Friday 13 March 2009

Imagining urban space, part 1

I invite you to take an imaginary trip to your favorite city. Imagine visiting one of your favorite spaces in that city. Are you in a private or public space? Is its character architectural or natural? Is your space open or enclosed? Is it intimate? Grand? Quiet? Noisy? Is it underground or up high? Can you see water? The horizon? Are there other people there? If so, what are they doing? Is it day or night?

I chose the Malecón in Havana. It’s a Friday night and there are crowds of people playing music, singing, laughing, drinking rum... The sky is filled with stars. Pitted façades are succumbing to salt and pollution on one side, while bits of neoclassical balustrade are swept into the sea by crashing waves on the other. Coco-taxis and creatively repaired classic American cars stream by, adding a hint of gasoline to the sultry air.

Close your eyes and take a moment or two to familiarize yourself with the sights, sounds, smells, temperature, and any other distinctive characteristics of your own imagined space.

Now, I’d like to ask you to come up with a metaphor for your space in relation to the larger context of your city. For example, if your city were a body, then its parks might be lungs, or its subterranean infrastructure might be bowels. If your city were a factory or machine, then it might have an assembly line, storage facilities, gears, valves, etc. If your city were an ecosystem, it might contain native or invasive species, or it could be the site of cyclical processes. If your city were some form of media, then it might have a narrative, plot points, characters, scenes, dialogue, locations, etc. If your city were a network, it might have data streams, conduits, fiber optic cables, satellite dishes, microwave antennae, circuits, RAM, ROM, storage devices, processors, a user interface, etc.

These kinds of metaphors have historically been used by social scientists and policy makers to discuss perceived urban problems and to formulate solutions. Insomuch as they constitute conceptual frameworks, they have influenced the shaping of urban space - and therefore our experience of everyday life. My theory is that these metaphors tend to follow recent cultural, scientific and technological developments.

So what’s next? Nanotechnology? Genetics? Theoretical physics? The geospatial grid? Augmented reality? I’m curious about our future urban imaginaries, and their spatial and experiential implications...

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