Ruprechtice: veřejný prostor podle mentálních map

The reestablishment of democracy and civic society in the Czech Republic after 1990 was also associated with new challenges concerning the creation of public spaces in villages, towns and cities. This book examines the creation of a public space in Liberec-Ruprechtice, the result of a two-year interdisciplinary research project by sociologists, philosophers and architects. The research was led by the Philosophy Department of the Faculty of Science, Humanities and Education, Technical University of Liberec, and performed in cooperation with the Institute of Sociological Studies, Charles University. It focused on collecting mental maps and their complex evaluation by experts in different disciplines. The study focused on the thus far neglected area of mental maps of events and their relation to public space. The intersection of oral history and mental mapping used in the research gave rise to a new category of "memory maps.” The study further analyzed the role and dynamics of alternative public spaces, which spontaneously appear in this part of Liberec. The scholars proposed a new methodology for elementary school instruction, which is intended to help children develop a positive attitude towards public space and its values. The last chapter consists of architectural designs made by the students of the Faculty of Art and Architecture, Technical University of Liberec, for a public space based on field research as well as theoretical evaluation of research.