#2
essay #2 dealing with the urban: theory, method, tools
dealing with the urban: theory, method, tools
essay #2
This essay exposes concerns and possible responses to the increasingly problematic issue of reading and understanding the contemporary city. Its central aim is to hypothesise and sketch a set of methods which have been variously assembled during fieldwork. It is argued that they are informed by a specific set of “non-representational� theoretical contributions which strive for the opening up of new questions and research fields, involving a few aspects which seem to work well as a background hum rather than precise taxonomies. This same experimentalism dominates the methodological choices of this work, resulting in an assemblage of tools and techniques. This approach appears to be valuable since, as we will see, it allows for a recognition and description of marginal, often unspoken contexts which can constitute a basis to build specific arguments. introduction: qualitative methodologies for a nonrepresentational research method How do geographers strive for uncovering facts and meanings in an increasingly complex and complicated world? Which aspects can we borrow from their practice? Which assemblage of fragments of theory, method and tools can guide us in the reading of the urban environment? Animated by these questions, the central section of this chapter will enumerate, analyse and connect an admittedly partial group of conceptions, stances and practices intended as a valuable set for determining our approach towards the understanding of the city and the urban in general. Before continuing further, however, it is worth to sketch a brief and general discussion on the relationship between quantitative and
qualitative research methodologies as this separation strikes our choices in a significant way. In our attempt for a non- or more-thanrepresentational (Lorimer, 2008) research practice we will exclusively refer to qualitative methodologies, intended as the ones mainly focusing on qualitative characteristics of the observed phenomena, objects and geospatial relationships (Governa & Memoli, 2011). In fact, quantitative methodologies, based on the measurement of such data (ibid.) will be automatically dismissed since they appear to be representation par excellence. Numbers, percentages, increases and decreases in the form of aggregated and synthetic data will not serve our cause as we attempt to bypass the study of representations themselves. However, if quantitative material is an intuitive category when referred to in geographical studies (e.g. growth rates, travel times or 41
average income), qualitative is a slightly more vague category. For the sake of clarity, following Governa and Memoli (2011) these can be divided into three families: 1) oral sources, such as interviews or focus groups; 2) written and iconographic ones, ranging from tourist guides or postcards to reading the landscape as a text ; and 3) direct observation, drawing together ethnographic research techniques, participant observation and research-action tactics. Clearly, qualitative methodologies are nothing new in geography nor in social sciences in general. Geographers have in fact alternated qualitative and quantitative methods over the centuries: so-called revolutions have often coincided with the (re)proposal of one over the other, as for example has been the case with the quantitative approach arisen in the anglo-saxon context in the 1960s and 1970s, then spreading to other countries (Winchester, 2005). This same approach has however ended up in barricading itself behind technological development completely disconnected from real life dynamics, which resulted in the production of abstract models without considerations over both what to measure and why measuring it (Governa & Memoli, 2011). On the other hand, at least qualitative methodologies seem to present this discussion towards reflexivity, self-critique and experimentation as recent detailed accounts witness (Crang, 2002; 2003; 2005; Davies & Dwyer, 2007; 2008; 2010). The constantly increasing popularity of qualitative material usage in human geography is scored by the publication of many reliable 42
manuals reaching undergraduate research (Flowerdew & Martin, 2005; Hay, 2005): methodological approaches which were once considered marginal are now widely taught (DeLyser, 2008). Under a certain point of view, this development offers the opportunity of acknowledging the state of the art of many practices often consolidated in geographical research but never explicitly assessed through its history (e.g. the apparently intuitive task of doing fieldwork). However, and quite naturally, this growing interest involves that certain research practices strongly solidify, age and become taken for granted: is there “a new orthodoxy” (Crang, 2002)? Of course this constitutes an issue to be addressed, as realities constantly transform and together do research questions demanding for new approaches and answers. As authors continuously reflect upon the present and future challenges of qualitative research methods, I will present an overview of figures, research practices and on-field stances which can function as the starting network for a demanded experimentalism in human geography. Practices might grow old over time, but “pushed in the appropriate direction there is no reason why these methods cannot be made to dance a little” (Latham, 2003, p. 2000), addressing both research methodology and the style of final reports. being there, walking Among the three clusters defined above (oral sources, written and iconographic ones and
Barcelona’s interstices: opening up architectural practice
direct observation) the latter has functioned as the most valuable one in exploring and collecting information over Barcelona’s urban interstices and the banal and mundane practices that happen to inhabit them. Even if oral sources have contributed in discovering such spaces (hints and suggestions, detailed accounts by people and other researchers) and iconographic ones will inform the following interpretations over them (see #3), the showcased audiovisual work quite clearly states how direct observation has been constitutive in producing and assembling such materials. Sure enough, “direct observation” is a sufficiently broad umbrella gathering diverse practices, reason why it is worth to extricate them. First of all, direct observation is per se impossible without the researcher’s presence on the field: “being there” has arguably been at the root of geographical quest since its very beginning. The reading of Heredotus’s Histories or Strabo’s Geographica vividly conveys the idea of geographers (despite them being also historians, astronomers and men of culture in general) being hardcore travellers establishing their analyses on their existence on the field, interpreting direct or second-hand sources. Even those who were mostly famous for their work being produced inside a studio, such as Ptolemy or Eratosthenes, relied on the accounts of the ones who have “been there” for developing their geographical discoveries. In both cases, the presence of a researching subject on the field of inquiry remains fundamental. This long-lasting tradition still informs modern, and contemporary as we will essay #2
