Research Information System
Cambridge Talks: Acts of Scaling, Massachusetts, United States Of America, 4 - 05 April 2024, (Unpublished)
The amount of debris created in the processes serving the extraction, construction, and destruction industries is vast. This vastness results in the mobilization of debris, which consists of many types of compounds and chemicals. The processes of dissolving and reintegrating debris extend far beyond the timeframes envisioned by anthropocentric models of space-making, complicating the issue of perpetual debris generation. Addressing this issue requires a new theoretical framework that redefines debris from an ecological, rather than an anthropocentric, perspective. To do so, this study offers debris as a tool to “measure” the scalings of disposal activities in the material and temporal ecologies of architecture. Likewise, defining debris through acts of scaling anticipates the ends and means of space-making within material and temporal dimensions. The gap in the theory becomes particularly visible in post-disaster environments, where mobilization efforts are most critical. Therefore, this study investigates the post-earthquake environment of Hatay, where new scalar contingencies of debris emerge due to the extraction of materials, construction of infrastructure, and destruction of damaged buildings. Starting by identifying the material scalings, this paper locates debris in a more-than-human context. The materiality of debris spans a wide range of scales, from massive systems like mines, landfills, and forests to microscopic particles such as dust grains and biological cells. Between the size of a microparticle and the sheer volumes of disposal networks, the material dimension reveals the trans-scalar condition of debris. Then, the paper moves on to the temporal scaling of debris, which encapsulates the constant production of residue in the processes of making. Industrial processes extend the lifespan of debris, embedding its presence across the aftermaths of planetary crises. In essence, the trans-temporal nature of debris leaves an enduring imprint on the geological timescale, marking the onset of the Anthropocene. When taken together, the trans-scalar and trans-temporal scalings of debris create an epistemological ground to reflect on the anthropocentric methods of disposal. Consequently, this paper investigates the disciplinary encounters of material and temporal dimensions in the ecologies of architecture in post-disaster environments by using, what it calls, debris-scale.