Lines and Frames: Architecture in a Period of Migration

The current state of growing uncertainty, instability and change in the current world
has rendered our spatial perceptions blurred, fragmented and contradictory. In a
period of substantial geopolitical crisis, uneven economic distribution, and climate
change, with a growing number of people in a state of transit from poor and war-torn
countries to more prosperous parts of the world, we can hardly talk about stable
forms in a social and physical sense. But what are the forms and spatial patterns of the
world during a period of continuous change? Could a certain depth structure be
recognized in the contemporary dynamic of social and spatial transformation?
Starting from the basic structure of human perception, and the basic spatial patterns
such as center, line and domain, we shall attempt to derive the defined forms, not just
as a form of representation but also as a form of action in the contemporary world.
The aim of this chapter is to explore the connection between physical and social
change; firstly through the elicitation of the defined forms of representation; and,
secondly through an ability to act through them. Through a series of examples of
hybrid spatial and social situations, we shall map the effectiveness of the defined
spatial forms as strategies of transformation in different contexts in the world. As
such, the line and the frame as opposing forms, act as the representation of the
condition of change, but additionally as an opportunity for a new formal structure in
the period of migration.