MORE THAN HUMAN - CALL FOR ABSTRACTS - Landscape Metropolis #11 (2024)

2023-09-13

Against the backdrop of the so-called Anthropocene space is no longer conceptualised as a passive stage for human action. It becomes widely acknowledged that the earth we inhabit, and its landscapes, need to be understood as more-than-human worlds: Animated spaces consisting of a multitude of actors like waters, soils, animals, microbes, plants, and technology in which humans live entangled with other co-habitants.

The Spool Landscape Metropolis issue ‘More-Than-Human’ picks up the strands of depiction in spatial strategies – investigating the correspondence with post-anthropocentric concepts of space and landscapes. It departs from the observation that those notions increasingly influence the analysis of space but barely appear in the processes of designs and their interrelated representational processes. Strategizing and designing in more-than-human worlds implies engaging with a multitude of nonhuman actors, and spatial interventions are interweaving those into new constellations and entanglements. Common methods of spatial representation are insufficient in meeting these dimensions. If we want to be able to share knowledge, to debate, to design, to strategize, in short to work with these phenomena, they need to be made visible, so we need to investigate the possible tools, methods and media that bear the potential to incorporate the driving demands and potentials of more-than-human worlds.

We are interested in contributions that introduce or critically reflect pioneering, experimental examples of representations in more-than-human design strategies for the built environment. What are the qualities of different techniques, what is the range (e.g., hand-drawn mappings, multidimensional diagrammatic representations, filmic approaches) and what are their limitations?

Possible topics to explore:

Processes of Implementation

How can the processes of interweaving actors into new constellations be depicted? How can conflicts and alliances be integrated? What are the characteristics of design processes in more-than-human worlds and how do they become tangible in representations?

Complexity of Representational Methods

By introducing the existential role of non-human actors in processes of spatial production, landscapes become highly dense, diverse, and heterogeneous. But how complex can spatial narrations get? Who can be involved? Are representing a wide range of nonhuman actors and the accessibility of planning processes for manifold human actors opponent poles? In what settings are either reduction or a high level of complexity appropriate?

Role of spatial design

What can be the role of design when we engage with a multitude of human and nonhuman actors? How can spatial design facilitate, enable, and encourage different multi-species encounters and exchanges? How do these encounters influence the experiential quality of our living environment through time and space.

Procedure

We invite two types of submissions: academic papers and visual essays. Contributions need to be original (unpublished).

Paper submissions will be subject to a double-blind peer review process. Visual essay submissions will be subject to a single-blind peer review process.

To make the reviewing process run smoothly for both authors and reviewers, reviewing will take place in two stages. First, an extended abstract of the planned paper/first draft of the visual essay will be reviewed. Any profound disagreements on the content can thus be tackled in an early stage, and the author will not need to rewrite a finished paper. The preliminary review will result in advice on how to proceed with the paper. The same reviewers will review the subsequently submitted paper.

Abstract requirements

Papers:

The extended abstracts, with a maximum of 1200 words, should be in English and should include the following information:

background (research question, relevance)
research method
results
conclusion

Provide at least five key words. The author is furthermore encouraged to attach background material to give the reviewers a better sense of what to expect from the final article (research, previous papers, project documentation, etc.)

Abstracts should not include any references to the authors. Please add a separate file that includes the title of the work, name of the author or authors, qualification, affiliation, or institution they represent (if applicable), address and e-mail address. We expect that authors show (using references) that they are aware of the body of relevant knowledge.

Visual essays:

For the visual essays, we invite a draft version of the essay. Each figure, image or other visual component may have a title and/or caption of up to 100 words. Existing and archival images may be used, although authors must submit evidence of appropriate permissions with their essays. Visual material can be accompanied by a concise text, not exceeding 1000 words, to provide an introduction and a substantive context for, and guide to, the visual essay.

The heading must include the title of the work, name of the author(s), qualification, affiliation, or institution they represent (if applicable), address and e-mail address.

Authors can e-mail the abstract/draft/visual essay to one of the issue editors (see below).

The author is fully responsible for the quality of the written English.

If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact the issue editors:

Anna Neuhaus [email protected]

Inge Bobbink [email protected]

Saskia de Wit [email protected]

Timeline