see, approaches to geographical work: as Pierre George (1909-2006) used to say, “geography is made with feet”. In a similar fashion, however deeply rooted in an exclusively urban environment, the cultural figure of the flâneur (Benjamin, 1973) seems to work in this sense. It deliberately stresses aspects such as the practice of strolling in the city as the fundamental practical mean of exploration and experience, emphasising at the same time the flâneur’s very subjectivity and immersed, maybe even lost, position in such environment: he is capable of both plunging into the city and abstracting himself from it; of collecting a great range of sensorial experiences through his very own perception; of communicating his journey through inspired linguistic registers. For these reasons the act of the flânerie is far from being a real methodology for researching the urban environment through recognisable and consistent procedures: its rationalisation will bring to its dissolution (Governa & Memoli, 2011); however it can still inspire a strongly perceptive and emotional immersion in the city’s paths (Amin & Thrift, 2002), uncovering new possibilities for urban geography. This aspect had already been captured by Guy Debord nearly sixty years ago, as the publication of his Introduction à une critique de la géographie urbaine (Debord, 1955) remarks. Through “psychogeographical” inquiry, the practice of dérive urbaine (being consciously lost in the city) and the production of fragmented and subjective cartographies, the Situationists have significantly influenced future developments in urban geography, 43
Explorers on the field: Strabo, Charles Baudelaire and Domenico Quirico.
bringing into question above all the purposes and practices of this discipline. Even if the act of walking is not overtly central to his practice, we can trace the vivid aspect of being there, of being totally immersed in the tenacious work of journalist Domenico Quirico. He has so often used the powerful metaphor of the well: if he simply protrudes over the well’s edge he sees an image reflected on the water down there. An image which resembles reality but is distorted by its own movement. Instead, he embarks on a trip down the well, an immersion in order to impress as many marks as possible onto his skin. Marks which he will transform into words to be read by others. Metaphorically, we want to assume this same stance. observing Proceeding in our discussion, presence as such seems nothing valuable in terms of geographical and in general scientific inquiries: Pierre George’s feet appear to be worthless if not equipped with eyes to observe. It would nonetheless be trivial to put up an argument on observation: it sounds as the most natural action for a researcher to undertake once he has stated the necessity of being on the field. However, banal as it may sound, a genuinely visual method of inquiry, exclusively based and focused on a “geography of what happens” (Thrift, 2008, p. 2) is far from being the norm in academic procedures. In fact, it is surprising to note how much geographical literature, may it be radical or policy-oriented, is still based on sincerely deductive reasonings which aim at essay #2
recognising general phenomena in particular cases. Instead, as observation becomes a central technique “the question becomes one of what is done not what is represented” (Crang, 2003, p. 503 emphasis in original). Furthermore, observation itself is susceptible to some possible inflections which aim at enhancing it for research goals. Techniques such as participant observation deliberately stress the embeddedness of the researcher in the research field. In effect it “involves living and/or working within particular communities in order to understand how they work ‘from the inside’” (Cook, 2005, p. 167). This specific approach has arguably been central to ethnographic studies (Cloke et al., 2004) and has come to influence geography through the diffusion of ethnographic research itself across a number of disciplines, especially within the social sciences. Ethnography has become a valuable set of approaches (Crang & Cook, 2007) for unraveling and understanding the lived, everyday world. Discussing ethnographic approaches to human geography, it seems necessary at this point to mention one thorny issue which continuously reappears when debating research in social sciences in general: the supposedly insolvable crack between the position of the insider and the one of the outsider. In fact, much geographical work “divides positionality […] into being insiders (good but impossible) and outsiders (bad but inevitable)” (Crang, 2003, p. 500); however, at the same Crang states, “[t]hankfully much work this year has developed beyond these 45
approaches” (ibid.). In a parallel way, we will try to move beyond this apparent separation through acknowledging the fact that these two positionalities exist, and indeed can co-exist. In fact, our researcher is both an insider since he stays on the field, walks, observes and, as we will see, does and perceives; and an outsider, being a researching subject himself, he is immersed in theoretical thinking and is reflexive. In the end, researchers are themselves mutating entities along with their research projects which exist in multiple versions according to the subject to which they are exposed (Crang, 2003). I do in fact believe that if an operative chance lies in this problem, one possible way is through using it and not towards solving it, working with it and not against. This choice reflects bot on the theoretical plan and the practical one through combination of multiple points of view (external/internal), experiences (insider/outsider) and stances (moving/fixed). Hopefully, this integrated dichotomy will be evident in the showcased qualitative material as a source of complexity and a strive for richness. The forthcoming discussion over the tools implied in this project will nonetheless contribute to clarify this aspect.
