Electric city: Affectionate manifestations of electric infrastructure

Abstract

This thesis investigates electric infrastructure architecture in a post-carbon future. The aim is to explore how approaches of love and affection, combined with a thorough system understanding of the electric grid, can shift the relation between a city’s residents and its electric system. The thesis speculates on how a reimagined architecture of visible electric infrastructure objects can reterritorialize energy and promote a deeper societal engagement with sustainability, fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility among urban inhabitants towards their energy consumption and environmental footprint. Taking cues from current architectural discourse on infrastructure, by theorists such as Hélène Frichot and Céline Condorelli, the thesis advocates for the humanization of infrastructure through poetic pragmatism, making it more relatable and meaningful. To research this topic, the thesis employs a combination of diagramming, mapping, and development of design strategies as methods. Diagramming was used to analyse the sprawling network of the electric grid in Stockholm, identifying the visual and functional presence of substations, electrical cabinets and light fixtures throughout the urban landscape. Through mappings of current manifestations of electric infrastructure an “atlas” is created, assessing the visual impact of infrastructure and exploring its architectural potential. Building upon the philosophies of designers such as Dieter Rams and François Dallegret, the design strategies lay a foundation for an architectural expression that reflects the pragmatism of a technical system while also becoming an object that people can feel affection for. The thesis proposes a series of speculative infrastructural interventions in three different scales set in the urban fabric of Stockholm. The design process employs strategies that turn infrastructure into an architectural matter, beyond something merely functional. The interventions try to bring a poetic pragmatism into their function and expression, which is grounded in care and attention to detail, where the detail becomes a tool to express affection and craftsmanship. Inserted into the city, the interventions subtly renew the urban fabric. They reflect a commitment to a more thoughtfully crafted and sustainable built environment, while also redefining of our relation to infrastructure. Overall, the thesis sets out to redefine the boundaries of architectural practice by engaging with topics and objects often seen as insignificant to architecture.