MArch Researcher shares lessons from Tunisia, examines the physicality of citizenship
On June 8, Austin Blanks, a MArch researcher and architect at Boyes-Watson Architects, visited Ayako Maruyama’s UA 580 course, The Boston Experience: The Role of Architecture in Creating a Sense of Place. Blanks shared how his experiences in Tunisia illuminated the different ways people use public spaces to reinforce their political domain, ideologies, and sense of place.
“I am grateful for Austin Blanks, a practicing architect, who brought an immense wealth of knowledge and fresh perspective to our topic of the week, the Role of Economics and Politics in the Built Environment. His lecture punctuated our course at a time after we walked through Boston’s rich Chinatown neighborhood that is undergoing character changes in land use, and preceded our session on Spatial Justice. His lecture was rich with research insights and his original film photo documentation, sharing with us a rich visual narrative that refreshingly pulled us out of the United States for a moment. We were able to learn through his analysis of the Medina of Tunis and its relation to the rest of the city form. Students were able to experience an international example that is complicated by modern values structures within more matured urban infrastructure,” said faculty member, Ayako Maruyama (MET ’13).
After winning a Graduate Studies Travel Grant from the Rhode Island School of Design, Blanks traveled to Tunis, Tunisia to research the impacts of the Jasmine Revolution, which was the first revolt of the Arab Spring. Impacts from the Jasmine Revolution were witnessed through social interaction in public spaces, and Blanks began studying the implications of this upon design and planning.
“Austin delivered a lecture describing how territory was claimed in Tunis after the Jasmine Revolution. He considers that symbols and states are methods to dominate space. He said that not only features, but also activities in certain areas, could claim territory. This idea suggests that changing the way people use space could be a another means to dominate space,” said Yunwen Ou (MET’17), a master of city planning candidate.
Blanks discussed several topics stemming from his direct observations in Tunis, including how emergent structures in the public sphere were used to show territorial domain after the Jasmine Revolution. Not only did Blanks unpack the geometry of protest happening here, but he also questioned where and how the right to physical expression was upheld. For Blanks, the aftermath of the Jasmine Revolution forced him to re-evaluate how public spaces were being used by citizens to reflect their ideologies and territorial domain.
“It is very interesting to know about the role of political buildings in Tunis and how architecture elements, such as different types of paver and the Dual Wall, have helped contribute to a sense of place,” said Min Pu (MET’17), a master of city planning candidate.
Blanks holds of Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas Austin. He earned a master of architecture from both The Rhode Island School of Design and Boston Architectural College. Although Blanks is based out of Providence, he travels globally to study architecture in urban settings.