In the modern world, urban public space is used more intensively than ever, and is often organized specifically for consumption. For decades it was said that these regimented spaces are not ‘open’ spaces where people can spontaneously encounter the ‘other’, or where groups can congregate. They thus fail to meet the definition of the public sphere given by thinkers such as Hannah Arendt and Jurgen Habermas: a place for debate and democracy, for exchanging opinions. This issue of OASE shows that the tide is turning, particularly among architects and designers, not in large-scale ‘public’ projects, but in an approach to everyday assignments that strikes a balance between pragmatism and idealism.

Tom Avermaete, Klaske Havik, Hans Teerds (eds.) OASE #77, Into The Open; Accomodating the Public. (Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2008)