Lines and Frames, Architecture in the Period of Migration

Abstract

The current state of growing uncertainty, instability and change in the current world has rendered our spatial perceptions blurred, fragmented and contradictory. In a period of substantial geopolitical crisis, uneven economic distribution, and climate change, with a growing number of people in a state of transit from poor and war-torn countries to more prosperous parts of the world, we can hardly talk about stable forms in a social and physical sense. But what are the forms and spatial patterns of the world during a period of continuous change? Could a certain depth structure be recognized in the contemporary dynamic of social and spatial transformation? Starting from the basic structure of human perception, and the basic spatial patterns such as center, line and domain, we shall attempt to derive the defined forms, not just as a form of representation but also as a form of action in the contemporary world. The aim of this chapter is to explore the connection between physical and social change; firstly through the elicitation of the defined forms of representation; and, secondly through an ability to act through them. Through a series of examples of hybrid spatial and social situations, we shall map the effectiveness of the defined spatial forms as strategies of transformation in different contexts in the world. As such, the line and the frame as opposing forms, act as the representation of the condition of change, but additionally as an opportunity for a new formal structure in the period of migration.