Introduction to Boundaries and Restricted Places: The Immured Space

Abstract

“Space immured” is a space of collective characteristics in or out of which free access or movement is denied, or forbidden, or strictly monitored for specific groups or individuals, or the sense of intruding to an alien space is imposed out of threat or fear. In immured spaces barriers have clear and discrete characteristics. Walls or barriers could be physical or conceptual, and they are usually set by the ‘dominant’ of the involved groups or by a 3rd agent or authority without consultation of all the involved agents, and often against the will of some of the involved. Their establishment or construction is time independent. Might be a ‘immediate’ reaction to an incident like a war, social crisis or etc., or a slow development reflecting the evolution of social gaps, conflicts or social segregation in an area. The introduction discusses the theory behind the space immured and discusses of its relation to space and place, visible/invisible walls and barriers. © Balkiz Yapicioglu and Konstantinos Lalenis 2022.