Social stratification and resetting ecological baselines. The
built (and un-built) environment is tied to speculative cityscapes
based in both alternative futures and parallel presents—cities
are where architecture, infrastructure, and sculpted landscapes
can reflect, reinforce, or transform collective social norms and
individual behaviors. In our speculations, spatial considerations
expand overhead beyond the troposphere and underfoot to
geothermal sources of planetary energy.
Transitional spaces, interfaces, and moments are highlighted
throughout the environment, emphasizing both conspicuous
and collateral connections between different elements of the social and ecological landscape. Because the airspace inseparable from the motivations and behaviors governing terrestrial activity, initial emphasis on the aerocene is effectively distributed and integrated across the ecosystem to reflect a more integrated worldview.
Speculative anthropology is the lens through which we consider how humans might adapt and respond to new aerocene realities, what role they might inhabit within nature-centric systems, and how the behavior and beliefs fostered during this pandemic might shape the societies of post-COVID futures.