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PhD Thesis Updates
Working title: Between Fiction and Reality: Urban Imaginaries and Climate Emergency
Supervisor Politecnico di Torino: Francesca Frassoldati
Supervisor Tsinghua University: Li Zhang
Co-Supervisor Politecnico di Torino: Michele Bonino
In the context of a climate emergency, it is easy to feel despondent and helpless in the face of our slow and steady decline. While countless solutions have been proposed, the climate emergency is not merely a problem to be solved but a profound predicament that demands a deeper rethinking of our relationship to the world. This calls for urgency— not only in addressing the environmental crisis but also in considering radical alternatives to architectural practice as it exists today (Till, 2020).
This research explores whether designers might shift their perspective, reframing the climate crisis as a unique opportunity—a catalyst for reimagining design attitudes and methodologies.
The study presents the concept of the imaginary as a potent and inspiring design tool that has the potential to transform our approach to the urgent issue of the climate crisis. The term imaginary encompasses a range of elements through which individuals ‘invent other realities’, and it is shaped by the complex interplay of human interactions with their environment. (M. D’Amato, 2007). Imagination is a transformative mental process that plays a crucial role in the creation of the imaginary. Previously viewed as ‘irrational intuition’ or ‘frivolous activity,’ imagination is a productive and positive force in the design process, engaging in speculative and interdisciplinary processes that challenge, unpack, and reimagine reality itself (J. Rendell et al., 2007; R. Coleman, 2018).
By crossing between constructed projects and fictional images, the research aims to investigate imaginaries as a way of addressing contemporary challenges and questioning the profession of architecture. The approach used is interdisciplinary, speaking about the dialogue between architecture and media in how both build speculative images of the future. Those tales of climate emergency are not intellectual mannerisms but design ways to convey change through images. theory to critically examine how future cities are imagined and represented.
_Introduction
The climate emergency is an ongoing, deeply complex phenomenon that challenges traditional ways of thinking and responding. Unlike a problem with a clear solution, it demands a broader and more profound reassessment of our relationship with the world, including how architecture engages with and represents the crisis. This research does not aim to propose direct solutions but rather to explore the conceptual terrain upon which solutions might emerge. It considers how architecture—through its speculative and representational tools—can contribute to shaping discourse on climate change by reimagining attitudes, methodologies, and forms of engagement.
At the heart of this investigation is the concept of the imaginary, a critical and generative space where new realities can be envisioned. The imaginary, shaped by the interplay of human perception and environmental interaction, provides a lens through which to rethink the climate emergency not just as a crisis but as a catalyst for new ways of designing and conceptualizing the future. Imagination, once dismissed as an irrational or frivolous activity, is reframed here as a productive force—one that allows for interdisciplinary, speculative approaches capable of challenging, unpacking, and reshaping our understanding of the present and future.
However, studying an ongoing crisis presents unique methodological challenges. Traditional historical analysis relies on detachment, observing past events with the benefit of hindsight. In contrast, this research grapples with the immediacy of climate change, attempting to construct an understanding of the present within the present. This raises a fundamental question: how can we study and discuss an evolving phenomenon without the clarity of historical distance? One possible approach is through media. As contemporary society is increasingly shaped by images—whether through television, cinema, or digital platforms—media function both as an archive of the present and as an active force in constructing imaginaries. While calling media an “archive” may be ambitious, they undeniably form a crucial space where reality is presented, analyzed, and reinterpreted. This thesis, therefore, turns to media as a key entry point for understanding the imaginaries of climate emergency, focusing specifically on literature, moving images, and video games—fields that not only reflect but also shape architectural thought and speculation.
Architecture, like media, plays a fundamental role in shaping our perception of reality, particularly through its tools of representation. Among these, drawing has long been a central medium for architects, serving not just as a technical tool but as a vehicle for conceptual exploration. It enables the visualization of complex ideas, the construction of speculative futures, and the mediation of imaginaries—making it particularly relevant when addressing an evolving crisis such as climate change. Architectural exhibitions similarly provide a critical space for experimentation, where theory and imagination take precedence over built form. By presenting speculative scenarios and engaging with urgent contemporary issues, exhibitions act as laboratories for alternative futures.
This research positions itself within this intersection of media, representation, and speculation, examining how architecture, through its visual and conceptual tools, can engage with climate imaginaries in ways that extend beyond conventional disciplinary boundaries.
By embracing both academic and non-academic sources, technical knowledge and popular culture, this study seeks to navigate the challenges of discussing the climate emergency while it unfolds. Rather than attempting to provide definitive answers, it aims to create a framework for discourse—one that acknowledges the complexities of the crisis while harnessing the power of imagination to envision alternative futures.
_Main References
Coleman, R., (2018). Imaging. In Lury, C., Fensham, R., Heller-Nicholas, A., Lammes, S., Last, A., Michael, M., Uprichard, E., (ed). (2018). Routledge Handbook of Interdisciplinary Research Methods. London, New York: Routledge
D'Amato, M. (2007). Telefantasie. Nuovi paradigmi dell'immaginario. Milano: Franco Angeli
Gandy, M. 2022. Urban political ecology: a critical reconfiguration. Progress. Human Geography 2022, Vol. 46(1), pp. 21–43
Ghosh, A. 2016. The Great Derangement. Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Ghosn, R., Jazairy, E.H. 2023. Climate Inheritance. New York, Barcelona: Actar Publishers
Kaika, M., Swyngedouw, E.. 2014. Radical Urban Political-Ecological Imaginaries: Planetary Urbanization and Politicizing Nature. Derive, 55, 15-20
Lindner, C., Meissner M. (eds.), 2019. The Routledge Companion to Urban Imaginaries. London, New York: Routledge
Proverbio, P., Riccini, R. (eds.), 2016. Design e immaginario. Oggetti, immagini e visioni fra rappresentazione e progetto. Venezia: Il Poligrafo
Rendell, J., Rawes, P. (2007). Spatial Imagination. In Inns, T. (Eds.) Designing for the 21st Century. London: Gower Ashgate
Till, J. (2020). Architecture after Architecture. Architecture Foundation’s 100-Day Studio Talk, 2nd April 2020