Awakening of the Public Stage

I believe that architecture is a loop. In the practise of architecture, one may find him/herself at the point that he/she started. By going through this process, one may prove the existince of the loop to him/herself.

Every starting point is a final point.

Or every final point is a new starting point.

Loop creates opportunities as well. Every new point that we define during our architectural process might be a beginning of another loop. Obviously, it would not be a comprehensive approach to restrict architecture to this simple state of linked loops rather we should embrace the productivity and the potentiality that the loop creates.

Some weeks ago, my friend Bartek was talking about a ‘new’ public spaces that are formed in the cities. Balconies..

I was both intrigued and surprised when I heard the phrase of ‘new public spaces’. Discovery of public spaces, wouldn’t it be inspiring? I was surprised as well because we are living in an age where the foundations of how people interact is displaced and the notion of public is increasingly privatized.¹

When did the modern balcony appear? It showed itself in early 19th century Paris. After Hausmann’s renovation plan of Paris, balconies were important observation points for bourgeois.²  Balcony has been an undefined space which is mostly associated with the temporary uses. In Venice the balcony was a place for urban gossip³, in Tel-Aviv it was a space to provide openness and ventilation⁴. Sometimes the balcony was used to store, sometimes to contemplate or to rest. Throughout history, we have seen the balcony as an urban artefact which represents cultural and social values of its region.

Balcony is a liminal space between private life of home and the public sphere of the city. It constitutes a fundamental act of bringing people together. Public space aims to reduce physical distance between individuals, however; the balcony explores the opposite situation. Although you can spectate the people on the street, it is difficult to hold a conversation or to be involved in the event. The distance and the social encounter patterns that are created by the balcony, challenge us to define this place as a public space.

Since the epidemic of COVID-19 outbreak, we are going through hard times and abrupt changes in the social patterns. The balcony is brought back to life by the people during this upheaval. Collective act of hope and solidarity are being represented on balconies. People who are giving concerts, applauding health workers and holding conversations with the people on other balconies are the middle of social interaction now. They become both the spectator and the subject. The balcony is not only a liminal space anymore, It is a ‘new public stage.’  

Today we are at that unique moment. The beginning of another architectural loop that might create another journey or that might end up at the very point we started. And I am looking forward to see this process. Can the balcony become more than a public stage? Can we see the political autonomy which should be existed in public spaces, on balconies as well?

I don’t know yet. What I know for now is, I am looking forward to move a house with a nice and small balcony in the future…

Notes:
1. For further reading in this context, I recommend Yıkarak Yapmak by Uğur Tanyeli or only the chapter 14 in this book.
2. Bell, Duncan, and Bernardo Zacka. Political Theory and Architecture. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
3. Foxhall, Lin, and Gabriele Neher. Gender and the City before Modernity. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
4. Aronis, Carolin. The Balconies of Tel-Aviv: Cultural History and Urban Politics. Israel Studies14, no. 3 (2009): 157-80.