Europe's liquid commons : towards a public territorial infrastructure

'his thesis examines the possibility of using intermodal logistics infrastructure on the Rhine-Danube waterway, as part of the Trans European Infrastructure Network, as a means to create a symbolic and operative commons between the East and West of Europe. A historical perspective on the physical transformations of Rhine is used to illustrate the seminal role they played in the formation of transnational diplomacy and economic collaborations in the West of Europe.'The waterway because of its liquid characteristics is proposed as an operative transnational political conduit where societal ideals and geographic particularities are negotiated through infrastructural transformations of the riparian landscape. A retrospective into the history of architectural infrastructure proposes a reappraisal of the "layer-method" to integrate earthwork (cut and fill landscaping), infrastructure and urban form as means to give a symbolic form to the territory. An exemplary project is proposed in Novisad, Serbia where a public sphere surrounding a variety of hydrologic programs exposes certain symbiotic and conflictual uses of water.'The panoptical urban condition that is designed is meant to reveal and actuate a more transparent and public political struggle between the individual and collective through an irreducibly common commodity, namely water.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• De Vries, Christoper (Christoper Hendrick John)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• James Wescoat.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65544

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/65544