Grad Show 23

Shijie Li

Temporary Urbanism-Spatial Democracy in the Temporary City

This thesis is committed to exploring and discussing the way people behave in the temporary urbanism, perceive and deploy their space arrangement rights, and how this nourishes relationships between people, between people and society, and brings a greater sense of spiritual identity and belonging to people.

The modern city is the result of the spatial distribution of material production, and citizens are deprived of the right to participate in creating urban cultural space. The spaces in temporary urbanism are formed more purposeful by every citizen with shared values. Burning Man, Kumbh Mela, and Mecca, are either temporary cities themselves or temporary land use in permanent cities.

Overview

The modern city is the result of the spatial distribution of material production, urban space is political and oriented to the distribution of power, and citizens are deprived of the subjective qualification and right to participate in the creation of urban cultural space. Many factors have led to the monopolization of human participation in urban space, the weakening of the spiritual connection between people, the intense focus on the self, and the increasing loss of collective values and memories.
The spaces in temporary urbanism are formed more intentionally and purposeful by every citizen with shared values, collective beliefs, and memories. For example, Burning Man, Kumbh Mela, and Mecca are either temporary cities themselves or temporary land use in permanent cities.

Analytical diagram on temporary choreography

Conceptual models demonstrate the influx and outflux in temporary urbanism

Conceptual models and analytical diagram.

Burning Man Case Study

Burning Man, the biggest gathering in the desert annually, lasted 9 days, focusing on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. The area holding this event is a typical temporary city organized and dismantled annually. They are coming together and celebrating their identity, their affection for art, and connecting with communities and groups of people with the same values and beliefs. They interviewed participators every year, and the top 1 reason for going there is to feel a sense of belonging, and also highly-ranked reasons like escaping the world for a time, to grow or connect spiritually… other surveys do affirm there’re definite benefits spiritually with regard for relationships between self and others, self and communities.
The participants' high degree of spatial self-governance is reflected in the fact that each camp leader is assigned an area where they have to decide and design their basic space configuration, such as parking areas, gathering areas, and tent areas.
As the participants in the community arrive in turn, they will adjust and negotiate the relationship with the neighboring tents, whether the space between the bar and the couch area can be used for hanging out, how much stuff to stock the pickup truck, how far the RV is from them, etc.
In this process of spontaneous space construction, a lot of dialogue, communication, and negotiation took place. People begin to get to know others, feel connected to them, and feel that they belong as a community.

Facts on Burning Man

Kumbh Mela Case Study

Kumbh Mela is the world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims every 12 years. For the 2019 Ardh Kumbh at Allahabad, the temporary city, about 2500 hectares and housing over 70 million people, became the world's largest city. There are about eight weeks between the day that the floodplains are dry enough to begin construction and the day that the first inhabitants arrive. There are about seven weeks between the day that the last inhabitants leave and the day that the floodwaters return.
Unlike many housing developments, refugee camps, or cubicle offices, the festival site consists of regularly shaped but autonomously conceived areas in which each community is authorized to organize its space in the way that most accurately expresses its own identity. Some are more spontaneous, others more systematic. Although the procedures that regulate the allocation and organization of the spaces are well established, they have never been explicitly codified in any document….

Kumbh Mela Case Study

RISD Strike 2023 as base

By taking RISD strike 2023 as a base to further discuss spatial democracy as the continuation of the case study, and on the other hand, I could further sort out and compare the four cases deeply since I experienced the whole process. I could better appreciate how connections have been made between people, igniting new conversations.
In the last part of the thesis, I got to comprehend and apply those principles on a small scale where I live daily.
A fascinating shift in the proceedings of the RISD strike originated from the initial involvement of just workers and teamster leaders to the increasing influx of students and staff to support them in their protests. In the process, the students and workers some interaction and provoked some reflection on their own interests, followed by demonstrations against the incredibly high tuition fees. Then later, more and more members of the surrounding community joined this strike, and the larger and broader topic of salary fairness began to be discussed.
People went from communicating to being inspired and began to collaborate to break down the boundaries of the RISD campus buildings, the streets, and public riverfront spaces in the city of Providence... From just bringing in noise-making tools from home to using the campus printing facilities to mass print flyers, etc...
It was certainly an event in which space was unconsciously engaged in resistance and dialogue, thanks in part to the temporary quality of the event. Limited time can trigger more active and higher energy behaviors and thoughts in people.