Public space and performativity from the perspective of architecture In recent decades, architecture has been seen as a field of practice that contributes greatly to the performativity of public space. In spite of the explosion of virtual communities through social media and the limitations imposed by pandemics, architecture today still holds an active role in (literally) building our societies. Bearing in mind its acute politicisation in past years, Living Politics in the City looks at public space from the perspective of architecture and its effective contribution, not as a prop but as an actual catalyst for embodying politics. The essays gathered here span five continents, activating various disciplinary approaches to architecture and examining it in different contexts: from a Palestinian refugee camp to the most vibrant urban axis in Sao Paolo, from the numerous city squares around the world crowded with rebellious populations, to the proximal politics of housing in Australia. In recent decades, architecture has been seen as a field of practice that contributes greatly to the performativity of public space. In spite of the explosion of virtual communities through social media and the limitations imposed by pandemics, architecture today still holds an active role in (literally) building our societies. Bearing in mind its acute politicisation in past years, Living Politics in the City looks at public space from the perspective of architecture and its effective contribution, not as a prop but as an actual catalyst for embodying politics. The essays gathered here span five continents, activating various disciplinary approaches to architecture and examining it in different contexts: from a Palestinian refugee camp to the most vibrant urban axis in Sao Paolo, from the numerous city squares around the world crowded with rebellious populations, to the proximal politics of housing in Australia. Acknowledgements Introduction Marion Hohlfeldt and Carmen Popescu PART 1. ARCHITECTURING THE POLIS Chapter 1. The Emergence of a Public Space in Ouagadougou Alexandra Biehler Chapter 2. On Public Spaces of Palestinian Refugee Camps: The Social Production and Construction of Almarkaz ‘Taxi Station’ Shadi Saleh Chapter 3. Negotiating the Present in the Balkans: Macedonia Square Maja Babić Chapter 4. We Gonna Rock Down to Paulista Avenue , or the Multidimensional Protagonism of São Paulo’s Avenida Paulista Daniel Talesnik Chapter 5. Oppositional Architecture(s): Making the Common Etienne Delprat Chapter 6. The Crowd, Revolt and Assembly Can Onaner PART 2. PERFORMING POLITICS OF PLACE Chapter 7. Underplaces: ‘Sky Rail’, Politics and Alternative Urban Futures for Melbourne Ian Woodcock Chapter 8. The Long-Term Consequences of Temporary Urban Planning: Negotiating Who’s the Public in Public Spaces to Be Pavel Kunysz and Eric Le Coguiec Chapter 9. Contest and Capital: The Gentrification of Graffiti in the Creative City of Toronto Tracey Bowen Chapter 10. Cities Under Surveillance: Sydney and Johannesburg – Public Space as Territories in Transformation Endriana Audisho and Tova Lubinsky Chapter 11. Rogue Poster Campaigns: Amplifying Political Discourse between Urban and Cyber Arenas Flavia Marcello PART 3. WHO CARES? Chapter 12. Urban Space and Collective Practices as a Political Matter: The Case of the ‘Piave’ Neighbourhood in Mestre (Venice) Claudia Faraone and Giovanna Muzzi Chapter 13. Individuals in Crowded Places Caterina Frisone Chapter 14. How Do We Structure Relatedness? Differentiated Solidarity and the Obligations of Proximal Dwelling Angelique Edmonds Chapter 15. Maintaining Public Space: Sanitation Actions of Mierle Laderman Ukeles Karolina Wilczyńska Chapter 16. Common World, Place and Traces Catherine Grout Chapter 17. A Red Rose in Berlin Frédéric Sotinel About the Authors