In 2016, we partnered with QUT – Queensland University of Technology to organise the ‘Past Present and Future of Public Space’ international seminar that took place in Venice on 23 September 2016, in the frame of Biennale Sessions, a special educational project of La Biennale di Venezia.
The seminar marked the inaugural gathering of our ‘Past Present and Future of Public Space’ research group, which focuses on public space, cities, and urbanity. This group was established following the successful first conference held in Bologna in 2014.
During the seminar, we presented our new academic journal, ‘The Journal of Public Space’, which we founded in partnership with UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. 

Through exploring research projects and site-specific interventions, participants discussed and explored answers to questions about how public spaces in cities are used and appropriated today. The seminar provided an opportunity to share knowledge and discuss the importance of public space in our cities with researchers and students.
Two relevant institutions are project partners of the ‘Past, Present and Future of Public Space’ research group: the Biennale dello Spazio Pubblico, an international event promoted by the Italian National Institute of Urban Planners (INU) that takes place in Rome, and the School of Architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Report of the seminar

All photos by Elettra Giulia Bastoni