The Precarious Balance of the Inclusive Place. Topology, Aesthetics, Functions

Reflection on the design of urban spaces capable of including precarious and vulnerable users comes up against three understudied problems, which will be illustrated with an ethnography of various public establishments that make up the "social infrastructure" of Downtown Los Angeles.

(i) The urban public space of copresence in which civility and inclusion are put to the test is not a homogeneous, undifferentiated and indefinitely open space — its topology is complex. We will present different topological contexts of inclusion, with a focus on situations where it plays out in "public interiors" (indoor, enclaved or gated urban public spaces), rather than in the open (streets, parks, squares).

(ii) Because it engages sensitive and affected bodies, because it generates ambiances and moods, the experience of otherness and undesired contact in urban spaces has an important aesthetic dimension. How can this concern be integrated into the architectural and aesthetic choices of an inclusive space? What spatial qualities are likely to accommodate and appease these fragile copresences, rather than highlighting their problematic nature and accentuating their tension?

(iii) Through its qualities of inclusion of the most vulnerable users, an urban place often finds a secondary and implicit function, in addition to its official and thematic one, as when a public library comes to offer a daytime shelter to a homeless public. We will address some issues regarding the flexibility of urban functions in the face of inclusion and hospitality.