Shaping Spaces, Changing Culture
A cultural space can be defined as a communal environment for people to negotiate questions of belonging, societal identity, and community. Whether the cultural space in question be a museum, library, restaurant, or performance space, architects, urban designers, and leaders of cultural institutions constantly have to balance considerations of aesthetics, functionality, and accessibility when designing any kind of physical environment. In this seminar, delegates will explore these considerations and the dynamic relationship between space, the people within the space, and culture — how space can contain culture, influence culture, and even be culture itself. Indeed, Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.”