Public Space and an Interdisciplinary Approach to Design

In 1953 in Aix-en-Provence, later in Dubrovnik (1956) and up to the epilogue in Otterlo (1959), the youngest generation associated with the CIAM began to question the functionalist categories of the Athens Charter, beginning with the delicate theme of public space. Despite the rightings to the course introduced by the old guard, to overcome the abstract nature of the functional city, Team 10 (in particular the Smithsons and van Eyck) presented an urban environment more adapted to the emotive and material needs of mankind. They invoked a complex spatial model with multiple relations between architectural forms and the social and psychological needs of its users.