Force Fields of Montaña Verde: Spatializing the Commons in the City-as-Oeuvre

Abstract

This article assesses what a spatial expression of the commons might entail. It asks, “How is ‘common space’ produced when the initiative thereto lies at the institutional rather than at the grassroots level?” The article first proposes a dyadic understanding of common space in terms of endogenous and exogenous commoning: internal governance and external negotiation, respectively. Thereafter, Lefebvre’s spatial triad is mobilized as an ensemble of sometimes conflictive and sometimes complementary “force fields” that act upon these two variants of common space. The article takes as a central case study Montaña Verde (“Green Mountain”), a wooden arch that was built and then dismantled as part of the “Antwerp Baroque 2018” festival. Results showcase how a multiple set of significations was projected upon Montaña Verde: as urban green space, as museum domain, as common-pool resource, and as a means to recast public space to collective use.