The University of Panic

A pandemic crushes assumptions and inherited narratives of higher education. This chapter explores how COVID-19 tested the parameters of teaching and learning and how universities failed this test. Through the panic of shutdowns, lockdowns, economic restructures, social distancing, and closures, the speed of change and decision making was profound and under public scrutiny. Online learning has been a panacea for economic and social problems for 20 years. To manage a crisis the scale of COVID-19, online learning would be the obvious solution. However, the pandemic showed the flaws in this strategy and the toxic reality of quick fixes to higher education. Students were short changed and academics pushed to exhaustion. After COVID-19, higher education is in shreds. The visions and futures of universities are blurred. Using the theories of Paul Virilio, particularly his University of Disaster, this chapter probes how higher education unravels and dissociates teaching and research. When time is short and risks are high, what mode of leadership will survive in the post-pandemic university?

Aceleración social: cinco comentarios “deflacionarios”

Sostengo que algunos argumentos asociados al “debate sobre la aceleración”, consolidados por la obra de Hartmut Rosa, son “inflacionarios”, pero no necesariamente incorrectos. A continuación, explico qué significa esa dramatización conceptual y en qué consiste el enfoque “deflacionario”. Después esbozo cinco comentarios polémicos sobre la modernidad capitalista acelerada. Es importante destacar que no me opongo a los argumentos convincentes que afirman que la era moderna es una era de intensificación, dinamización y aceleración social, como han afirmado otros importantes pensadores como Reinhart Koselleck, Marshall Berman, Robert Hassan y Paul Virilio. En este ensayo discrepo de tres dimensiones del debate sobre la aceleración. En concreto, con 1) la perspectiva a menudo apocalíptica que mantienen muchos (no todos) los pensadores de la aceleración; 2) con las inferencias más bien indiferenciadas que se hacen al respecto, y; 3) con cierta insensibilidad conceptual asociada a la aceleración. La conclusión es una propuesta sencilla: se necesita más etnografía de la aceleración social, más observación e investigaciones sociales in situ del uso del tiempo, los órdenes temporales, los ritmos sociales, la espera, para fundamentar el debate conceptual sobre la aceleración social

The time in which nothing happened: A memorial to the Battle of Verdun considered through the theoretical discourse of Paul Virilio and his accusations about the violent phenomena of speed

<p>Architecture is under attack! Where it could once be understood as a medium of communication which helped society to situate their existential role within society. Today it can be increasingly understood as little more than a spatial device necessitated by humanities inert vulnerability to the exterior landscape. In the face of the post-modern phenomenon of speed, architecture is becoming a tectonic of interference. Cars to pass around it, communications pierce through it and for the people whom exist within it, it increasingly disappears. While the problems that stem from this remain unclear. Through investigating the work of French intellectual and humanist Paul Virilio, the accidents that this may cause, become slowly exposed. Manifesting themselves beyond just the physical accidents which occur as a direct result of technological progress. But equally as accidental shifts of human consciousness leading to permanent alteration in the ways in which reality is informed. Due to the fact that, perception, which must be understood as filtered and subconsciously reformatted, is a learned response to the otherwise overwhelming stimulation of both physical and virtual speed. Virilio proposes that what this will lead to is a profound disconnection between the individuals who experience the speed of hypermodernity and the objective world. A world which is informed by both by the unrelenting passing of time but also the historical events which slowly play out over time. The problem with this, Virilio would argue, is that the ability to react appropriately to the events and accidents which make up this contemporary existence, is contingent upon this connection. Therefore it would appear that this problem becomes self-perpetuating. The more speed disconnects individuals from the world around them, the harder it becomes to react to the accidents caused by speed, because these accidents increasingly become perceived, or rather not perceived, as time in which nothing happened. In direct opposition to this, the fading memory of the battle of Verdun is forced up against this paradigm, providing the necessary groundwork for Virilio’s work to be explored. Through this dialogue, design conclusions will be reached through the process of designing a memorial architecture, which will be positioned on the site of the battlefield. A process that explores architectures role in returning a collective consciousness back to the battle of Verdun. Whilst simultaneously reconsidering the nature of this responsibility in the contemporary landscape that society has found itself within, only a 100 years after the final shots were fired.</p>

The time in which nothing happened: A memorial to the Battle of Verdun considered through the theoretical discourse of Paul Virilio and his accusations about the violent phenomena of speed

<p>Architecture is under attack! Where it could once be understood as a medium of communication which helped society to situate their existential role within society. Today it can be increasingly understood as little more than a spatial device necessitated by humanities inert vulnerability to the exterior landscape. In the face of the post-modern phenomenon of speed, architecture is becoming a tectonic of interference. Cars to pass around it, communications pierce through it and for the people whom exist within it, it increasingly disappears. While the problems that stem from this remain unclear. Through investigating the work of French intellectual and humanist Paul Virilio, the accidents that this may cause, become slowly exposed. Manifesting themselves beyond just the physical accidents which occur as a direct result of technological progress. But equally as accidental shifts of human consciousness leading to permanent alteration in the ways in which reality is informed. Due to the fact that, perception, which must be understood as filtered and subconsciously reformatted, is a learned response to the otherwise overwhelming stimulation of both physical and virtual speed. Virilio proposes that what this will lead to is a profound disconnection between the individuals who experience the speed of hypermodernity and the objective world. A world which is informed by both by the unrelenting passing of time but also the historical events which slowly play out over time. The problem with this, Virilio would argue, is that the ability to react appropriately to the events and accidents which make up this contemporary existence, is contingent upon this connection. Therefore it would appear that this problem becomes self-perpetuating. The more speed disconnects individuals from the world around them, the harder it becomes to react to the accidents caused by speed, because these accidents increasingly become perceived, or rather not perceived, as time in which nothing happened. In direct opposition to this, the fading memory of the battle of Verdun is forced up against this paradigm, providing the necessary groundwork for Virilio’s work to be explored. Through this dialogue, design conclusions will be reached through the process of designing a memorial architecture, which will be positioned on the site of the battlefield. A process that explores architectures role in returning a collective consciousness back to the battle of Verdun. Whilst simultaneously reconsidering the nature of this responsibility in the contemporary landscape that society has found itself within, only a 100 years after the final shots were fired.</p>

