Conversations
Antarctic Conversations - Hyper-density VS Isolation
AA School of Architecture, London, 2019
By conceiving a territory in anthesis and naming it Antarctica, the Greeks at once prophetically foresaw the essential role that the ultimate continent laboratory would play in our world’s ecosystem and synthesised in the short prefix (ANT-) the endless paradoxes that the southernmost territory conceals.
Driven by the conviction that it is essential, in the midst of the Anthropocene, to shift the attention South and reflect on existing and future modes of inhabitation in the extreme, Giulia Foscari curates a series of Antarctic Conversations run by UNLESS within the context of the London Design Festival. Antarctic Conversations between polar experts from the fields of architecture, engineering, science, medicine and psychology will unfold at the AA as a tryptic of Round Tables, each addressing a set of Antarctic antinomies.
As best described in the diaries of the heroic era explorers, living in Antarctica (and especially over-wintering in the continent) represents at once the uncertainly of physical survival and a serious threat to mental health. The latter is exacerbated by the paradoxical condition of experiencing instantaneously absolute isolation and high-density cohabitation. Whilst in historic bases this led to a unique form of impromptu “interior urbanism”, contemporary stations are designed by cross-disciplinary teams that combine the skills of architects and engineers to those of doctors and psychologist. The third Antarctic Conversation will invite experts from all fields above mentioned to reflect on the necessity of embracing a particular “Antarctic mindset” for long-term permanence in the continent, on the technological features of hyper-remote stations on the plateau, on the physical and medical side-effects of living in a so called “space-flight simulator”, on the impact of color in mitigating “polar depression”, and on the innovations embedded in the latest design for the future station at the “pole of inaccessibility”.
Photo Credits © Fred Portelli
Driven by the conviction that it is essential, in the midst of the Anthropocene, to shift the attention South and reflect on existing and future modes of inhabitation in the extreme, Giulia Foscari curates a series of Antarctic Conversations run by UNLESS within the context of the London Design Festival. Antarctic Conversations between polar experts from the fields of architecture, engineering, science, medicine and psychology will unfold at the AA as a tryptic of Round Tables, each addressing a set of Antarctic antinomies.
As best described in the diaries of the heroic era explorers, living in Antarctica (and especially over-wintering in the continent) represents at once the uncertainly of physical survival and a serious threat to mental health. The latter is exacerbated by the paradoxical condition of experiencing instantaneously absolute isolation and high-density cohabitation. Whilst in historic bases this led to a unique form of impromptu “interior urbanism”, contemporary stations are designed by cross-disciplinary teams that combine the skills of architects and engineers to those of doctors and psychologist. The third Antarctic Conversation will invite experts from all fields above mentioned to reflect on the necessity of embracing a particular “Antarctic mindset” for long-term permanence in the continent, on the technological features of hyper-remote stations on the plateau, on the physical and medical side-effects of living in a so called “space-flight simulator”, on the impact of color in mitigating “polar depression”, and on the innovations embedded in the latest design for the future station at the “pole of inaccessibility”.
| Project Title: | Architecture in the Extreme |
| Location: | Architectural Association School of Architecture |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Status: | Completed |
| Programme: | Symposium |
| Organizer: | UNLESS, The Polar Lab |
| Directors: | Francesco Bandarin, Juan Du, Giulia Foscari, Arturo Lyon |
| Speakers: | Chiara Montanari (Expedition Leader), Francesco Pellegrino (ENEA), Beth Healey, Angela Wright (Colour Affects), Bert Bücking (BOF Architekten) |
| Team: | Eleonora Cappuccio, Giulio Marchetti, Federica Zambeletti |
Photo Credits © Fred Portelli
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