Virtualism

Spaces of Indeterminacy


In reaction to a capitalist economics and its effect on the social, cultural and political domain, some people have chosen to resist by living outside the mainstream. Others do not have a choice: they live "outside" because society has rejected them. In cities, this exclusionary phenomenon has a spatial inscription, the dropouts occupy excluded spaces where they can deviate from the accepted 'norm'. Escaping from the planning authorities' control.

Indeterminate spaces are difficult to quantify because of their inherent heterogeneity and although the speakers at the Architecture and Indeterminacy Theory Forum gave many examples of such places, their location, physical characteristics, use and users, there was no single definition of such a space. Several speakers, including Gil Doron, described the nature of these zones, which are the consequence of the subdivision of cities through modern planning practices. This has created 'edge spaces' also known as 'gaps' or 'interstitial urban places',1 whose tricky ownership rights and physical characteristics (not easily accessible, too small, have irregular shapes), have made them difficult to utilise through the common means of architecture and urban planning. Thus, they are excluded from the planning process. Doron called them "an outside within the inside"2because they still have a "symbiotic although unrealised"3 relationship to the rest of the city. They can be found between industrial and residential areas, between tower blocks, under bridges and on pavements. However, they are difficult to map as they undergo constant change, making them unreadable.

These spaces have no assigned function but many informal uses, usually unofficial and illegal. They are mostly occupied by marginalised groups: squatters, subcultures, the homeless, prostitutes, cultural minorities and drug addicts.

Temporality is another key aspect of these spaces, which can be described as 'dead'4 at certain times of day or night but not at others. What is more, the lifetime of these 'out-of-control zones' is limited - these are transient spaces. According to Dougal Sheridan5 some indeterminate spaces disappear with time whilst others are formalised.