.
HAVANA, CUBA
Public Space
Haifa Subay is a Yemeni street artist putting her own life on the line to inspire a culture of peace in her city. Her artwork instigates fellow citizens to immerse themselves in the meaning of social change for peace.
ADEN, YEMEN
Public Space
Street names do matter. A street in the city of Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, is called ‘The Walk’. It sounds obvious. But are streets in cities always walkable? This beautiful piece of road is closed to cars supporting a vision towards a more walkable city and a sustainable urbanisation of Muscat. ...
MUSCAT, OMAN