Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-92). / With the much-commented upon shifts in the global economy and the problematizing of traditional social, economic, cultural, and political relationships, the role of architecture as a "public" practice has fallen under scrutiny. The "privatization of public space", resulting from the overt merging of "public" concerns (typically represented through the State) and "private" interests (in our society, usually defined by groups with significant power over investment decisions) is often taken as symptomatic of a general trend towards the breakdown of democracy itself. Here, however, it is important to differentiate between what can be termed the "public sphere", or the abstract discursive arena where thought is (re)produced and debated, and "public space", or the actual built spaces of personal encounter among strangers. Certainly, since the Enlightenment when the terms first acquired widespread currency, the latter has depended upon some conception of the former. / Eric Chia-Kong Mar. / M.Arch.