Wall, Public Sphere and Chinese Architecture——Starting from Shenzhen Dafen Art Museum

Public sphere, as defined by Jurgen Habermas, refers to a field of citizen discourse independent of individuals and the state, which reflects the common interests of a civil society 1 .Since Jurgen Habermas's theory was introduced into China in the 1990s, where China's public sphere is has become an important issue in discussions in disciplines such as history, sociology, and political science.This article attempts to contribute to this discussion through a case study of a special element of architecturethe wall.However, the issue that the author focuses on here is not whether there is a public sphere in China, but how it becomes a competitive arena for various social forces to compete for the right to speak.These competitions are manifested on the wall as an artificial spatial boundary, a medium that can be used for expression, and therefore also as a spatial resource of the city.The role played by the wall in Chinese history, especially in the history of the twentieth century, can provide an excellent annotation for people to understand the fate of China's 'public sphere.