Quotidian architecture : occupying the sidewalk

Abstract

It is estimated that nearly two in three people will live in urban areas by 2045. The city is increasingly seen as a place of opportunity. It has become a receptacle for new social, cultural and economic strata. The urban environment is converted and mutated by everyday public performances. This condition becomes evident when the street is inhabited as a space that connects the workplace, the home and institutions. The built wall often attracts and establishes these new activities.It is here that conventional architectural typologies are challenged. This dissertation explores the notion of the wall in an attempt to reconfigure the sidewalk. A conceptual network of interfaces that contain infrastructure, public services and urban armatures is proposed. Within this context, it is argued that architecture should support these everyday performances as well as define a new spatial identity, within the urban environment.