Memorials as Spaces of Engagement

Quentin Stevens is Associate Professor of Urban Design at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, and previously worked at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, UK. He is author of The Ludic City and co-editor of Loose Space, The Uses of Art in Public Space and Transforming Urban Waterfronts.Karen A. Franck is Professor in the College of Architecture and Design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA. Memorials as Spaces of Engagement addresses two topics she has explored previously: uses of public space in Loose Space and intentions and consequences of design decisions in Design through Dialogue and Architecture from the Inside Out.

• 1. Introduction Part I: Memorials as Objects and Spaces 2. From Viewing to Engaging 3: From Straightforward To Challenging 4. From General To Particular Part II: Memorials as Used and Understood 5. Commemorating 6. Occupying 7. Interpreting Part III: Memorials As Responsibilities 8. Managing 9. Planning 10. A Special Kind Of Public Space

"Having long believed that 'what happens' in a memorial is the exchange between visitors and the spaces they inhabit, I find this work to be as enthralling as it is insightful. It is the first full-length, in-depth examination of the memorial’s evolution, a brilliant compendium of late-modern memorials and an authoritative analysis of how they work." - James E. Young, Distinguished University Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Author of The Texture of Memory and At Memory’s Edge"Memorials as Spaces of Engagement highlights the embodied experiences and creative practices of contemporary memorials. The rich and well-illustrated historical and current-day examples, along with the focus on memorial use, design and responsibility, makes Stevens and Franck’s volume a welcome addition to discussions about urban public space in heritage and urban studies. " - Karen E. Till, Senior Lecturer of Cultural Geography, Maynooth University, Ireland"Stevens and Franck elegantly situate the complexity of memorials in a clear typology, offering a close-up look at the interrelationships among spatial strategies, cultural meanings, and management practices. Memorials as Spaces of Engagement shows these public places in their full intricacy, revealing charged territories that afford multiple and often contradictory opportunities for contemplation, contestation and play." - Lawrence J. Vale, MIT, Author, Architecture, Power, and National Identity