Terrain Vague (De Sola-Morales,1994) and Stim & Dross(Lerup, L., 1995)

In Terrain Vague, De Sola-Morales discusses the role of photography in architecture. He claims that it has become impossible in the recent years to distinguish between actual architectural creations and their photographed images. “Even our direct experience of the built object cannot escape the mediation of photography.” This view is also extended into the city, and applies to other forms similar to photography such as literature, painting, video, film etc. De Sola-Morales defines terrain vague as an indication of what cities are and what our experience of them is. De Sola-Morales also discusses the nature of elements captured within photography such as the mobility and liberty of elements of particles and contemporary photography’s role in portraying certain terrain in a harsh manner. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his article is that of the time-space consideration. Discussing three separate pictures of the Alexanderplatz square in Berlin taken during three distinctly different time periods, he concludes that it is best to combine different time frames to develop an understanding of the development of the life that is missing in a single capture.

In Stim & Dross, Lerup tries to offer a different perspective of urban perception by applying metaphors to the cityscape (Megashape) and the landscape (the Zoohemic Canopy). By portraying the city of Houston in an alternate reality, Lerup tries to put forward a different, more simulated, perspective of the reality. Although the article starts with the consideration of actual issues faced in the real world (Demographics, Economic, Domestic, Resource related and Ecological Issues), the article suddenly jumps into the imagined parallel world Lerup attempts to explain. Lerup suggests that the Megashape and the Zoohemic Canopy are similar in that they are a collection of many “species” that interact and react with each other. There are two views – the inside view that considers the “taxis” – the world familiar and clearly visible to the inhabitants and the outside view , which is not visible to the naked eye, and is the holistic view of how everything works together. By changing position in the exterior view alternate interior views are visible – metaphorically speaking, this means that by trying to see many perspectives helps gain the bigger picture, and a fuller understanding of the surroundings. “Dross” is dominated by motion, time and event – these are vulnerable (trees die, cars crash, etc) referring to the “unsustainable”. “Stims” on the other hand are more like values – they appear to be resilient in time and are probably a reference to the desires of the inhabitants – the living energy – memories, experiences, etc. Examples are restaurants, museums, cars, the office, home etc. In this environment there are also numerous threats and objects designed to counter them – security, freeway barriers, gates, walls, guard dogs).

Both articles offer few insights or conclusions. What they both seem to do is offer a toolkit for the imagination – a method of visualizing the development of a space within time while encapsulating more than just geometrical shapes (Terrain Vague) and of perceiving space differently so as to identify important issues that are often missed when trying to see the reality for what it is (Stim & Dross). The role of this literature must be identified as part of the architects or urbanists ability to visualize, imagine, identify, plan and simulate.