“A Natural History of Logistics” and Other Studio Briefs

Abstract

Abstract This article addresses the question of the planetary through three practices that relate to design and architectural pedagogy and research as well as the broader context of Anthropocene discussions. From Strelka Institute's Terraforming program to the Terra Forma book by Frédérique Aït-Touati, Alexandra Arènes, and Axelle Grégoire and a discussion of the Royal College of Art's architecture program's studio “Something in the Air: Politics of the Atmosphere,” the article focuses on framing of “problem spaces” (Celia Lury's term) through studio briefs as well as experimental visualization and mapping. While discussing methodological underpinnings of planetarity as a problem space, the article mobilizes the neologism “natural history of logistics” to analyze practices of scale in the critical design studio briefs and discourses at the center of the article. The term is pitched as a temporary conceptual anchor for a relation specific to the technological framing of a polyscalar Earth.