The way public space is designed directly shapes how we move and exist within it. In today’s cities, spontaneous public activities are often stifled by an overly rigid focus on functionality. Urban Bodies is a project that explores how we can become more aware of the forces that influence our movement through public space—and how we might reclaim it. Public space isn’t a neutral setting; it’s a political landscape, constantly negotiated and reshaped.

French philosopher Henri Lefebvre argued that space is not simply given, but produced and shaped by forces like power, capital, and social dynamics. Urban environments are usually structured according to functional, economic, and bureaucratic logic. This emphasis on efficiency limits opportunities for spontaneity, diversity, encounters, and creativity. Urban Bodies builds on Lefebvre’s vision of the “right to the city”: not just the right to access and use urban space, but the right to actively shape it. Citizens are not merely passive users or residents—they have the right to influence how space is imagined, transformed, and used for collective action.

Body & Bricks

Foto / Projecten / UrbanBodies