The contention of this thesis is that architecture can create a venue for new forms or forums of civic and political engagement in a post industrial urban environment. Executing democratic processes of discussion, debate, and dissent is more important than the resolution to a given crisis. Yet in a world of impending crises architecture has yet to envision a truly contemporary form of assembly for the resolution of these issues by the Phantom Public. There is a politics of space because space is political4. Politics needs space. It exploits space as a resource, a site of debate, a vehicle for communication, an environment for consumption, and a place for capital accumulation.
