{"id":24018,"date":"2025-10-08T14:14:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T18:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/humanities\/?page_id=24018"},"modified":"2026-02-11T15:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T20:08:16","slug":"pedestrian-space","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/humanities\/pedestrian-space\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

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Program<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/td>\nFeatured Events & Installations<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/td>\nParticipants<\/strong><\/a><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nAbstracts<\/strong><\/a><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

[Pedestrian space] was related to the idea of wanting to get off the pedestal, get off the canvas. And I think it was coined with an awe of other cultures where art seemed to fit in the middle of things rather than on the periphery…. I wanted to be in the middle of it, whatever \u201cit\u201d was. Whether it was culture, or life, whatever…. Pedestrian space had a different intonation but it certainly was related to the literal space that Don Judd wanted to occupy. – Fred Sandback<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The phrase \u201cPedestrian space\u201d is taken from the writings of the artist Fred Sandback, who coined the term (with Dan Edge) in 1968 in order to establish a new way of thinking about artistic production. In the symposium <\/span>“Pedestrian Space”<\/span>, we begin with <\/span>the artwork and its environs, but then we move into <\/span>philosophy, mathematics, architectural theory, and politics.<\/span>\u00a0Considering the\u00a0long philosophical history of reflection on the importance of walking, everyday life and diurnal experiences of orienting ourselves in \u201cstreet philosophy\u201d (as Emerson called it) we will examine\u00a0how the<\/span>\u00a0many possible inflections of pedestrian space project <\/span>into the university commons and beyond, taking into account processes of reparation, immigration, separation, politics, philosophy, community engagement, and conversation in everyday life. In a fractured world, our embodied experiences of everyday space is deeply connected with the nature of the university, civil disobedience, re- and de-location, and democratic forms of life that take into account the ethics of care and vulnerability.<\/span><\/p>\n

Workshop Structure<\/h2>
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A two-day event is planned. Sections will be devoted to:<\/p>\n

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  1. Pedestrian<\/span> Space<\/span>s of Architecture and Mathematics<\/li>\n
  2. History and Criticism of Art and Architecture, \u201cPedestrian<\/span> Space<\/span>\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. Politics and Philosophies of Pedestrian<\/span> Space<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A series of three exhibitions\/events with related humanities events are open to the public.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    Pedestrian Space map<\/h2>
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