The "Institute for Linear Research" was chosen among 433 entries for the Future Architecture Fellow 2020.
Institute for Linear Research
An open platform researching contemporary landscapes by walking on a straight line around the globe
Contemporary landscapes are the stage on which our societies unfold. They are a lever for change and as such demand a persistent engagement. Relying on outworn dichotomies (city and countryside, urban and rural, center and periphery) doesn’t do justice to the rapid transformations in shape, meaning and inner workings of today's landscapes.
The Institute will focus on particular geography defined by an arbitrary straight line traced around the globe. The research will be conducted by walking on The Line.
The Institute aims to create a platform for researching The Line allowing exchange across fields of knowledge.
Walking allows engagement with the landscape that is unpolluted by outmoded theories or preconceived hierarchies of what is important. The Institute for Linear Research sees itself in the tradition of Lucius Burckhart in understanding strolling as a method of carefully directing our attention towards spaces as they are and imagine how they could be.
Walking allows engagement with the landscape that is unpolluted by outmoded theories or preconceived hierarchies of what is important.
The research is concerned with places that have thus far slipped any attention. The Line allows conducting a research into landscapes that we do not even know exist. It is not representative or complete if judged by taxonomies such as continents, climate zones or countries. Contemporary landscapes cannot be captured by distributing research in these categories. We believe that the random selection of spaces, that following THE LINE entails, will lead us to the unknown, and will force us to come
The Institute for Linear Research looks for project partners that are in physical proximity to The Line. With this guiding principle, the Institute aims to circumvent the obvious and establish new and unexpected relations between countries, museums, artists, researchers , art and architecture schools, and anyone with an interest in walking and landscape.
Preliminary research for future walks and points of interest on The Line
The collected research outcomes will be published as a book series under The Infinite Publication Series label. The books are not an end in themselves but rather a tool for involving people and starting a public discourse. The first volume focuses on Liechtenstein and will be available in Spring 2020. It will include essays and interviews with local experts.
