SQUARE
OF BABEL SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE
Ada Kwiatkowska
Abstract
The central square of European cities can be viewed as a
”Square of Babel” because of its richness of languages, behavior
and cultural codes. The Square of Babel is somewhere - and everywhere
- in Europe. It is a scene of socio-cultural performances and battles.
In this paper the cultural transformation of the square is analyzed in
aspects of traditional, present and future patterns, as well as the meaning
and iconography of four symbolic corners of the square: the religious,
the political, the commercial and the recreational. There are two scenarios of a possible future transformation
of the European square. First, cultural diversification of spatial codes
may lead to spatial and semantic disorder. Second, cultural unification
of spatial codes may lead to an international ”McWorld”. In
the Old Testament the story of Tower of Babel, the second scenario seems
to be ‘unpleasant for God’. If so, does the Square of Babel
announce the catastrophe?
Article:
Kwiatkowska, Ada (1999). „Square of Babel Somewhere in Europe”, in: L.Nyström (ed.) City and Culture: Cultural Processes and Urban Sustainability, Stockholm, Karlskrona: Lenanders Tryckeri, pp.270-286. (photos/collage by Ada Kwiatkowska)
Disordered World
McWorld
Copyright © 2024
