Interfacial modulation of urban affect

Activity: Talk or presentationLecture and oral contribution

Description

Urban culture can increasingly be understood as interface culture (Munster) in which urban design, cultural institutions and architecture increasingly operate as affective interfaces distributing and mediating human perception, consumption and social encounters. As noted by Amin and Thrift (2002), cities are roiling maelstroems of affect, in which spatial and cultural production are closely intertwined with urban branding and economical transactions. Together with urban events, urban design and culture become vehicles for global sign distribution. In interface urban culture, design, art and architecture increasingly produce affective encounters. Affective encounters in which bodily and sensorial knowledge about the city is exchanged. Whereas these affective urban interfaces inform new modes of non-representational spatial production, (Thrift & Amin 2002, Harrison and Anderson 2010, Vannini, Massey 2006), they also exclude in depth social and human interaction. Through analysis of three examples of urban affective interfaces (The High Line in New York, Superkilen in Copenhagen and Stålsat By, Frederiksværk, the paper examines how affective urban interfaces modulate and mediate urban environments as bodily and sensorial experiences. It asks what is mediated through the interface – whether the. It also asks, what is excluded when urban environments become affective interfaces in the global networked city. Whereas urban interface collect and distribute the bodily and sensible in relational and subjective ways, it also becomes clear that behind the interface lies city branding, place-making and event economies as its ontogenetic power (Massumi). Thus the paper wishes to discuss urban interfaces as both an ontogenetic becoming and as an affective form of biopolitical governing (Clough 2010, Thrift 2008).
Period1 Jul 2017
Event titleSensibility and the Senses - Media, Bodies, Practices: NECS 2017 conference
Event typeConference
LocationParis, FranceShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

Keywords

  • interface culture
  • urban culture
  • urban design
  • urban planning
  • modulation
  • affect