Urban Interfaces and Urban Public Space

The “Urban Interfaces and Urban Public Space” research project examines the urban public space as it is redefined by the dynamic presence and interaction of media, art, and performances of habitation.

The project was funded by the Greek Ministry of Culture in 2021. It consists of: 260 photos portraying representations of empty cities shot during the pandemic’s first lockdown in 2020; segments of 25 movies where urban public space interacts dynamically and in relation with their plot; and, a theoretical text of background research around the role of urban interfaces in the urban public space.

The aim of the research is to compare and make visible the relation of the built environment to the daily activities of habitation. The built space is seen as a field of claim, a space that excludes or provides a shelter and focuses in the way in which we relate to it, to others, and to ourselves. “We perceive space through the senses – not only sight, but also smell, hearing and touch. Through perception and through the senses, what we call the atmosphere of a space emerges. Atmosphere is the ability of spaces to influence our mood.” (Dr. A. Kalantidis from the research archive “Urban Interfaces and Urban Public Space” )

The research plays with the ambiguity of space, the space of love, the space of violence, the space of policing, material space, imaginary space, the digital space. The space of the image. The desert area and the space where we live and interact. The space of distance and the space of proximity. The space-shell and the meeting place of the bodies.