Active citizenship – Urban actions in public spaces
ATTENTION: THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE THE CREATION OF CTRL+ZY AND IS THE RESULT OF A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS BETWEEN DIFFERENT AGENTS. FOR A CORRECT UNDERSTANDING, I INVITE YOU TO LEARN ABOUT THE OTHER SUBJECTS DIRECTLY INVOLVED: THE STREET BELONGS TO EVERYONE (SEVILLE), ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIAL COMMITMENT (SEVILLE) AND ELLA COLLECTIVE (SEVILLE).
2008
In 2008, almost two years before the founding of Ctrl+Z, coinciding with the application of the “anti-bottle law” and other laws that limited the civil rights of citizens, I began to get involved in various civic dynamics around public space and to promote, among others, different initiatives, the main ones of which focused on the Alameda de Hércules in Seville.
The Alameda de Hércules, with almost 37,000 m2, is one of the largest and most representative public spaces in the entire city of Seville. Built in 1574, it was the first great urban promenade in Europe. Especially throughout the 20th century, it had experienced a serious process of physical and social deterioration.
After years of unsuccessful initiatives, the rehabilitation works began in November 2005 according to the project of the architects Elías Torres and Martínez Lapeña. The completion of the works was scheduled for May 2007, just before the next municipal elections. In February 2008 the works had still not been finished, despite complaints from citizens about the constant delays and stoppages.
In March 2008, conversations with various citizen agents, the networks of contacts that were being woven and the contingent situations that were appearing led to the creation and promotion of the “Banco Costalero” action as an immediate reaction by a group of residents to the statements of the then mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín, who announced that the benches planned in the project would not be placed to prevent young people from meeting on the Alameda.
In addition to their repressive nature, these words justified, in our opinion, a process of privatization of public space in the form of "veladores" (street vendors), terraces of bars and restaurants where in order to sit down it is necessary to buy a drink.
So, using a self-built crane (the benches weigh about 1 ton), the locals moved one of the sample benches to a symbolic and much more visible location: between the columns of Julius Caesar and Hercules.
This action attracted public attention and appeared in several newspapers, fueling public debate and consequently pressure on the city council to include the benches planned in the original project.
The bench remained between the Pillars of Hercules for five days before being removed, more than enough time to achieve our objectives.
So, using a self-built crane (the benches weigh about 1 ton), the locals moved one of the sample benches to a symbolic and much more visible location: between the columns of Julius Caesar and Hercules.
This action attracted public attention and appeared in several newspapers, fueling public debate and consequently pressure on the city council to include the benches planned in the original project.
The bench remained between the Pillars of Hercules for five days before being removed, more than enough time to achieve our objectives.
This action attracted public attention and appeared in several newspapers, fueling public debate and consequently pressure on the city council to include the benches planned in the original project.
The bench remained between the Pillars of Hercules for five days before being removed, more than enough time to achieve our objectives.
So, using a self-built crane (the benches weigh about 1 ton), the locals moved one of the sample benches to a symbolic and much more visible location: between the columns of Julius Caesar and Hercules.
This action attracted public attention and appeared in several newspapers, fueling public debate and consequently pressure on the city council to include the benches planned in the original project.
The bench remained between the Pillars of Hercules for five days before being removed, more than enough time to achieve our objectives.
During the summer of the same year the works were still unfinished and a friend pointed out to me how, ironically, in the design of the paving of the central fountain in the square, hardly visible from ground level, two dates stand out in blue and white: 1574, the date of the Alameda's origin and 2007, the year in which the rehabilitation was theoretically planned to be completed.
On November 23, 2008, the Assembly for the free use of public spaces (La calle es de todos), in collaboration with many residents of the avenue, organized an independent citizen inauguration. Activities for adults and children, shows, a popular meal and even an inaugural ceremony officiated by fake mayors took place. For the occasion, the date 2007 drawn on the pavement was modified by superimposing an “8” at the end. Perhaps pressured by the “promise” of drawing a “9” in January, the mayor inaugurated the plaza on December 20, 2008 with triumphalist speeches and opening - temporarily - all the facilities and equipment, which even today, 6 years later, have not been fully activated.
On November 23, 2008, the Assembly for the free use of public spaces (La calle es de todos), in collaboration with many residents of the avenue, organized an independent citizen inauguration. Activities for adults and children, shows, a popular meal and even an inaugural ceremony officiated by fake mayors took place. For the occasion, the date 2007 drawn on the pavement was modified by superimposing an “8” at the end. Perhaps pressured by the “promise” of drawing a “9” in January, the mayor inaugurated the plaza on December 20, 2008 with triumphalist speeches and opening - temporarily - all the facilities and equipment, which even today, 6 years later, have not been fully activated.
Between and after these two main actions, a whole series of other actions followed, with or without my participation, which went in the same direction.
2014
Our aim with this type of action, rather than directly influencing the urban policies of the city council, was to keep the attention of the media and citizens on them high. It seemed interesting to me, even as an architect, to activate dynamics that promoted the creation or contribute to keeping alive the urban, media, political and also citizen-level debate on the use of public space.
Too often, this remains alien to the citizens and to the very inhabitants who inhabit the affected spaces, trapped within very specific or polarized circles, in offices or in assemblies, occasions in which the public is either absent or is always itself, configuring a self-referential and somewhat sterile discourse.
By representing the demands in a scenic and, in some ways, plastic way, using the same public space as a stage and creating a festive atmosphere around them, we managed to bring back to the street the debate about this unique space, due to its characteristics, in the historic centre of Seville.
The creation of attractive stories and images has led to their publication in a good number of local newspapers, reviving the debate on this public space that was gradually being forgotten.
Six years after the first actions, no recognizable traces of them can really be found in the square; probably, although perhaps somewhat later, the benches would have been placed and the square would undoubtedly have been inaugurated.
I still believe that moving from words to actions, in a peaceful and proactive but extremely pragmatic way, was a step forward in the evolution towards a more active and participatory citizenship for those who took an active part in the actions.
Personally, they were very important experiences for the configuration of what Ctrl+Z is today.
