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Thesis (Ph.D. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

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Demographically open public spaces provide valuable grounds for engaging diverse ideologies. While the rise of society and passive consumption of mass culture excludes “action” and “speech” from the public realm and threatens human plurality, a public space in which to hold public debates and discussions will reengage public roles in the public realm. And it will consequently act as a new site for citizenship and new “space of appearance.” Such space becomes even more essential in a society that dreads conflict. Focusing on Iranian society, the proposal integrates this overlooked opportunity by offering temporary debate interventions to be used around the Iranian cities on a regular basis, envisioning a culture of dialogue incrementally developing. This is a way of approaching a sociological issue with the help of Architecture, making a role for public space in promoting a culture, a culture that encourages human plurality and appreciates engaging the wide range of diverse ideologies, convictions and viewpoints. Rather than proposing a closed narrative and one single architectural solution for the space of public debate, the thesis imagines an architectural toolkit for application to the specific cultural and urban context.

The notion of spaces of orderings was introduced by Murray Marshall in the 1970's and provides an abstract framework for studying orderings on fields and the reduced theory of quadratic forms over fields. The structure of a space of orderings (X, G) is completely determined by the group structure of G and the quaternary relation (a_1, a_2) = (a_3, a_4) on G -- the groups with additional structure arising in this way are called reduced special groups. The theory of reduced special groups, in turn, can be conveniently axiomatized in the first order language L_SG. Numerous important notions in this theory, such as isometry, isotropy, or being an element of a value set of a form, make an extensive use of, so called, positive primitive formulae in the language L_SG. Therefore, the following question, which can be viewed as a type of very general and highly abstract local-global principle, is of great importance:<p>Is it true that if a positive primitive formula holds in every finite subspace of a space of orderings, then it also holds in the whole space?<p>This problem is now known as the pp conjecture. The answer to this question is affirmative in many cases, although it has always seemed unlikely that the conjecture has a positive solution in general. In this thesis, we discuss, discovered by us, first counterexamples for which the pp conjecture fails. Namely, we classify spaces of orderings of function fields of rational conics with respect to the pp conjecture, and show for which of such spaces the conjecture fails, and then we disprove the pp conjecture for the space of orderings of the field R(x,y). Some other examples, which can be easily obtained from the developed theory, are also given. In addition, we provide a refinement of the result previously obtained by Vincent Astier and Markus Tressl, which shows that a pp formula fails on a finite subspace of a space of orderings, if and only if a certain family of formulae is verified.

As our contemporary cities continue to revitalize, redefine, and reassert themselves on an international scale, public spaces provide an opportunity to lend the sense of place which makes cities unique and compelling. Several cities such as Toronto, Chicago, and most notably Bilbao have commissioned world renowned architects to design a project in their signature style. These projects are generally anticipated with great excitement, yet once they are completed and a few years have passed, the initial enthusiasm fades along with the international recognition which originated the object. In the end, these projects, regardless of how well they are liked by the citizens of a city, seem to lack a sense of authenticity. Citizen participation offers an opportunity to develop public spaces in a way that will reintroduce the citizen into its built environment. Rather than merely offering a beautiful space, the participatory design model recognizes the collaborative potential with the citizen, and embraces it. This research-based thesis seeks to understand the growing movement of citizen participation and the role it can play in the design of urban public spaces. Furthermore, it examines the role of the architect and how one can begin to successfully integrate the citizen into the design process. The research is divided into three sections. First, a survey of the literature surrounding the field of participation provides an understanding of different attitudes and methods regarding citizen involvement and why its integration into the design of public spaces is important. Second, a series of case studies with varying levels of citizen participation were examined for the role the architect and his/her relationship with the citizen, as well as the overall effectiveness public participation had on the end result. Finally, the third section illustrates two applications of a participation workshop, originally designed by Proboscis, both located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This thesis maintains that citizen participation is not only beneficial to the development of urban public spaces but is essential if one wishes to design a space that can empower a neighbourhood and its city. Moreover, public spaces designed through the participatory design model allows for citizens to take ownership for the space and appropriate it as their own, which will lead to its continual development, transforming the space into a locus for the city.

Play is inarguably an important part of human development. Through play, children as young as three years of age learn social skills and values that will form the foundation of their development in to adult life. Children can be excluded from play for many reasons. Any visible or cognitive differences in a child can cause them to be marginalized in playgroups or daycares and later in their development, at school and camps. This makes it difficult for them to experience the types of play that are so important to their healthy development. This thesis examines the existing standards for accessible design, finding the contradictions in the information available, and exposing the gaps of information that make it impossible for designers to create truly inclusive play spaces for children. Collaboration with Camp Trillium, one of the foremost pediatric oncology camp programs in Ontario, will be a useful tool for gaining insight into the healing powers of inclusive play experiences for children. The product of this thesis will be the design of a system for creating inclusive play spaces that will allow children who have been marginalized by disabilities and illness to play freely with others. These fully-inclusive play spaces will aim to foster a new understanding of inclusivity in children; teaching those without distinguishing differences the value of relationships with people of differing challenges, and instilling in marginalized children a sense of self that helps them develop the confidence and social ability to penetrate the boundaries that have been inflicted on them.