Plantation mutations: On architectures and networks of extraction

Extracting demands exhaustion, transgression, and displacement of bodies, landscapes, and natural resources for the circulation of raw materials and the production of commodities to be consumed elsewhere. Regardless of its material dimension or geographical location, processes of extraction constitute multiple-scale infrastructures that range from the local to the planetary and thus encompass spatial assemblages that provide the conditions for such. Plantations, mine sites, free zones, and tourist enclaves are some of the so-called “typologies/architectures of extraction” that have become representative of our contemporary condition, whilst sitting in the intersection of extractivism, capitalism, and coloniality.

As a point of departure for the seminar, and to establish a foundation for an analytical framework, we will engage with various theorizations on “the” plantation. An early exemplary territory of extraction, a geography of racial and gender unevenness (McKrittick, 2013), representative of today’s modes of relations (Glissant, 1997), as well as the power structures that guide today’s world system. A model that is not bound to time or space, as it was perfected so that it can be implemented by “multiple actors in numerous locations, for a variety of purposes” (Gomes da Cunha, 2011). Therefore, “the” plantation is not seen as monolithic, but rather as a laboratory space (Russert, 2019) for transferring colonial knowledge and thus producing gender, racial, and labor hierarchies, which have reshaped ways of being, experiencing, and relating to the world. At the beginning of our course, we will explore the complexity of its materialization, for later reflecting on and elucidating its mutation by examining how its logic has been and continues to be transferred to other economies, landscapes, and spaces. On this occasion, our guiding questions will be: What are the (im)material characteristics of the plantation? How do analytical readings on the plantation elucidate different systems and spatialities of extraction that have preceded it? How can we link “the” plantation to other contemporary spatial arrangements of extraction?

This course fosters alternative readings of architectural production. It aims to contribute to a broader understanding of local and global spatial histories by centering spatialities and geographies that remain peripheral and often neglected in architectural discourse.

The elective is organized by a lecture series given by all members of the seminar, reading discussions, and group work sessions.

Students are asked to work in groups on a research project looking at exemplary case studies that mimic “the” plantation model while making use of analytical drawing/mapping methodologies.

The prerequisites for taking the elective successfully are:

- Preparation and presentation of the course assignment(s)

- Engaging with the readings and participating in class discussions

- Passing the final examination