instead of limiting itself to description (Pratt, 2000), therefore involving a full commitment to often marginalised or oppressed groups, this approach poses relevant stress over the ethical dimension and political responsibility of our own work. As Sara Kindon (2005) has efficiently synthesised, in fact, “a PAR1 researcher does not conduct research on a group, but works with them to achieve change that they desire” (p.208, emphasis in original), superimposing research practice and political activism. In this sense, PAR methodologies seem to better cope with the separation between being insider or outsider: the researcher is seen as a facilitator, both accomplishing his own task related to academic commitment and acknowledging the insiders’ issues in a practical sense, therefore providing possible, specific and practical solutions for filling the crack between the two. Even if this approach seems to perform well in very specific situations and long-term research protocols, it seems to me that the aspects highlighted above (ethico-political responsibility and insider/outsider combinations) still remain a valuable guideline at any scale with any timeline. feeling
doing A sort of upgrade of participant observation, self-fashioned acting while researching is “one of the fastest emerging approaches” (Kindon, 2005, p. 207) for human geographies which aim at being socially and politically relevant. Fostering change 46
Arguably, our eyes or practical intentions might not be sufficient in certain situations. On one hand, it is evident how cities are engendered with multiple sensory registers (Zardini, 2005) therefore demanding for approaches and tools able to cope with all the five senses. Using the body as a research
Barcelona’s interstices: opening up architectural practice
medium might be an option in this sense through a complete “corporeal immersion” (Popke, 2009, p. 82) into reality. On the other hand, even these tactics do not seem to be able to plumb “the ‘sedimented stuff’ of society that is normally hidden and overlooked” (Crang, 2005, p. 205, emphasis by author), the unsayable, the invisible. In fact, the positivist notion of rational understanding seems to fail in “a world which we can only partially understand” (Thrift, 2008, p. 19). On this purpose, the recent “emotional turn” (Davidson, Bondi, & Smith, 2012) in human geography is a possibility to accessing non-cognitive ways of knowing. Clearly, the access to different registers, involving the analysis of different “data”, claims for a suitable set of tools and, above all, appropriate means of communicating the results which could convey to the audience the same empathy through which the researcher has fulfilled his investigation. We will address this specific issue in a further section, discussing the tools employed in this work. approaches, methods: objects of focus Walk, be, get lost, practice, do, observe, touch smell and hear. We have not discussed what ought to be sensed yet. This should not be difficult to guess, however. In fact, the employment of our methodological hybrids inspired by semiconscious peregrinations, ethnography, participatory action and sensorial studies essay #2
calls for an almost automatic focus on the quotidian dimension of life, on daily human and non-human actions and on mundane practices. Following Lorimer (2005): “The focus falls on how life takes shape and gains expression in shared experiences, everyday routines, fleeting encounters, embodied movements, precognitive triggers, practical skills, affective intensities, enduring urges, unexceptional interactions and sensuous dispositions.” (Lorimer, 2005, p. 82)
As we have drawn inspiration from some rather historical figures, such as Benjamin’s flânerie or the Situationists’ dérive urbaine, the reader must note that the interest towards everyday life can be traced quite clearly through history, threading together the same Charles Baudelaire to Georges Perec through Surrealism, Dadaism and Roland Barthes, to finish off with Henri Lefebvre (see Sheringham, 2006). It is the same Henri Lefebvre that has placed the daily dimension of urban life at the centre of his dialectic materialism, stressing it in several occasions (Lefebvre, 1947; 1961; 1981) and finally providing us with so-called rhythmanalysis (Lefebvre, 1992), or the analysis of urban rhythms. Despite its name, however, this is nothing scientific and not even a proper method. I would define it as an approach instead. Lefebvre discusses it, in fact, with a concrete situation: he is observing central Paris from his window, his gaze posed on a certainly lively and crawling urban life. Cars accelerate and stop, pedestrians walk 47
