Aesthetics and Spatial Practices. The Example of Switzerland

The main assumption underlying this article is that aesthetic categories and spatial practices are intrinsically connected. I argue that aesthetic experience and aesthetic judgment assume an importance for their high potential to elicit emotions and activate the agency of urban actors. Any study of the evolution of urban space in Switzerland should account for the high importance assigned by different urban actors to aesthetic questions. As “small” actors engage in a production of their “aesthetics of existence” (term coined by Foucault, 1977), their actions play the fundamental role in the structuring of urban space. The aesthetic sensibilities in Switzerland have been developing in the particular spatial, social and historical conditions with the city image in a pivotal role.