As Charles Jencks and sociologist Herbert Gans have pointed out, architects have to deal with pluralism and widely differing taste-cultures. Of particular concern is the generation of meaning in architecture, especially for constituent communities that are often ethnically diverse. This case study seminar analyzes examples of cultural and public spaces in Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, and the United States that have involved local participation in their creation and, in some cases, in their ongoing space making. By examining specific cultural strategies and resulting artifacts, the seminar attempts to identify a wide range of responses and strategies that can be used to generate cultural buildings and public spaces broadly understood in their communities as places of meaning. Analyses include methods of eliciting user feedback during and after the design process and the degree of acceptance by the public that engages it. Each student picks one structure or space and presents it to the class, analyzed through diagrams, images, models, and text. A fifteen-page paper is required. Limited enrollment.