City as Image

City as Image

In our everyday use of the word “image” we usually refer to two dimensional reproductions of people, objects and spaces in form of photographs, paintings and drawings. The “image” contains references to another object, but does not embrace all aspects of that. We may recognize the original source of the image and associate it with the “image” while recognizing the difference and distance between the two entities. In some cases “imaging” comprises of processes that influence the meticulousness of reproduction, rendering the “origin” unverifiable in the utmost conditions. “Loss of quality”, “reduction” and potential “distortion” are recurring issues in imaging processes. When certain elements travel across borders - being “imaged” on the new context - some of their aspects are altered, faded, omitted, blurred, or distorted either intentionally or accidentally.

“Imaging processes” in this sense are not limited to two dimensions. We can assume all instances of reproduction, regardless of mediums, to be instances of “imaging”. Based on this definition we can reflect on all sorts of “products” as images of other entities. Platonic ontology deals with this notion in a philosophical level, founded on concept of “idea”, defining the material world and all objects of sense as imperfect and unstable reproductions of the original source.
From this point of view, all sorts of cultural influences and exchanges between various cultures or civilizations might be read as a form of “imaging”, where a relatively “original” phenomenon is reproduced - with a certain degree of exactitude - within another context. Reproduction of values, forms, functions and symbols is a constant “imaging process” ensuing in and between various cultures.

Partial reproduction of attributes from a relatively “original” entity on an independent other one is the essence of “imaging” processes, regardless of the technologies, methods or mediums involved. From this view point, we can read architecture as a kind of multilayered image, including “imaged” information originating from diversified sources and some of these layers can be more clearly associated with reproduction of phenomenon from other cultures. Effects of globalization, in terms of increasing pace of exchange and communication between cultures, can also be traced in architecture as aesthetic aspects, functions and programs are migrating between various contexts.

We are going to look at Damascus and its space, like an archaeologist or maybe a detective, who tries to investigate these “imported” or “imaged” elements, specifically in the light of globalization discourse. We will pick up samples from the context of Damascus, including these “images” in the form of space, specify their origins and analyze their effects.

These effects can be traced in many different aspects of architecture that can be categorized as follows:

A.Processes of creation and their backgrounds:

Definitions of architecture, urban planning and design / Roles of architects and urban designers/ Architectural education / Architectural literature


B.Products:

Functions and programs “imaged” on the existing context / “Imaged” aesthetic features / imported technologies and their influences on architecture and urban spaces /


C.Feedbacks:

Influences of “imaged” or reproduced architectural phenomena on emerging lifestyles / Influences of “imaged” spaces on other media including films, photographs, paintings and literature /


Although the domain of the discourse is intrinsically widespread, we will be able to collect pieces of the puzzle and put them together in order to construct a new “image”, helping us to have an enhanced understanding of the whole condition.