by, café terraces are constantly rearranged: the city is lively and it lives according to its rhythms. Observing them from this metaphorical window acts in counterbalance to the experience of the flâneur: while he perceives reality from the inside, the rhythmanalyst stands in a distant, more objective position. Worth noting, however, rhythms are not only visible according to Lefebvre: they can be smelled and felt also. Moreover, some of these equally escape sensory registers and function as invisible (in fact!) underlying structuring patterns: they “present themselves without being present” (Lefebvre, 1996). These are, for example, traffic lights, timetables or recommended cultural itineraries. I do agree with Amin and Thrift when they state that “the metaphor of the urban rhythms can help in underlining some neglected temporalities” (Amin & Thrift, 2002). More broadly, focusing on the everyday dimension of urban life, on the banal aspects normally overlooked seems to offer a possible escape from paralysing and totalising views which rely on the existence of foundational structures of domination and power, allowing us to “transcend the anxious culture of critique which has marked so much of the turn towards the cultural” (Latham, 2003, p. 2012). In fact, we will try to resist to “romanticise the everyday as a mystical counterweight to domination” (Latham, 2003, p. 1998), such a common perspective in culturally inflected geographical research and in the often quoted work of Michel Foucault (“there is no power without resistance”). In fact, as we will recurrently 48
state in the course of this dissertation, visions which oppose exclusively the powerful and the weak, domination and resistance, oppression and freedom often fail to offer “fine-grained attention to the spaces that get produced by these interventions” (Koch & Latham, 2012). This approach positions us in an ambivalent relationship with Lefebvre as well: one of distance, as he too was interested in everyday life as a form of escape to capitalism (Elden, 2004); and one of proximity, his broad and heterogeneous work (also including sensorial registers for example) aiming at integrating and enriching traditional visions of Marxism (ibid.). To sum up, we will follow Latham (2003) in his vision of urban spaces as a kind of collective performance, comprised of noncognitive and embodied practices, and our aim will be the one of capturing the “onflow” (Pred, 2005) of everyday life in its heterogeneity. This “geography of what happens” will constitute the stormy basis for our speculative fabrications. As stated, we will reject the above mentioned “anxious culture of critique”, yet this will not prevent us from discussing wider and maybe even globally recognised phenomena. In this sense, the perceived and portrayed urban spaces and practices that inhabit them will function as “warning lights” (Ginzburg, 1979), clues which might stimulate connections through inductive thinking (Zingale, 2009). NRT as a background hum However, before moving on to the evaluation of such tools, it is appropriate to clarify the
Barcelona’s interstices: opening up architectural practice
theoretical strand(s) of social sciences that has informed these reflections. Actually in fact, much of the presented segments that strive to constitute our line of thought and action are interwoven with fragments of “nonrepresentational theory” (NRT from now on), a vividly emerging current (if we might define it as such) among the social sciences. “[A] label that even its proponents acknowledge is rather imprecise, but which at base signals a renewed interest in materialist, corporeal and performative ontologies” (Popke, 2009, p. 81), “an umbrella term for diverse work that seeks better to cope with our selfevidently more-than-human, more-thantextual, multisensual worlds” (Lorimer, 2005, p. 82), NRT is more of an interconnected web of authors and works than a concluded theoretical corpus. Mostly acknowledgeable since the mid1990s through a series of papers and book chapters written by Nigel Thrift (see Thrift, 1996; 1997; 2000; 2003; 2004), also evolved in the work of a range of his postgraduate students (see Dewsbury:2000uc 2003; Dewsbury, Harrison, M. Rose, & Wylie, 2002; Harrison, 2000; 2007; 2008; McCormack, 2002; 2003; 2005; Wylie, 2002; 2005; 2006) and a few others (see Anderson, 2006; Laurier & Philo, 2006; Lorimer, 2005; 2008), unraveling the increasingly vast debate over nonrepresentational conditions and concerns in human geography (Lorimer, 2008) would indeed be an elephantine task. Rather, we might limit ourselves to highlighting the key characters which appear to be useful for our research work, forwarding the reader essay #2
