With:

Bruno Carvalho
Felipe Correa
Eva Franch
Catherine Seavitt
Marion Weiss  

Transnational projects for resource extraction have motivated the development of massive infrastructural corridors. The strategic siting of mining towns, petrochemical encampments, and industrial developments aims to integrate vast geographical and political entities. These experiments promise to advance economic development on a national scale, but their influence on regional and urban constructs tests the agency of architecture and planning at smaller scales.

Colossal projects like the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), is one of the most ambitious transcontinental integration projects planned for South America, with the participation of twelve countries in the region. IIRSA serves as the point of departure for conversations about issues of territory, resource extraction urbanism, and transnational negotiations. What is the role of architecture in shaping territories defined by raw resources? How can architecture develop tools to operate beyond the bounds of the traditional metropolis?

Reading Images Series: Beyond the City invites a panel of architects and theorists to examine images of existing and projected urban settlements in the South American continent to reflect upon topics of Developmentalism, knowledge transfer, authorship, and territory.

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Reading Images Series: Beyond the City is organized on the occasion of the launch of Beyond the City: Resource Extraction Urbanism in South America by Felipe Correa.