Spaces of Intimacy

Spaces of Intimacy
Edited by Fotini Lazaridou-Hatzigoga, Yves Mettler, Christina Werner together with the workshop participants, Institut für Raumexperimente, Universität der Künste Berlin, 2013. On occasion of the workshop Spaces of Intimacy at The Institute Effect, Lisbon Architecture Triennale, 2013

The space of intimacy takes time. Takes overlap. Takes place in places, with history, with people, between things. It is constructed in in-between spaces; it is a relationship built in closeness, in interaction, in contact. Intimacy requires a kind of touch, a process of touching; it is a space of knowing each other. In this knowing, learning and unlearning takes place. In intimate space a feeling potential builds, a magnetic field of feelings, that includes vulnerability, the possibility for affection or offense. It implies something is speaking to you and includes you; whether a place or a politics or a public, it means you can include it too.

Over the weekend of September 28-29, 2013, the Institut für Raumexperimente organizes a publishing experiment as part of the Institute Effect of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, to address and explore times and spaces of intimacy in the city. Urban space and publishing have been linked throughout history. Publishing being part of the institute’s research and production tools, visitors are invited to engage, bringing in their own experience of closeness, of shared public spheres, of making things public. Through a series of urban experiments, walks and discursive events, we discover together where the city might lead us.