Reimaging Earth. Architecture and the critical and speculative uses of geovisualization
Name
40410_2023_Article_206.pdf
Size
2.54 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
31440f455e141f7f57048da7ec5c88d9
Author(s)
Barrio, Roi S.
Date Issued
August 10, 2023
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Citation
City, Territory and Architecture. 2023 Aug 10;10(1):22
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Abstract
This article addresses the debates surrounding the design uses of satellite-based geovisualizations. It asks, in particular, how geovisualizations can support new design politics towards global urbanization. The initial section of the article presents a series of theoretical critiques of geovisualization. These stress that satellite-based imagery represents a disembodied, detached form of vision that hides under a totalizing image the actual, variegated conditions and struggles happening on the ground. As a result, geovisualization is considered as an instrument that neutralizes the critical dimension of design. The article counters this critique through an analysis of two cartographic and design practices which heavily rely on satellite data. The first one is the work of Neil Brenner’s Urban Theory Lab (UTL), which uses cartography as an analytical and critical tool aimed at unpacking the sociospatial dimensions of planetary urbanization. The second case is Joyce Hsiang and Bimal Mendis’ speculative, cartographic project City of Seven Billion. My argument is that this project partially builds upon the UTL’s work, but it substitutes the latter’s analytical orientation for a projective one to investigate how architectural design can operate in the context of planetary urbanization. By analysing these two works, the article concludes that both support a design politics oriented to recognizing and then defining the questions and scales upon which architecture can intervene today.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Architecture and Planning
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-023-00206-4