to Thrift’s (Thrift, 2008, pp. 5-18) more detailed account. This will also serve as a partial summary for the section developed above, since NRT’s key issues have actually already been expounded above. First of all, non-representational theory is interesting for its evident intention to bypass representations. Specifically, if our aim is to deconstruct and re-imagine the interpretation and therefore the design of the urban environment, representations and representationalism appear to be the first target of our challenge. Sure enough, their reiteration of existing social orders and structures of power appear to be in sharp contrast with our quest for a renewed, socially oriented and humanising urbanism. Secondly, and consequently, NRT’s focus on practices intended as material bodies of work or styles that have gained enough stability over time (Vendler, 1995) appears to be the concrete starting point of our speculative operation. The attention is directed towards the everyday, the mundane, the banal, in the belief that “common-sense knowledge is far from being a poor version of science” (Latham, 2003, p. 1996). Thirdly, and lastly, NRT’s lean towards “experimental kinds of response” (Lorimer, 2008, p. 556), ranging from Thrift’s use of performance to Latham’s more realistic notion of montage appears to be central to our strive for change. This list is admittedly partial: it appears evident how engaging could be a full commitment and “faith” to non-representationalism. Also, this would be inappropriate for this research work as practising a non49
representational research is both a tool and a goal, but a partial one. Rather, calling into question one of this theoretical strand’s most well-known contributors, “NRT works best as a background hum” (Lorimer, 2008, p. 556), bending us to a rather more-thanrepresentational (ibid.) approach. In the end, NRT seems to perform well in reaffirming our intentionality: non-representational research practice as a challenge to dominant representations of the city, the bypassing of which allows us to rebuild a way of understanding and therefore designing such urban environment. Our journey through the urban spaces of Barcelona will allows us to “explore this call to practice” (Nash, 2000, p. 654) through specific strategies enlightened as follows. toolbox As we reach the end of this essay, we might outline the tools employed in the construction of the qualitative material showcased in this research. – Photography has been the primary tool, although this has happened originally for the author’s being particularly familiar with this medium. However, photography is much more than an easy medium in this research. In fact, exploring urban space with hands on a camera, stimulates a mostly, and I would say almost purely visual investigation of such environment. Embodying in this way the approaches highlighted above, the photographic lens and shutter mechanisms guided by the researcher’s eyes seems to be the main instrument in collecting Ginzburg’s 50
“alarm lights”. Particularly, this metaphor appears particularly performing in having guided my exploratory and therefore representational choices: I have been looking for clues rather than taking refuge in the realm of evidence, practising politics of suggestion and hypothesis avoiding claims of proof. This has also allowed me to maintain a few ethical choices, such as not showing any human identity even though continuing to show human practices through the clues they have dropped and left. This implies entering into environments, situations, feelings; reason why I imagine this photographic work to represent the researcher’s point of view as an insider, marking the territory with his feet, crossing it on its ground, facing or trespassing its barriers with difficulty stressing the subjective dimension of such practice. Although geography can be considered as a naturally visual discipline for its timeless use of cartography, drawings, plans and photography (Sui, 2000), visual approaches are gaining popularity both in social sciences (Harper, 1998) and in geography as the recent debate over the necessity of a visual turn (Driver, 2003; Rose, 2003; 2004; Ryan, 2003) and the spreading of manuals on visual inquiry (Bignante, 2011) witness. Still, visual forms of investigation do not appear to be the norm. – Even less common appears to be the second technique employed in my work: sound recording. Nevertheless, it is a diffused practice performed by sound artists, sound designers and amateurs throughout the world as the immensity of such archives on the internet suggests2. The research fields are
Barcelona’s interstices: opening up architectural practice
Photographic camera, audio recorder, map and pen.
