The Revitalization of Urban Fabric in Contemporary Public Spaces; A Case of Shopping Spaces

Abstract

Public spaces such as shopping areas are indispensable places for humans. The buying and selling of goods plays a very important role in the development of towns and cities. Shopping places have changed with modern movement. At the same time, these spaces embrace particular events that have collective social, historical and cultural associations; projections of these events influence the physical transformations, which can each be re-identified through time. One of the basic features of traditional shopping areas is the association between urban fabric and social structure. However, contemporary shopping places have emerged as a closed box, independent from the texture of its city losing their spatial values. Therefore, especially in historical cities, the unity of ‘urban fabric-shopping place’ is impaired. The “space- time” relation in modernity shifts due to societies breaking ties with their traditions, which is leading to the loss of identity. This study discusses the space design of contemporary shopping areas as important public city places and the interpretation of traditional impression in today’s modern architecture to refer to values of place. With this aim, “Mediacite” shopping center in Belgium designed by Ron Arad and the eastern covered bazaar will be examined as a case study. The “Mediacite” was created in the context of modern design criteria however the architect has revived the sense of traditional design principles in the place. This project ties together all the disparate elements of its site to create a new axis through the city of Liege. 

 

Keywords

• Urban fabric,public space,shopping place,contemporary

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