Report Siberia

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, June 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-111).The Siberian condition is an exaggerated one with many layers: its history of settlement created unconventional spatial conditions that are emphasized by extreme geography and climate. Observations from a visit describe the urban space as monotonous and depressing, the landscape as an endlessly montaged one, the Siberian habitat as limited and so on. These observations refer to conventional themes from the architectural field as extreme or particular to the Siberian condition. For a deeper reading of this spatial condition, this project deconstructs Siberian space into five elements that, through applying a metaphoric reading of each, explain the exaggerated condition on multiple levels. The five elements are chosen so that together they represent Siberia's geography in a broad spatial sense. Landscape, production of urban space, dwelling, act of demolition and infrastructure are the pure spatial objects and processes that are taken as the constituents that, on multiple scales and by their ideological insert, inform the Siberian condition. With respect to how meaning and space are strongly connected, deconstructing Siberian space into these elements requires the deconstruction of the ideologies that stand behind them. Thus, a conventional theme is paired with a theoretical theme: within this theoretical framework an interpretation of each object or process is allowed that reveals its ideological insert, historic context and actual condition. These interpretations are generated by both text and graphics supporting each other. Collected materials are used from field research such as interviews and photographs as well as academic research. This thesis uses the power of a visual anthropology to go beyond a formal description of a place: a method that collages the Siberian geography. Through commenting on existing trends and making the aggregated systems of operation legible, a dialogue for negotiating the post-Soviet urban condition in Siberia is offered.by Eva Christine Strobel.S.M