Aliki K

The contemporary genres of site-specific-theatre and immersive theatre insert the narrative in the architectural process transforming space into architectural scripts. This is not new to architecture as it has previously engaged with its syntax through the movement of Deconstructivism. Through Deconstructivism architecture engaged with its process, its language and theory and became performative. It composed spaces in order to speak. An elemental part of the architectural syntax is the wall, which bears heavy significations within the spatial composition; it acts upon the human body in enclosing it or excluding it from space, it forms the imagery of the urban space and bears textual symbols, historical notations and human traces. Architectural facades are therefore communicative surfaces of urban history. The urban space is better experienced in the practice of walking, which is a spatial activity that translates into flows (De Certeau,M: 1988). Flows are the modern condition for our globally networked society, and can be spatially represented in architectural diagrams of nodes and networks. Contrary to this, the flows of urban walkers cannot be graphically represented as such without erasing the very essence of walking as a dynamic appropriating tactic in the urban space. The performativity of the urban space is understood as the interaction of humans and the built environment within the familiar scale of everyday life. In turn, this affects the shape of the city through the longer cycle of historical time. To experience this performativity, one needs to participate in the performance of its becoming. ‘Performance Cities’ is a platform for the intersection of space, urbanism and theatre. The core activity of the practice is the creation of performances about the history of cities. These performances take the form of live-installations where the urban map is built live on stage by the participatory activity of performers and audience alike.

By 2050 65-75% of the world population will live in cities. 1 As more people are gathered in the urban centres, the urban borders are infinitely expanded transforming the shape of the cities and of the surrounding countryside. In this expansion people are the absolute necessity for the city's viability, but despite this fact they are not necessarily participant in the design of the urban space. A number of surveys and workshops are claiming to take into consideration the wishes of the local residents in the process of redeveloping each area, but the jargon, the phrasing and the structuring of these surveys raise questions on how much of their content is grasped. The whole process of extracting conclusions from such classification surveys is highly questionable, as it seems that they can easily be manipulated towards the speculations of local authorities and financial investors. The viability of each urban project is based upon variable aspects, namely financial, social and political parameters, and the process of designing follows efficient diagrams and charts that, respectfully of land use classifications and building regulations, produce a master plan for the shaping of the area. This sophisticated process has been developed gradually since the late 18 th century in a 'utopian hope that changing the design of streets and parks would have improving social and moral effects. […] Instead of assuming that changes in the social structure of the city should be accomplished first in order to change