equally wide and dispersed, ranging from more ordinary recordings of the natural and built environment to definitely more experimental practices, such as recording the sounds uttered by bridges when moving3. In the background of all this, often stands the urban environment. Artists such as Cilia Erens4, who performed her first sound walk in 1978, have developed their work being fascinated by the sounds of everyday life. However, this gap between arts and scientific disciplines is increasingly being reduced as literature over soundscapes in particular and the relationship between cities and sound is constantly burgeoning one. Quite surprisingly though, it seems that sound has not clearly made its way into human geography, as far as it concerns both research technique and, above all, questions of style in final reports. As long as my personal experience is concerned, however, sound recording has revealed itself to be an extremely powerful instrument, mainly for three reasons: Firstly, since the microphones connected to the recorder amplify the sounds in a specific direction, cruising the urban environment wearing headphones that deliver these amplified sounds is a strongly different experience to everyday flânerie, transforming it into acoustic flânerie (Gandy & Nilsen, 2014). Working as the forked piece of wood of the water-diviner, this apparatus allows the researcher to orientate himself differently in his field and to follow specific streaks of sound which might eventually lead to discovering unexpected practices. Secondly, sound recording has allowed 52
me to reach phenomena which wouldn’t otherwise have been possible to investigate and communicate through other media. In this sense, the audible has overhauled the visual. As an example, sound is a much more acceptable tool of investigation when dealing with marginal, illegal or antagonist realities that want to be (or are made) invisible. Moreover, noises of people living in hidden sites have revealed their reality exclusively through the sounds they produce. Thirdly, shifting to the communication phase, I believe that environmental sound is a very powerful instrument capable of plunging the listener/reader into the investigated realm, breathing life into otherwise still media. –The last of these techniques is axonometric technical drawing. Much more familiar to architectural practice, such descriptions are produced through the analysis of cartographic data and their digital transformation into three-dimensional representations. They are therefore endowed with two characteristics. Firstly, they allow the observer to imagine a kinaesthetic imagination of such spaces through a synthetic volumetric description: entering a small interstice or a largesized brownfield, a constrained space or an isolated one is a different experience. Secondly, they attempt to deal with the social ontology of these spaces, stressing their status of emptiness derived from official cartographies. They therefore act in sharp contrast with the lively representations conveyed by the other two media, relationship which the following essay will unravel. In the end, axonometric drawing seems to perform well in materialising and practicing
Barcelona’s interstices: opening up architectural practice
The Enclave, Richard Mosse (2013)
the positionality of the outsider through the virtual homogeneity and potential infinity of this point of view. conclusion: assembling methodological hybrids Cities are a mess. Human actions are intertwined and intersected with nonhuman practices. Built environments are a continuously shifting paradigm as time and space endlessly chase each other. Groups and collectives are nothing stable. For these and many other reasons dealing with the urban in analytical terms is no easy task, especially if one aims at capturing it from the ground, bypassing generalising representations. My proposal here, deliberately inspired by the authors and works I have outlined in this chapter, is one of assembling. It seems to me in fact that approaching the heterogeneous and unstable composition of facts and meanings which forms the urban can be fully enacted through an equally heterogeneous and unstable composition of methodologies and tools. Some will perform well when confronted with certain aspects, others will behave perfectly in different situations, possibly returning the miscellaneous picture of the city. Furthermore, I believe this notion of assemblage should influence they way we present our results as well. In fact, even if different tools are employed in the research phase it is not obvious that they automatically reappear when results need to be presented as evident in much geographical work. Despite the limits imposed by academic 54
standards and journals’ guidelines, trespassing into the world of contemporary art seems to me a valuable option, may it be through collaboration with artists or with geographers venturing into more unrestrained and unusual modes of presentation. Photographer Richard Mosse’s work in this sense is compelling: his famous work The Enclave aims at representing the enduring conflict in Eastern Congo in an innovative way, not only through uncommon technologies but plunging the observer deep into the researched environment through the use of multiple projectors and edited sound5. The fragmented use of different media such as apps, audiovisual installations and websites present interesting opportunities for less linear forms of narrative6. Such diverse media are available to almost everybody today, from interactive website to ephemeral performances, through public installations and day-to-day blogs that it would be limiting not to profit from them. The fertile interaction of these might be different from project to project: any researched issue, place or group might require case-specific assemblages. Even if it could be too far from academic standards, this appears as a valuable direction. In conclusion, case-specific experimenting seems to me a key factor for the future developments in terms of accuracy and relevance in geographical research. Dealing with our textured world might require stressing aspects such as openness, reflexivity, subjectivity as much as more classical features like completeness, certainty and closure. These issues will be debated in
Barcelona’s interstices: opening up architectural practice
the following essay in relation to particular time-space geographies. endnotes 1
Participatory Action Research.
2
As a general overview, the Sounds of Europe
website gathers field recorded fragments from all over the continent. 3
This is a reference to Jodi Rose’s work Singing
Bridges. 4
see Cilia Erens’s work on her website.
