As part of his analysis of sprawl, Kimmelman examined gated communities in Cairo, commenting on the 6th October Bridge, an automobile bridge next to Tahrir Square in Egypt.
Kimmelman talked about the relationship between public spaces and protests as well, such as the Occupy Wall Street Protests as well as other recent protests in Egypt, Turkey, and Brazil.
“Occupiers tend towards places like Zuccotti [Park in New York City] and Gezi [Park in Istanbul], places that look jammed and bustling with a few hundred people because the same crowds in Central Park would look puny,” he said.
Following the lecture, Graduate School of Design Dean Mohsen Mostafavi, who introduced Kimmelman to the audience at the beginning of the talk, praised the architecture critic.
“Michael has really distinguished himself over the last 15 years, taking on board critical issues that affect our lives socially, politically, economically,” he said.
—Staff writer Vimal S. Konduri can be reached at vimal.konduri@gmail.com.