_PLACENONPLACE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
_I BELIEVE THAT IT IS THIS EXACT DICHOTOMY THAT SHOULD BE EXPLORED AND UNDERSTOOD AND TRANSFORMED INTO SOMETHING TANGIBLE THROUGH THE MEANS OF THIS PROJECT.
_THE CONCEPT OF NON-PLACE AND THEIR RELATION TO SPACES WAS FIRST DEFINED IN LITERATURE BY THE FRENCH PHILOSOPHER MARC AUGE, WHO IN THE YEAR 1992 PUBLIS THE BOOK "INTRODUCTION TO AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF SUPERMODERNITY". IN HIS WORK HE COINS THE TERM NON-PLACE WHICH HE UNDERSTANDS AS "SPACES WHERE HUMAN ACTOS PASS THROUGH AS ANONYMOUS INDIVIDUALS BUT DO NOT RELATE / IDENTIFY WITH IN ANY INTIMATE SELF. THEY ARE DESOLATE SPACES WHICH ARE CONTINUOUSLY WIPED OUT BY THE STATE". THEY ARE OFTEN OF ARTIFICIAL NATURE (MATERIALITY).
_IN ACCORDANCE WITH AUGE'S THEORY, THE NON-SPACE DOES NOT HOLD ANY CULTURAL, SOCIAL, OR HISTORIC VALUE. SUCH SPACE IS DUE TO THIS OF A STRICTLY TRANSITORY NATURE. EXAMPLES OF SUCH SPACES ARE: MOTORWAYS, HOTEL ROOMS, AIPORT LUGGAGE CLAIMS, METRO STATION ETC..
_DESPITE THE FACT THAT THESE TYPES OF SPACES ALLOW FOR CONSTANT ANONYMITY, THEY ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY CHARACTERISABLE BY A SET OF NORMATIVE BEHAVIOURS. AN EXAMPLE IS THE SUBWAY STATION (MORE SPECIFICALLY THE TRANSIT IN THE SUBWAY STATION). IN A SUBWAY STATION THERE ARE PRESCRIBED PATHS WHICH ARE UNDER CONSTANT SURVEILLANCE BY OTHER ANONYMOUS INDIVIDUALS. A PRESCRIBED ROUTE, A PRESCRIBED CHECKING SYSTEM IS DEVISED IN ORDER TO CREATE A SMOOTH OPERATION. THE SUBWAY IS NOT A MEETING SPOT, A ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE NOR IS IT A SPACE FOR CREATING MEMORIES. IT'S EXISTENCE IS PURELY FUNCTIONAL.
_OTHER'S HAVE ARGUES THAT A DEFINITION OF A NON-PLACE IS NOT STRICT AND INDIVIDUALS CREATE DIFFERENT SET'S NON-PLACES. FOR SOMEONE WORKING IN A SHOPPING MALL OR AS A CASHIER AT A SUBWAY STATION, A NON-PLACE REPRESENTS A VITAL PART IN THEIR LIFE AND HENCE CANNOT BE CLASSIFIED AS A NON-SPACE. BUT OVERALL THE THEORY PREVAILS.
_WHEN TAKING A LOOK AT THE SPACE IN FRONT OF NADRAZI HOLESOVICE, A VERY OBVIOUS COMPARISON CAN BE MADE BETWEEN THE NON-SPACE AND THE PHYSICAL SPACE IN FRONT OF US. AS DISCUSSED IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER ON "FEELINGS & SPACES", THE SPACE IN FRONT OF THE STATION REPRESENTS A TRANSITIONAL SPACE, WHICH DOES NOT HAVE ANY VALUE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL OR A GROUP, HOLDS NO CULTRA NOR ENOMIC SIGNIFICANCE AND ACTORS REMAIN AT ALL TIMES ANONYMOUS WHEN MOVING THROUGH IT.
_BASED ON THIS SHORT ANALYSES, THE PLOT CAN BE DESCRIBED AS A NON-PLACE AS DEFINED BY AUGE.
_SIMILARLY KRATOCHVIL IN HIS WRITING ON "URBAN SPACES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC POST 1989" (2013) DISCUSSED THE EMERGENCE OF NON-SPACES AS A BYPRODUCT OF THE COMMUNIST REGIME. FURTHERMORE HE OPENS UP THE DISCUSSED ON THE CREATION OF NON-SPACES AND HOW DO WE ERADICATE THEM IN THE POST 1989 POST-COMMUNIST ERA. HE USES THE WORDS OF CAPEK "STREET AS A PUBLIC PUB ... A THEATRE OF EVERYDAY PERFORMATIVITY" (1924 ) IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE IMPORTANCE OF PLACES AS MEETING SPOTS OF THE POPLE IN THE STREETS.
_HE BEGINS BY ANALYSING THE GREEK AND ROMAN AGORA WHICH IS BY HIM UNDERSTOOD AS A BUILDING BLOCK OF MODERN DEMOCRACY. AN AGORA, ALSO KNOWN AS THE CITY SQUARE HOUSED THE MARKET, POLITICAL DISCUSSION, FIRST PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMY AND SOCIAL PERFORMATIVITY. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE AGORA IN IN HIS EYES VISIBLE TO THIS DAY AND LINKS CLOSELY WITH THE POLITICAL PROPAGANDA OF THE 20TH CENTRY COMMUNIST REGIMES.
_HE CLAIMS THAT THE POLITICAL ELITES WITHIN THE EASTERN BLOCK INTENTIONALLY ERADICATED PUBLIC SQUARES AND OTHER MEETING SPOTS IN ORDER TO SUPPRESS ANY DEMOCRATIC UPRISINGS. HENCE NO ARCHITECT OR CITY PLANNER WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH CREATING AND BUILDING UP SPACES BETWEEN THE CONCRETE BLOCKS. OTHER OLDER SPACES WERE INTENTIONALLY DECAYING OVER THE YEARS. THIS PROCESS LED TO THE CREATION OF NON-PLACES AS UNDERSTOOD BY AUGE.
_TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE ABOVE MENTIONED POINTS, AND OTHER NOT DISCUSSED IN THIS SHORT THEORETICAL BACKGROUND, I HAVE DECIDED TO FOCUS ON CREATING AND BUILDING A MARKET ON THE GIVEN PLOT. I BELIEVE THAT A MARKET REPRESENTS A STRUCTURE WHICH ENSURES A REDEFINING AND REPURPOSING OF THE SPACE.
_A MARKET IN MY EYES REPRESENTS A "JUST AND EQUAL SPACE" WHICH CAN BE REGARDED AS INCLUSIVE, OPEN AND MOST IMPORTANTLY DEMOCRATIC. APART FROM HAVING AN OBVIOUS POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY, IT ALLOWS FOR NEW INTERACTION BETWEEN DIFFERENT GROUPS, PEOPLE TRAVELING ETC.
_IT IS SUCH A MAKE SHIFT PLACE..............
CONCLUSION
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