5
The Enclave project is fully enjoyable through the
physical exhibition only as it involves the use of specific technologies. See the artists’ website for upcoming exhibitions. 6
regarding this issue, see On the Move: Storytelling
in Contemporary Photography and Graphic Design exhibition at Stedelijk Musuem Amsterdam.
essay #2
55
This essay is part of a series of five, which together form the research work entitled: Barcelona’s interstices: opening up architectural practice. Essay #1 – Opens questions: observing design through geography works as an introduction; essay #2 – Dealing with the urban: theory, method, tools discusses the theoretical and methodological framework employed in this work; essay #3 – Interstice as shifting space unravels possible debates over complexity, instabilty and layering towards urban space; essay #4 – Challenges at every scale: from economics to politics explores key theoretical questions regarding the formation of contemporary urban space; essay #5 – Personal practice: immediate reflections on future paths concludes this work exploring directions for future architectural practice.
bibliography Amin, A., & Thrift, N. (2002). Cities: reimagining the urban. Cambridge: Polity Press. Anderson, B. (2006). Becoming and being hopeful: towards a theory of affect. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 24, 733–752. Benjamin, W. (1973). Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism. London: New Left Books. Bignante, E. (2011). Geografia e ricerca visuale. Strumenti e metodi. Roma-Bari: Laterza. Cloke, P., Cook, I., Crang, P., Goodwin, M., Painter, J., & Philo, C. (2004). Doing Ethnographies. In Practising Human Geography (pp. 169–205). London: SAGE. Cook, I. (2005). Participant observation. In Flowerdew, R., & Martin, D. (Eds.). Methods in Human Geography (pp. 167–190). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education. Crang, M. (2002). Qualitative methods: the new orthodoxy Progress in Human Geography, 26(5), 647–655. Crang, M. (2003). Qualitative methods: touchy, feely, look-see Progress in Human Geography, 27(4), 494–504. Crang, M. (2005). Qualitative methods: there is nothing outside the text? Progress in Human Geography, 29(2), 225–233. Crang, M., & Cook, I. (2007). Doing Ethnographies. London: SAGE. Davidson, J., Bondi, L., & Smith, M. (Eds.). (2012). Emotional Geographies. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. Davies, G., & Dwyer, C. (2007). Qualitative methods: are you enchanted or are you alienated? Progress in Human Geography, 31(2), 257–266. Davies, G., & Dwyer, C. (2008). Qualitative methods II: Minding the Gap. Progress in Human Geography, 32(3), 399–406. Davies, G., & Dwyer, C. (2010). Qualitative methods III: animating archives, artful interventions and online environments. Progress in Human Geography, 34(1), 88–97. Debord, G. (1955). Introduction à une critique de la géographie urbaine. Les lèvres nues, 6, 5–11. DeLyser, D. (2008). Teaching qualitative research. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 32, 233–244. Dewsbury, J. (2003). Witnessing space: ‘knowledge without contemplation’. Environment and Planning A, 35, 1907–1932. Dewsbury, J., Harrison, P., Rose, M., & Wylie, J. (2002). Introduction: Enacting Geographies. Geoforum, 33, 437–440. Driver, F. (2003). On Geography as a Visual Discipline. Antipode, 35, 227–231. Elden, S. (2004). Rhythmanalysis: an introduction. In Rhythmanalysis (pp. vii–xv). LondonNew York: Continuum.
