Contemporary public space is increasingly shaped by the twin pressures of under- and over-management, both of which erode its publicness and its capacity to host the collective practices through which communities sustain themselves. This thesis asks how architecture might instead construct civic space: a form of public space genuinely open to appropriation, in which people hold direct influence over the environment they share.
The argument is grounded in Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, read through Christian Schmid. It sets the fractured logic of abstract space, where plans and rationality dominate, against differential space, where lived experience is returned to the dialectic through autogestion, or self-management. El Campo de Cebada in Madrid serves as a case study, and grounds a critique of the architect’s tendency to author complete, fixed environments that predetermine their own use.
These ideas are tested in a design for the forgotten centre of Gran San Blas, a peripheral social-housing neighbourhood in Madrid: a deliberately incomplete civic centre, an open square, flexible workshops, and a convertible forum, built in rammed earth from the site and finished over time by its users. The thesis closes by reflecting on the architect’s enduring position of power. ... Read more

This study examines the historical evolution and contemporary transformation of open public spaces in the historic city centre of Melaka, Malaysia. Tracing their development from the Melaka Sultanate through colonial and post-independence periods, it reveals how spaces like the Dutch Square, streetscapes, and green open areas have shifted from communal and civic use toward tourism, commercialisation, and privatisation. Through case studies of Padang Pahlawan, Bukit China, and Jonker Street, the thesis highlights how open public spaces in Melaka serve as contested terrains of memory, identity, and urban change. ... Read more