Beneath our feet and above our heads, sidewalks, lawns, plazas, blocks, gardens, buildings, streets, and curbs surround and bound the spaces in which we move and live. Much more than a lifeless negative space, these elements of the built environment provide us with symbols through which we construct our understanding of the world, deriving stories about our past, present and future.

At the same time, architects, planners, and designers, acting under the influence of political, social, and economic forces, tear down, alter, construct, and preserve these physical forms in an attempt to shape the environment along socio-political and aesthetic lines. The tension between these “intended