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Lian (Harvard GSD M.Arch.I)

I graduated in 2013, but still blog here once in a while.

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    Mubarak steps down.

    By Lian Chikako Chang
    Feb 11, '11 12:03 PM EST

    We don't know how the military will handle their power and how this will all play out.

    image

    But can we hold on to this image, and remember it when we talk about public space, not just in Egypt, but here at home, and everywhere where we aspire to democracy?

    Lian

    image



     
    • 9 Comments

    • woops
      try again
      here

      Feb 11, 11 1:37 pm  · 
       · 
      chatter of clouds

      oh shush

      Feb 11, 11 3:15 pm  · 
       · 
      João Gameiro Neves

      indeed..
      nice article namhenderson

      Feb 12, 11 6:32 am  · 
       · 
      João Gameiro Neves

      indeed..
      nice article namhenderson

      Feb 12, 11 6:32 am  · 
       · 
      Lian Chikako Chang

      Thanks, nam! Thanks for the link to that great post.

      I'm interested by the idea that “The true value of an urban public square is that it is free from large obstructions. The square allows people to make use of its openness for a range of activities." When I was in Tiananmen Square, there are no physical obstructions, but a heavy visible (and, one could say, invisible) police presence. And that is a considerable obstruction.

      Feb 12, 11 10:02 am  · 
       · 
      superinteresting!

      Thanks, Lian. I agree there's an incredible sense of power in how public space is reformatted, perhaps early on in the revolution by digital networks, but then by actual people, in masses, later on. My own thoughts on social movements and urban space, the inaugural post on MVMTBLDG - architecture and social justice,

      Feb 14, 11 10:00 am  · 
       · 

      lian good point of course. The publicness of a space does not depend solely on the lack of physical obstructions, it can be rendered neutral by less physical (in the built environment sense) forms of control. However, having public space whether, square, cafe or street does i think reinforce the sense of a shared public realm. Which can also be virtual, see the role of twitter et al in egypt etc..

      Within context of China such a discussion could perhaps look at the less physical but just as controlling/obtrusive virtual "Great (fire)Wall" and its impact on a "public" realm.

      Feb 14, 11 2:24 pm  · 
       · 

      Vishaan Chakrabarti has a nice piece over at Urban Omnibus on Liberation Squares

      Feb 17, 11 2:02 pm  · 
       · 

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About this Blog

This blog was most active from 2009-2013. Writing about my experiences and life at Harvard GSD started out as a way for me to process my experiences as an M.Arch.I student, and evolved into a record of the intellectual and cultural life of the Cambridge architecture (and to a lesser extent, design/technology) community, through live-blogs. These days, I work as a data storyteller (and blogger at Littldata.com) in San Francisco, and still post here once in a while.

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