Technical Lands

Book launch event conversations this fall on the East Coast and in London

Technical lands are spaces united by their “exceptional” status—their remote locations, delimited boundaries, secured accessibility, and vigilant management. Designating land as “technical” is thus a political act. Doing so entails dividing, marginalizing, and rendering portions of the Earth inaccessible and invisible. An anti-visuality of technical lands enables forms of hypervisibility and surveillance through the rhetorical veil of technology. Including the political and physical boundaries, technical lands are used in highly aestheticized geographies to resist debate surrounding production and governance. These critical sites and spaces range from disaster exclusion and demilitarized zones to prison yards, industrial extraction sites, airports, and spaceports. The identification and instrumentalization of technical lands have increased in scale and complexity since the rise of neoliberalization. Yet, the precise theoretical contours that define these geographies remain unclear. Technical Lands: A Critical Primer brings together authors from a diverse array of disciplines, geographies, and epistemologies to interrogate and theorize the meaning and increasing significance of technical lands.

Monday, 09/18/2023, 5:00 pm
University of Virginia School of Architecture, Charlottesville

Thursday, 09/28/2023, 12:00 am
Harvard University GSD Loeb Library, Cambridge

Tuesday, 10/17/2023, 6:00 pm
University of Greenwich Department of Landscape Architecture, London

Wednesday, 10/18/2023, 6:00 pm
Architectural Association School of Architecture, London

Thursday, 10/19/2023, 6:30 pm
University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, Philadelphia

Thursday, 11/02/2023, 6:30 pm
University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Toronto

Friday, 11/03/2023, 1:00 pm
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, Preservation, New York

Tuesday, 11/14/2023, 12:00 am
Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton

Book launch event conversations this fall on the East Coast and in London

Technical lands are spaces united by their “exceptional” status—their remote locations, delimited boundaries, secured accessibility, and vigilant management. Designating land as “technical” is thus a political act. Doing so entails dividing, marginalizing, and rendering portions of the Earth inaccessible and invisible. An anti-visuality of technical lands enables forms of hypervisibility and surveillance through the rhetorical veil of technology. Including the political and physical boundaries, technical lands are used in highly aestheticized geographies to resist debate surrounding production and governance. These critical sites and spaces range from disaster exclusion and demilitarized zones to prison yards, industrial extraction sites, airports, and spaceports. The identification and instrumentalization of technical lands have increased in scale and complexity since the rise of neoliberalization. Yet, the precise theoretical contours that define these geographies remain unclear. Technical Lands: A Critical Primer brings together authors from a diverse array of disciplines, geographies, and epistemologies to interrogate and theorize the meaning and increasing significance of technical lands.

Monday, 09/18/2023, 5:00 pm
University of Virginia School of Architecture, Charlottesville

Thursday, 09/28/2023, 12:00 am
Harvard University GSD Loeb Library, Cambridge

Tuesday, 10/17/2023, 6:00 pm
University of Greenwich Department of Landscape Architecture, London

Wednesday, 10/18/2023, 6:00 pm
Architectural Association School of Architecture, London

Thursday, 10/19/2023, 6:30 pm
University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, Philadelphia

Thursday, 11/02/2023, 6:30 pm
University of Toronto Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Toronto

Friday, 11/03/2023, 1:00 pm
Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, Preservation, New York

Tuesday, 11/14/2023, 12:00 am
Princeton University School of Architecture, Princeton