Paul Virilio y el búnker. Origen de la valoración de la fortificación del siglo XX

Las investigaciones comenzadas en el litoral francés por Paul Virilio desde finales de los años 50 del pasado siglo, y su trabajo teórico y arquitectó­nico junto a Claude Parent durante los años 60 bajo el paraguas del grupo Architecture Principe, suponen una importante base para cualquier aproxi­mación hacia el valor patrimonial de la fortificación del siglo xx. Los búnkeres que configuran esta fortificación en todo el territorio europeo, símbolos del beligerante devenir de la primera mitad del siglo xx, provocan a menudo una doble reacción de atracción y rechazo, una sensación ambivalente que nos conduce a designarlos como un 'patrimonio incómodo'.

El aeropuerto como dispositivo disciplinar para el control de la movilidad

Desde los atentados del 11-S, los aeropuertos se han convertido en unos dispositivos de control y vigilancia únicamente comparables con las cárceles de máxima seguridad. Por ello, la mayor parte de los estudios dedicados a los mismos han experimentado una progresiva afinidad con los trabajos de Michel Foucault y Paul Virilio, en los que la arquitectura es caracterizada como técnica paradigmática para organizar el espacio (compartimentación) y el tiempo (distribución de secuencias) con el fin de lograr la individualización, clasificación, ordenación y normalización de sus usuarios. Este artículo tiene por objetivo identificar las principales estrategias espaciales mediante las cuales los aeropuertos implementan el control disciplinar de los pasajeros, con independencia de su estilo formalcompositivo, su estética sociofenomenológica y/o la introducción de dispositivos electrónicos de vigilancia. Para ello, desarrollamos una metodología basada en el análisis gráfico (en planta y sección) de cinco aeropuertos de pequeño tamaño proyectados en un mismo ámbito territorial (estatal) y en un lapso homogéneo con el doble objetivo de que no haya cambios sustanciales en la legislación aplicable ni en el desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías de edificación, control y vigilancia que puedan afectar al diseño básico de su organización espacial. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la presencia constante de una organización espacial lineal y jerárquica consistente en la sucesión “entrada-facturación-control de personas-shopping-embarque” con independencia de cualquier otra posible consideración estética, fenomenológica o social del espacio diseñado. Ello se opone a aquellos análisis realizados en las dos últimas décadas que priman el carácter rizomático, conectivo y no-jerarquizado del espacio aeroportuario frente a su segmentarización y jerarquización disciplinar. El artículo concluye remarcando el carácter totalitario que ha adquirido el control de la movilidad (aérea) en el siglo XXI.

Biopolíticas da Luz nas Cidades Modernas e Contemporâneas: Do Olhar–Luz Disciplinar às Luzes Operacionais de Controle

Neste artigo, buscaremos explicitar algumas das relações entre luz e biopolítica na cidade moderna e na contemporânea. Consideramos a luz como uma estimulação externa capaz não apenas de atingir e sensibilizar os corpos como também de agir, de diversas formas e em diferentes graus, sobre eles. A partir dessa premissa, nos perguntaremos de que maneira, na modernidade e na contemporaneidade, as materialidades e práticas luminosas do espaço urbano teriam a capacidade de influenciar, determinar, capturar, vigiar, disciplinar e controlar as opiniões, discursos e práticas dos indivíduos. Com o intuito de esboçar alguns elementos parciais de resposta a essa abrangente problemática, buscaremos demonstrar, em um primeiro momento, de que maneira a iluminação pública da Paris moderna poderia ser encarada como uma tecnologia disciplinar. Em seguida, nos perguntaremos de que modo a luz poderia, ainda na contemporaneidade, participar de diversas estratégias de poder. A partir de Paul Virilio (2002), argumentaremos que houve um deslocamento nas estratégias de controle por meio da luz em relação a épocas anteriores. Retomando uma distinção proposta pelo autor, queremos delinear dois regimes: o primeiro, oriundo da modernidade, que se caracterizaria pelo emprego de “luz direta”; ao qual se acrescentaria hoje um segundo regime de “luz indireta”, próprio às sociedades de controle. Desse modo, procuraremos desnaturalizar nossa relação com a luz, no contexto da cultura ocidental, e reconhecer seu protagonismo ao serviço de foto-políticas, termo que propomos para designar algumas das instrumentalizações (bio)políticas da luz. Por fim, analisando obras e práticas luminosas insurgentes da contemporaneidade, buscaremos refletir sobre possíveis estratégias através das quais poderiam ser erguidas contraluzes.

A Meditation on the Post-digital and Post-internet Condition: Screen Culture, Digitalization, and Networked Art

This chapter attempts to provide a broad understanding of post-digital and post-Internet problematic drawing on the state of screen culture, digitalization, and networked art. It calls on the theories of Paul Virilio and Bernard Stiegler to highlight some of the difficulties and malaise they have articulated related to the speed of technologies and their proletarianization. Throughout this chapter, voices of Deleuze and Guattari are also heard and summoned. It concludes by examining several networked art installations as exemplars of resistance to answer their concerns. The chapter ends on a question mark as to where to turn to next.