Desert dreams and techno-utopian nightmares: The complex history of California city and the colonial gaze towards the desert

Simple item page
buir.contributor.authorİşbilen, Ezgi
dc.citation.epage277en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber2
dc.citation.spage265
dc.citation.volumeNumber77
dc.contributor.authorİşbilen, Ezgi
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-10T10:13:50Z
dc.date.available2024-03-10T10:13:50Z
dc.date.issued2023-10-10
dc.departmentDepartment of Architecture
dc.description.abstractDespite being some of the harshest environments to design for and inhabit, deserts are considered some of the most malleable in our imagination. Countless military bases, proving grounds, gunneries, and practice fields that simulate other locales prove that in military imagination, deserts are nondescript proxy spaces waiting to be filled with the character of whatever location they are to imitate. The developers’ imagination is not far behind. Through a historical case study of California City, an ambitiously planned but only partially built desert development project, and unpacking of the terms “desert” and “wasteland,” this essay examines the colonial gaze towards the desert that often shapes our perceptions of this unique environment and exposes the fallacies in our thinking that lead us to imagine deserts as a blank slate waiting to be transformed. The paper also highlights the dangers of overconfidence in technology to create techno-utopias and the need to acknowledge the reality of the desert’s harsh environment in any planning or development.
dc.description.provenanceMade available in DSpace on 2024-03-10T10:13:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Desert_dreams_and_techno-utopian_nightmares_The_complex_history_of_California_city_and_the_colonial_gaze_towards_the_desert.pdf: 5040165 bytes, checksum: 5a288fba0002f41381bd5cc43e6c3d67 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2023-10-10en
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/10464883.2023.2233373
dc.identifier.eissn531-314X
dc.identifier.issn1046-4883
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11693/114455
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherTaylor & Francis Inc.
dc.relation.isversionofhttps://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10464883.2023.2233373
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0 Deed (Attribution 4.0 International)
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.source.titleJournal of Architectural Education
dc.subjectCalifornia city
dc.subjectColonial gaze
dc.subjectDesert
dc.subjectTechnocratic solutions
dc.subjectWasteland
dc.titleDesert dreams and techno-utopian nightmares: The complex history of California city and the colonial gaze towards the desert
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Desert_dreams_and_techno_utopian_nightmares_The_complex_history_of_California_city_and_the_colonial_gaze_towards_the_desert.pdf
Size:
4.81 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.01 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Scholarly Publications - Architecture