ASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME

Beyond the Global City: Visual, Verbal and Virtual Experiences

Dea van Lierop, University of AmsterdamLondon, 20-21 May 2011

KEY POINTS: ASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME

HOW THE ASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIMETAKES SHAPE

THE FUTURE OF THE ASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME

WHAT IS THEASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME?

FROM THE EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURAL SUBLIME TO THE AMERICAN TECHNOLOGICAL SUBLIME

European Architectural Sublime, Arc de Triomphe.American Technological Sublime, Space Shuttle Columbia.

NYE’S DEFINITION OF THE SUBLIME (XIII): “One of the most powerful human emotions” “[C]an weld society together” “In moments of sublimity, human beings

temporarily disregard divisions among elements of the community.”

“[T]aps into fundamental hopes and fears.” “[It] is an essentially religious feeling, aroused

by the confrontation with impressive objects such as Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, the New York skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, or the earth-shaking launch of a space shuttle.”

“[I]s inscribed within public life”

Asian Ecological Sublime

European Architectural Sublime

American Technological Sublime

Space Shuttle Columbia

Arc de TriompheMasdar City

LOCATING EXAMPLES OF THE ASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME

HOW DOES THEASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME

TAKE SHAPE?

MASDAR CITY: ABU DHABI, UAE

Clockwise from top:

Aerial view of Masdar City

Masdar City’s Main Street

Masdar City Plaza

GUANGMING SMARTCITY: GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA

Computer-generated model of Guangming Smartcity.

Farmers within a computer-generated model of Guangming Smartcity.

CJ LIM + ED LIU:SMARTCITIES + ECO-WARRIORS, PAGE 7

“The Smartcity postulates that the next and final stage of evolution can only be a circular economy that subsumes agriculture, energy and industry into co-dependency and self-perpetuation.”

Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City (1898)

Le Corbusier’s Contemporary City (1929) and Radiant City (1935)

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City (1935)

THE FUTURE OF THEASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME

(AND, WHY IT CAN ONLY EXIST WITHIN A COMPUTER GENERATED

MEDIUM)

AN AVERAGE DAY IN THE REGULATED, HYPER-DESIGNED AND PLANNED GUANGMING SMARTCITY FOR AN ELDERLY MOTHER AND HER SON:

THE FUTURE OF THEASIAN ECOLOGICAL SUBLIME:

Cannot be realized as a physical place be experienced within a state of control

Must remain within a computer generated medium exemplify advancements in sustainable

technology