Nexus, Artery and Reservoir: a taxonomy for an embodied perception of infrastructures

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Abstract

Infrastructures permeate all layers of modern society as the underlying structure for everyday life. The unfolding climate crisis and war on the European continent have put infrastructures in the centre of political attention. Infrastructures will also be pivotal to address several SDGs and key targets. Nevertheless, infrastructural artefacts are largely perceived as a necessary evil. This paper explores how infrastructures can be culturally perceived as more than mere technical necessities.
Through photographic works by the author, it is asked which aesthetic characteristics are distinctive of infrastructures, and how they can inform a new definition of infrastructures. Based on the photographic method of Bernd & Hilla Becher and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s phenomenological aesthetics, the image itself is considered empirical material with the potential to transform and expand the meaning of the depicted. This paper argues that a phenomenological, embodied perception of infrastructures is important to understand, engage with and derive meaning from them as structures, places and networks bridging the divide between everyday life and the often-intangible data of climate change.
Based on the photographic works and Giorgio Agamben’s understanding of potentiality, the paper outlines an understanding of infrastructural potentiality and proposes a taxonomy of Nexus, Artery and Reservoir to conceptualise infrastructures in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture.
Translated title of the contributionNexus, Arterie og Reservoir: Taksonomi for en kropslig erfaring af infrastrukturer
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDesign for Resilient Communities : Proceedings of the UIA World Congress of Architects Copenhagen 2023
Number of pages14
Place of PublicationKøbenhavn
Publication date2023
Pages111-124
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventUIA World Congress of Architects 2023 Copenhagen - København, Denmark
Duration: 2 Jul 20236 Jul 2023
Conference number: 28
https://uia2023cph.org/

Conference

ConferenceUIA World Congress of Architects 2023 Copenhagen
Number28
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityKøbenhavn
Period02/07/202306/07/2023
OtherThe UIA World Congress takes place every third year with 10-15.000 participants from all over the world.<br/>The 2023 World Congress of Architects will take place on 2-6 July 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark. With the theme “Sustainable Futures- Leave No One Behind”, the Congress aims to promote, discuss, create and showcase architecture as a vital tool to achieve the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It will share sustainable solutions and examine the latest research results.
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