New Geographies, 6: Grounding Metabolism
The design disciplines have always recognized the potential within a critical understanding of urban metabolism to shape spatial strategies, from Patrick Geddes’s Valley Section to the megastructures of the Japanese Metabolists. Historically confined to the regional scale, today’s generalized urbanization is characterized by an unprecedented complexity and planetary upscaling of metabolic relations.

Most contemporary discussions of metabolism have failed to integrate formal, spatial, and material attributes. Technoscientific approaches have been limited to a performative interpretation of flows, while more theoretical attempts to interrogate the sociopolitical embeddedness of metabolic processes have largely ignored their formal spatial registration. Within this context, the design disciplines—fascinated by the fluidity of metabolic processes—have privileged notions of elasticity without regard for the often sclerotic quality of landscapes and infrastructures.

New Geographies, 6 aims to trace alternative, synthetic routes to design through a more elaborate understanding of the relation between metabolic models and concepts and the formal, physical, and material specificities of spatial structures across scales. This task will require addressing the planetary dimension of contemporary metabolic processes and critically examining the long lineage of discussions and approaches on metabolism.

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New Geographies, 6: Grounding Metabolism
The design disciplines have always recognized the potential within a critical understanding of urban metabolism to shape spatial strategies, from Patrick Geddes’s Valley Section to the megastructures of the Japanese Metabolists. Historically confined to the regional scale, today’s generalized urbanization is characterized by an unprecedented complexity and planetary upscaling of metabolic relations.

Most contemporary discussions of metabolism have failed to integrate formal, spatial, and material attributes. Technoscientific approaches have been limited to a performative interpretation of flows, while more theoretical attempts to interrogate the sociopolitical embeddedness of metabolic processes have largely ignored their formal spatial registration. Within this context, the design disciplines—fascinated by the fluidity of metabolic processes—have privileged notions of elasticity without regard for the often sclerotic quality of landscapes and infrastructures.

New Geographies, 6 aims to trace alternative, synthetic routes to design through a more elaborate understanding of the relation between metabolic models and concepts and the formal, physical, and material specificities of spatial structures across scales. This task will require addressing the planetary dimension of contemporary metabolic processes and critically examining the long lineage of discussions and approaches on metabolism.

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New Geographies, 6: Grounding Metabolism

New Geographies, 6: Grounding Metabolism

New Geographies, 6: Grounding Metabolism

New Geographies, 6: Grounding Metabolism

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Overview

The design disciplines have always recognized the potential within a critical understanding of urban metabolism to shape spatial strategies, from Patrick Geddes’s Valley Section to the megastructures of the Japanese Metabolists. Historically confined to the regional scale, today’s generalized urbanization is characterized by an unprecedented complexity and planetary upscaling of metabolic relations.

Most contemporary discussions of metabolism have failed to integrate formal, spatial, and material attributes. Technoscientific approaches have been limited to a performative interpretation of flows, while more theoretical attempts to interrogate the sociopolitical embeddedness of metabolic processes have largely ignored their formal spatial registration. Within this context, the design disciplines—fascinated by the fluidity of metabolic processes—have privileged notions of elasticity without regard for the often sclerotic quality of landscapes and infrastructures.

New Geographies, 6 aims to trace alternative, synthetic routes to design through a more elaborate understanding of the relation between metabolic models and concepts and the formal, physical, and material specificities of spatial structures across scales. This task will require addressing the planetary dimension of contemporary metabolic processes and critically examining the long lineage of discussions and approaches on metabolism.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781934510377
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 08/11/2014
Series: New Geographies , #5
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Daniel Ibañez is a Doctor of Design candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.


Nikos Katsikis is a Doctor of Design candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Table of Contents

Editorial Daniel Ibañez Nikos Katsikis 002

Toward a Singular Metabolism: Epistemic Rifts and Environment-Making in the Capitalist World-Ecology Jason W. Moore 010

Ecologies of the Anthropocene: Global Upscaling of Sociel-Ecological Infrastructures Erle C. Ellis 020

Understanding and Designing the Metabolism of Urban Systems Peter Baccini 028

Urbanism as Cyborganicity: Tracking the Materialities of the Anthropocene Timothy W. Luke 038

Petrified Metabolism as Urban Artifact: Tells and Artificial Topographies in the Khabur Basin, Syria Roi Salgueiro Barrio Aanya Chugh Maynard León 052

Urban Metabolism: Persistent Questions and Current Developments Sabine Barles 062

On Circulations and Metabolisms: Challenges and Prospects Matthew Gandy Daniel Ibañez Nikos Katsikis 070

The Valley Region - From Figure of Thought to Figure on the Ground Votker M. Welter 078

After Habitat Environment Hadas A. Steiner 088

On Metabolism and the Metabolists Ken Tadashi Oshima Daniel Ibañez Nikos Katsikis 098

Nature Is the Dummy: Circulations of the Metabolic Douglas Spencer 108

Resource Extraction Urbanism and the Post-Oil Landscape of Venezuela Felipe Correa Tomás Folch 114

Ephemeral Urbanism: Learning from Pop-up Cities Rahul Mehrotra Felipe Vera 122

Torritorialism I Paola Viganò 132

Hassi Messaoud Oil Urbanism Rania Ghosn El Hadi Jazairy 140

Moscow after Moscow Reinier de Graaf/OMA 150

Barcelona 5.0: The Self-Sufficient City Vicente Guallar 160

Toward a Thermodynamic Urban Design Philippe Rahm 166

The Nonmodern Struggle for Maximum Entropy Kiel Moe 174

Ecology 5.0 Pierre Bélange 184

"Projoctive Views on Urban Metabolism": Conference Postscript Daniel Daou Pablo Pérez Ramos 188

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