Flowerdew, R., & Martin, D. (Eds.). (2005). Methods in Human Geography. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education. Gandy, M., & Nilsen, B. J. (2014). The Acoustic City. Berlin: JOVIS Publishers. Ginzburg, C. (1979). Spie. Radici di un paradigma indiziario. In A. Gargani (Ed.), Crisi della ragione. Nuovi modelli nel rapporto fra sapere e attività umane (pp. 1–30). Torino: Einaudi. Governa, F., & Memoli, M. (2011). Descrivere la città: metodologie, metodi e tecniche. In F. Governa & M. Memoli (Eds.), Geografie dell’urbano (pp. 167–190). Roma: Carocci editore. Harper, D. (1998). An Argument for Visual Sociology. In J. Prosser (Ed.), Image-based research: A sourcebook for qualitative researchers. Hove: Psychology Press. Harrison, P. (2000). Making sense: embodiment and the sensibilities of the everyday. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 18, 497–517. Harrison, P. (2007). “How shall I say it?” Relating the non-relational. Environment and Planning A, 39, 590–608. Harrison, P. (2008). Corporeal Remains. Vulnerability, proximity and living-on after the end of the world. Environment and Planning A, 40, 423–445. Hay, I. (Ed.). (2005). Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kindon, S. (2005). Participatory Action Research. In I. Hay (Ed.), Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography (pp. 207–220). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Koch, R., & Latham, A. (2012). On the Hard Work of Domesticating a Public Space. Urban Studies, 50(1), 6–21. Latham, A. (2003). Research, performance, and doing human geography: some reflections on the diary-photograph, diary-interview method. Environment and Planning A, 35, 1993– 2017. Laurier, E., & Philo, C. (2006). Possible geographies: a passing encounter in a cafe. Area, 38, 353–364. Lefebvre, H. (1947). Critique de la vie quotidienne. Paris: L’Arche. Lefebvre, H. (1961). Critique de la vie quotidienne II: Fondements d’une sociologie de la quotidienneté. Paris: L’Arche. Lefebvre, H. (1981). Critique de la vie quotidienne III: De la modernité au modernisme (Pour une métaphilosophie du quotidien). Paris: L’Arche. Lefebvre, H. (1992). Éléments de rythmanalyse: Introduction à la connaissance des rythmes. Paris: Éditions Syllepse. Lefebvre, H. (1996). Writings on Cities. (E. Kofman & E. Lebas, Eds.). Oxford: Blackwell. Lorimer, H. (2005). Cultural geography: the busyness of being “more-than-representational.” Progress in Human Geography, 29(1), 83–94. Lorimer, H. (2008). Cultural geography: non-representational conditions and concerns.
Progress in Human Geography, 32(4), 551–559. McCormack, D. (2002). A paper with an interest in rhythm. Geoforum, 33, 469–485. McCormack, D. (2003). An event of geographical ethics in spaces of affect. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 28, 488–507. McCormack, D. (2005). Diagramming practice and performance. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 23, 119–147. Nash, C. (2000). Progress reports, Performativity in practice: some recent work in cultural geography. Progress in Human Geography, 24(4), 653–664. Popke, J. (2009). Geography and ethics: non-representational encounters, collective responsibility and economic difference. Progress in Human Geography, 33(1), 81–90. Pratt, G. (2000). Participatory action research. In D. Gregory, R. Johnston, G. Pratt, M. Watts, S. Whatmore (Eds), Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford: Blackwell. Pred, R. (2005). Onflow: Dynamics of Consciousness of Experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. Rose, G. (2003). On the need to ask how, exactly, is geography “visual”? Antipode, 35, 212–221. Rose, G. (2004). On the importance of asking the right questions, or what is the power of PowerPoint, exactly? Antipode, 36, 795–797. Ryan, J. (2003). Who’s Afraid of Visual Culture Antipode, (35), 232–237. Sheringham, M. (2006). Everyday Life. Theories and Practices from Surrealism to the Present. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sui, D. Z. (2000). Visuality, Aurality and Shifting Metaphors of Geographical Thought in the Late Twentieth Century. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 90(2), 322–343. Thrift, N. (1996). Spatial Formations. London: Sage. Thrift, N. (1997). The Still Point. In S. Pile & M. Keith (Eds.), Geographies of Resistance. London: Routledge. Thrift, N. (2000). Afterwords. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 18, 213– 255. Thrift, N. (2003). Performance and…. Environment and Planning A, 35, 2019–2024. Thrift, N. (2004). Intensities of Feeling: Towards a spatial politics of affect. Geografiska Annaler B, 86, 57–78. Thrift, N. (2008). Non-Representational Theory. Space, Politics, Affect (p. 336). Routledge. Vendler, H. (1995). The Breaking of Style. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Winchester, H. P. M. (2005). Qualitative Research and its Place in Human Geography. In I. Hay (Ed.), Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography (pp. 3–18). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wylie, J. (2002). An essay on ascending Glastonbury Tor. Geoforum, 33, 441–454. Wylie, J. (2005). A single day’s walking: narrating self and landscape on the South West
Coast Path. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 30, 234–247. Wylie, J. (2006). Depths and folds: on landscape and the gazing subject. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 24, 519–535. Zardini, M. (Ed.). (2005). Sense of the city: an alternate approach to urbanism. Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers. Zingale, S. (2009). Il ciclo inferenziale, Deduzione, induzione, abduzione: dall’interpretazione alla progettualita. [working paper]. webography www.cilia-erens.nl www.richardmosse.com www.singingbridges.net www.soundsofeurope.eu www.stedelijk.nl