I pose the question, “how is public knowledge produced?” Within the field of architecture, I have found that knowledge, appreciation, and continued support of the design practice is a function of writing for the public; the development of our cities as habitable spaces is produced through criticality—“If there’s bad art, burn it down,” as Dave Hickey says. But what seems to be sorely lacking is a conversation about emotion—feelings that are entwined in how we experience cities, and the politics of how stuff is made and built and fed to us. It’s a crucial component of public knowledge often cut from word counts.

I speak about intimacy as a form of building public knowledge: To understand the world intimately is to create space for clarity, experimentation, and play; in which knowledge, form, and confidence can be altered. These methodologies are at the core of producing a public that does more than “know" information about the built environment. Instead, knowledge about the built environment can become embodied, rooted in placefulness, and acknowledged as intrinsic to our communities.