Fall 2019

Edited by Nicholas Pevzner & Stephanie Carlisle

Infrastructure is always political, and energy transitions have always been contested, pitting established players against upstart technologies and new coalitions. How can a radical reimagining of energy infrastructure create opportunities for an inclusive and participatory conversation about climate change and social justice? Who has the power to talk about infrastructure, and who gets left out?
Introduction: Power
Community Power As Provocation: Local Control For Resilience And Equity
Our Energy For Our Country
Speculative Designs For Energy Democracy
The TVA, Fuzzy Spaces Of Power, And Other Purposes
The Missouri River Basin: Water, Power, Decolonization, And Design
Power Plant Power
Arctic Present: The Case Of Teriberka
Coal Ash Wastescapes: The Byproduct Of Our Coal-Fired Power Dependency
Biomass For All: Designing An Inclusive Biomass Infrastructure
China’s Giant Transmission Grid Could Be The Key To Cutting Climate Emissions
2050 – An Energetic Odyssey: Persuasion By Collective Immersion
The Blue Lagoon: From Waste Commons To Landscape Commodity
Territory Of Extraction: The Crude North
Daylighting Conflict: Board Games As Decision-Making Tools

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    The Humanity of Infrastructure: Landscape as Operative Ground

    by Dane Carlson

    When landscape is modified and inhabited, it becomes the medium through which humanity can produce, move, and live. As landscape fulfills these roles, it becomes infrastructural.

    The Performative Ground: Rediscovering The Deep Section

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    The landscape we see happens above ground, yet much of its true intelligence lies beneath the surface.

    Introduction: Migration

    by Stephanie Carlisle and Nicholas Pevzner

    Migration is an instinct shared across many species, an essential ingredient for survival. The design of our cities and landscapes can facilitate or inhibit migrations. Is promoting connectivity always the answer? Which flows do we want to facilitate, and which to block?

    Made in Australia: The Future of Australian Cities

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    The Australian population is increasing at a rate of one person every 84 seconds. Taking population growth seriously means planning for an extra 40 million Australians by century’s end.

    Infrastructure Adrift: West 8's Shells

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    The Dutch government commissioned West 8 to create a project along the Roggenplaat, one of several artificial islands used to construct a storm surge barrier. The firm shaped the island’s sand deposits into plateaus bold enough to impress passing drivers. So, where is it?

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    Landscape Urbanism: Definitions & Trajectory

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    Long described as an “emerging” practice, landscape urbanism—with all of its ambiguity and complexity—has in fact already emerged and represents a significant 21st century design and planning ethos.

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    The immigration process is increasingly complicated and scrutinized. The passport is the coveted final step in a long and complex journey for refugees, one that oscillates between humanity and bureaucracy.

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    Australia’s vast Wheatbelt is full of surveyed and cleared town-sites of which few were settled and even fewer remain. One hardscrabble town offers a chance to imagine new design strategies for controlled decline.