The decorum of urban public space

Abstract

Moral qualities constitute the set of most necessary variables to achieve citizenship. Urban Ethics can be translated as public spirit and urbanity. The place in the city where these moral qualities are most expressed is its public space. At the same time, that public space requires a material conformation as an urban space, which implies the need for disciplinary solutions from architecture and urbanism. Therefore, the aesthetics of public space becomes a problem to be solved by architecture and other artistic manifestations that complement it, such as urban art. Decoration is a term, frequently interpreted in art and even more so in modern architecture, with pejorative connotations. But it is an aesthetic term that, together with another ethical term such as decency, makes up the virtue of decorum. The achievement of decorum in urban public space extends its virtues to the urban phenomenon as a whole.