ASSEMBLY/ASSEMBLY

Abstract

This master’s thesis aims to rouse the collective from its passivity in the public realm; encourage people to claim their right to public space; and show what an alternative type of urban development that focuses on enhancing public life could be. The motivation behind this aim stems from two personal situations demonstrating a disassociation between people and the public realm. This gap was further established through reading a work of Richard Sennett, where he pinpointed a shift where urban space ”is not a place to be in but to move through”. This became a point of departure. The way some contemporary, urban projects are developed neglects qualities that support public life, which deprives people on spatially, socially, culturally and politically pivotal forums and adds to the disassociation. This is exemplified through the area emerging on an artificial peninsula in Gothenburg – Masthuggskajen. In order to counteract this type of development and redirect the light to how public life can be enhanced, the question is then: how can the architect, using architectural interventions, create conditions for urban space to become public space? To understand how this can be achieved, methods ranging from literature studies and case studies, to prototyping and speculation were used. The site Skeppsbron, neighbouring and juxtaposing Masthuggskajen, was chosen to contextualise the thesis, and a theoretical framework was compiled to support and broaden the scope. Through the theoretical framework, the design strategies triangulation, prototyping and speculation as well as the design principles informality, revisability, the live-aspect, assemblage and small scale were extracted – all striving to contrast the approach Masthuggskajen inhabits and rather support the transition from urban space to public space. Thus, a second thesis question became: how can triangulation and prototyping be used as catalysts for public life in a speculative project at Skeppsbron in Gothenburg? The research resulted in a speculative project in three phases showing a gradual development of the site. Through this project, the master’s thesis shows an alternative development approach, bringing perspectives on architecture’s role in our world-in-common, how our mindsets shape our spatial realities and what factors we prioritise at the expense of public life.