7pm: Presentation of NEW GEOGRAPHIES #1: AFTER ZERO
Edited by Neyran Turan, Stephen Ramos.

Speakers: Neyran Turan, Stephen Ramos, Hashim Sarkis

Design disciplines are challenged by the condition of the zero point. “Zero-context,” “cities from scratch,” and “zero-carbon” developments all force designers to address important questions regarding the strategic relevance and impact of a design intervention. As much as the zero point presents naïve innocence and embodies contradictory notions—such as crisis versus abundance or context versus model—it also creates a ground for doubt, self-critique, and rejuvenation for architecture and urbanism. As projects, indeed entire “new” cities, are built before they can even be imagined and then repackaged and replicated as models for any context, what do these projects suggest for the design disciplines? Beyond a focus on the vast scales and ambitions of these projects, it is important to see them as symptomatic of a much broader condition within contemporary architecture and urbanism. Along with the challenges inherent in the zero point, perhaps more meaningful are the provocations of the AFTER following the ZERO condition. The idea of an AFTER ZERO is crucial for us; not only to assert the need to reflect on the future following the zero condition but also in acknowledgment of the release of this volume after our previous Volume No. 0. If the zero condition presents crises of form, context, and social relevance for architecture and urbanism, perhaps one way to deal with this is “to redefine crisis, not as crisis but more simply as symptoms of larger urban trends whose logic is revealed only when judgment is suspended,” as Albert Pope writes in the volume. If we assess the current moment of crisis as a zero point, how can we think about the social, political, and formal significance of design after the Meltdown? After an era of reality mapping or iconic formalism, the volume aims to investigate possibilities AFTER crises, AFTER mapping, and AFTER signature architectures. Without relying on totalizing narratives, naïve morality, or escapism, AFTER ZERO is an opportunity to imagine alternative futures and a revitalized project for the city.

Contributors to New Geographies #1 include: Albert Pope, Ulrich Beck, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Martino Tattara, Erik Swyngedouw, Keller Easterling, Thomas J. Campanella, Francois Blanciak, Yasser Elsheshtawy, Matthew Gandy, Behrang Behin, Lola Sheppard, Mason White, Joseph Grima, and Peter Hall.

The Panelists:

Neyran Turan is an Assistant Professor at Rice University School of Architecture. She recently received her doctoral degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design with a dissertation exploring the history of a specific dialogue between the geography and urbanism of twentieth-century Istanbul. Turan holds a masters degree from Yale University School of Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Istanbul Technical University. Turan’s work focuses on contemporary interpretations of scale, infrastructure and ecology, and their potentiality for new positionings in architecture and urbanism. She is the cofounder of NEMEstudio, a research and design collaborative based in Houston and Boston.

Stephen Ramos is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received his doctoral degree in urban planning and design from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2009. His dissertation, entitled “Dubai Amplified: The Role of Large-Scale Trade Infrastructure in the Territorial Development of a Lower Gulf Port Geography, “explores the multiple roles and meanings of infrastructure within rapidly urbanizing circumstances, looking specifically at the case of Dubai. His professional practice includes work with the Fundación Metrópoli in Madrid, the International Society of City and Regional Planners in The Hague, along with NGO work in Central America. Stephen holds a B.A. in Literature from Gettysburg College, an M.S. in Community and Regional Planning, and an M.A.in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Hashim Sarkis is the Aga Khan Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He teaches design studios and courses in the history and theory of architecture. Sarkis also directs the Aga Khan Program at the GSD. Sarkis is a practicing architect between Cambridge and Lebanon. His projects include the award winning housing complex for the fishermen of Tyre, a park in downtown Beirut, two schools in the North Lebanon region, and several urban and landscape projects. He is author of several books and articles including Circa 1958: Lebanon in the Pictures and Plans of Constantinos Doxiadis (Beirut: Dar Annahar, 2003), editor of CASE: Le Corbusier’s Venice Hospital (Munich: Prestel, 2001), co-editor with Peter G. Rowe of Projecting Beirut (Munich: Prestel, 1998), and executive editor of the CASE publication series (GSD/Prestel).

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
NEW GEOGRAPHIES #1: AFTER ZERO
Editors-in-Chief: Neyran Turan, Stephen Ramos.
Editorial Board: Gareth Doherty, Rania Ghosn, El Hadi Jazairy, Antonio Petrov.
Advisory Board: Bruno Latour, Mohsen Mostafavi, Antoine Picon, Hashim Sarkis, Charles Waldheim.
Graphic Design: Thumb.
New Geographies is distributed by Harvard University Press.

For additional information on the New Geographies Journal, visit: www.gsd.harvard.edu/newgeographies
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –