Ground Up Issue 09: ONWARD

Figure 7 07.22.2016 — In some cases, architecture has the ability to influence and shift—even in an ephemeral way—the social power dynamics of an existing community. The Right to the City Cultural Center intervention was built at the intersection of the two busiest pedestrian walkways in downtown Santiago without any formal permit. Police officers are supposed to take down appropriations of public space that aren’t formally authorized; here, instead, police converse with passersby, explaining rather than dismantling the intervention. This image is evidence of the potential for architectural interventions to create novel social interactions.