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Based on a field survey on the conflicts regarding the extension of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, this text discusses the production of public space. These controversies make possible an understanding of the production process of peri-urban space in terms of residential aspirations and negotiation mechanisms. This investigation allows us to understand the articulation of the two forms of public space – as publicity and as a set of freely accessible places – and the questions of local democracies related to them.

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In 2014, the City of Geneva unveiled Frankie a.k.a. The Creature of Doctor Frankenstein in a large square in the city center. This bronze sculpture - inaugurated in time for the 200th anniversary of Shelley's novel, written in Geneva - is the work of KLAT, a group of artists originally involved in the squat scene. Conceived as a contemporary metaphor for marginality, the sculpture is intended to be a critique of an urban order that excludes, relegates, and invisibilizes. In this paper, we examine the production process of this contemporary version of Frankenstein's creature. The ambiguity of the punk rereading, in bronze, without a pedestal, of a romantic figure, reveals more broadly the complexity of the contemporary spatial condition of art. By examining the process of commissioning, and the administrative discussion about the location between different city departments, and with the artists, we address several spatial issues in contemporary art. The analysis of the discussions reveals different interpretations of the work, its literary background and its urban environment. This reciprocal construction of a sense of the statue and its place allows us to think about what constitutes the relationship between art and its context. More broadly, this case questions the conditions for a critique of urban order through public art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Interventions Économiques is the property of Association d'Economie Politique and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)