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Berlin is dotted with structures damaged by war or eroded by neglect. Since unification, several groups have appropriated such spaces for alternative cultural and social projects, intentionally displaying architectural decrepitude. Cultural centres such as the Tacheles and the Haus Schwarzenberg stand out against freshly painted façades and commercial enterprises. They react against gentrification and urban beautification, both of which have characterised Berlin's urban and architectural makeover since 1989. The display of ruination also attempts to represent a conflicted history, and is related to Germany's fraught relationship to memory. This article groups these projects, and their attitude towards decay, under the rubric of ‘counterpreservation’ and suggests that the fascinating spell of counterpreservation is inseparable from the ‘irresistible decay’ that Walter Benjamin associated with ruins. Through a close reading of the Haus Schwarzenberg building, it teases out the evocative potential of ruined spaces as they engage the embodied perception of space in unscripted, unpredictable ways. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the 1990s, the São Paulo government has attempted to transform the low-income Luz neighbourhood into a so-called 'Cultural Pole' through cultural institutions and urban design. Architects and government officials have represented their audience as an all-inclusive 'public'. However, the Cultural Pole actively promotes gentrification, that is, social exclusion. I contrast the official notion of 'public' brandished by the São Paulo government with a critique of space - not only the space designed by architects, but also that configured by use, occupation, and conflict. I consider how social groups have protested the Cultural Pole, building a realm of debate, conflict, and negotiation. I characterize this realm as a public sphere relating to and intersecting the spatial domain. By pointing to the intersection of discourses, social representations, and spatial practices, I suggest that these realms are mutually constitutive. While the revamping of the Luz neighbourhood and the proposed Cultural Pole are steeped in the particular context of São Paulo - a deeply unequal metropolis in a country marked by severe social disparities - the present discussion holds global value. First, the Cultural Pole is part of far-reaching urban and economic processes associated with globalization - as Smith puts it, gentrification as a new 'global urban strategy'. Second, inequality is not exclusive to poorer countries. The restructuring of labour and production markets and the pressure for financial competitiveness have sharpened differences within wealthier regions. The focused examination in this paper is thus also intended to resonate with other places and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]