The Public Space Academy is promoted by City Space Architecture
in partnership with the Ove Arup Foundation
.
City Space Architecture is a non-profit organisation based in Bologna (Italy), with a mission to promote public space culture globally, through an interdisciplinary approach, involving art and architecture. Working on education, academic research and innovative, human-oriented design, City Space Architecture fosters a critical reflection on our own world, in a multidisciplinary field of action. It is the publisher of The Journal of Public Space, the first-ever, academic, interdisciplinary, open access journal on public space, developed in partnership with UN-Habitat.
Ove Arup Foundation is an independent charity honouring the memory of philosopher and engineer Sir Ove Arup who believed in the benefit of collaborative and multi-disciplinary approaches in the design of the built environment. Ove Arup Foundation promotes the advancement and communication of knowledge about the built environment through holistic and multi-disciplinary approaches to its shaping.
The global community of public space lovers of City Space Architecture coming together in Venice in 2018 at 16th International Architecture Exhibition for the third Past Present and Future of Public Space conference. Read more here.
MaPS. Mastering Public Space symposium in Rome in 2015 at MAXXI B.A.S.E., promoted by City Space Architecture. Read more here.
INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION
The Public Space Academy is designed to be rich and diverse, it is intended to frame contemporary urban complexity, with multiple levels of understandings and interpretations, and to link public space to a large number of topics and issues, spanning from economy, environment, tourism, mobility to art, participation, social inclusion and beyond.
YOUTH AND TECH CULTURE
The Public Space Academy fosters intercultural dialogues, programs and initiatives led by youth, engaging promising urban and community leaders, with the goal to inspire and empower a new generation of urban thinkers and innovators who are willing to become agents of change in their own cities and communities.
Through an open and collaborative learning environment, scholars will exchange theoretical contents and methodological approaches for the design of practical solutions. Contents will be available on a custom OpenEdX platform developed in cooperation with Raccoon Gang.
MaPS. Mastering Public Space workshop in Rome in 2015 on the occasion of the Biennial of Public Space, promoted by City Space Architecture. Read more here.
CREATIVE TEAM
We are a multidisciplinary team of young and experienced researchers, professionals and entrepreneurs, committed to spread awareness on the importance of public space culture. We advocate a paradigm shift towards a new way of thinking, prioritising publicness and human-oriented design in urban and regional contexts.
Forging a new social contract for education is a critical step towards reimagining our futures together.
Luisa Bravo
Founder and DirectorPublic Space Scholar and Activist, Cultural Entrepreneur, Academic
Simone Garagnani
Chief Technology OfficerEngineer, Research & Development Manager
Vija Viese
Communication ManagerUrban Designer, Practice-led Researcher
Eglé Pilipavičiūtė
Global Outreach OfficerArchitect, Urban Planner and Researcher
Steering Committee
Nadine Bitar, Place Led Cities, United Arab Emirates
Lance Jay Brown, Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization, United States
Jose Chong, UN-Habitat, Global Public Space Programme, Kenya
Tigran Haas, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Maurice Harteveld, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Jia-Ping Lee, Placemaking Malaysia / PlacemakingX, Malaysia
Miodrag Mitrasinovic, Parsons School of Design, The New School University, United States
Sarah Mui, One Bite Design, Hong Kong
Lakshmi Priya Rajendran, University College London (UCL), The Bartlett School of Architecture, United Kingdom
Stefano Recalcati, ARUP, Italy
Anna Rubbo, Columbia University, Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, United States
Jacek Ludwig Scarso, London Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Stephen Willacy, SWA + U, Denmark
WORKING GROUPS
Academic / Non-Academic / Private Sector / Public Sector
We are currently working on the establishment of these working groups.
Key message from our Founder and Director …
Public space is a key element for sustainable urban development. Well-designed and well-managed public spaces can redefine urban environments with human vibrancy and livelihood, encouraging walking, cycling and play, and improving physical and mental health.
– Dr Luisa Bravo, Founder and Director of the Public Space Academy
… and from affiliated global Public Space Lovers
interviewed at City Space Architecture’s exhibition space at the 9th World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur (2018).
MORE PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTS
by City Space Architecture
The first-ever, interdisciplinary, peer reviewed, open access journal entirely dedicated to public space, developed in partnership with UN-Habitat. It is open to embrace diversity, inconvenient dialogues and untold stories, from multidisciplinary fields and all countries, especially from those that usually do not have voice, overcoming the Western-oriented approach that is leading the current discourse
A web-magazine focused on public space research, practice and policy making, to inspire city-wide public space strategies, developed by City Space Architecture in collaboration with Genius Saeculi with a curated collection from GCDN – Global Cultural Districts Network.
A global online campaign to spread awareness on the importance of public space in cities, launched at Habitat III, the United Nations conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, held in Quito in 2016.
A transdisciplinary, inclusive and plural practice in Bologna (Italy) that experiments methodologies at the intersection of art, architecture and technology with the aim to investigate the complexity of public space culture, co-managed with Genius Saeculi.
Urban Visions. Beyond the Ideal City
An independent film festival which investigates the complexity of the contemporary urban dimension, exploring the connections, intersections and activities that take place in our cities, seen through the complex interweaving of social practices, cultural contexts and human geographies, beyond the stereotypes and widespread consumerist images, with particular reference to the multiple and changing expressions of public life, developed within A-Place.
A global survey aiming at shading light on the industrious and tireless work of public and private institutions, non-profit organisations and informal civic groups that promote ideas, projects and initiatives with a strong connotation of resilience, in its environmental, social and economic terms, developed in partnership with UN-Habitat.