ABSTRACT

Whilst “spatiality” and “architecture” have become recognized as important dimensions of urban conflict, contemporary forms of power push our gaze toward symbolic landmarks such as Belfast’s “peace walls.” This paper uses Belfast as a case study to instead highlight the fundamental role occupied by “everyday” urban space and architecture. It reveals evidence of an undisclosed body of divisive architecture put in place through a confidential process of security planning between 1977 and 1985 to physically segregate and spatially fragment Catholic and Protestant communities in contested areas of Belfast. Termed here as hidden barriers, they are formed from “everyday” roads, housing, shops, offices, factories and landscaping, and the ways in which they continue to promote division represents a crucially undervalued aspect of conflict-transformation planning. The paper examines the complex urban challenges that they pose, arguing for a reevaluation of the role of everyday architecture and space in conflict and peacebuilding processes.

摘要

虽然“空间”和“建筑”已被认为是城市冲突的重要维度，但当代的权力形式将我们的目光推向贝尔法斯特的“和平墙”等象征性地标。本文以贝尔法斯特为案例研究，旨在强调“日常”城市空间和建筑所扮演的基本角色。它揭示了 1977 年至 1985 年间通过保密的安全规划过程建立的未公开的分裂建筑的证据，这些建筑的目的是在贝尔法斯特有争议的地区对天主教和新教社区进行物理隔离和空间分裂。此处称为隐藏障碍它们由“日常”道路、住房、商店、办公室、工厂和景观组成，它们继续促进分裂的方式代表了冲突转化规划中一个被严重低估的方面。本文探讨了它们带来的复杂的城市挑战，主张重新评估日常建筑和空间在冲突与和平建设进程中的作用。