Towards Experiential Urbanism

Architecture and urban design are usually seen as tools of dominant spatial practices. They are either believed to mask the interests of power and money, or to represent aesthetic concerns that have little to offer for critical theory of space. I counter this view by showing that through rethinking the conception of space in architecture and urban design, as well as the notion of design itself, it is possible to outline a critical and emancipatory design practice, experiential urbanism. I apply Henri Lefebvre's spatial thinking in the scale of urban design, bridging his broad societal and historical concerns and architects' interest in experiential space. Through the exemplary case of Makasiinit in Helsinki, Finland, I show how material urban artifacts can play a role in the dialectic of space and how people and their relations produce urban atmospheres. Experiential urbanism is conceptualized as a professional practice that supports emerging public spaces.