Design Observer :: Join the Discussion http://places.designobserver.com/feature/drylands-water-infrastructure-and-the-west/32968/ en-us Design Observer Group 2012-03-21T16:52:12-05:00 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0
There are two issues that pop up in the essay which I am wondering about: the emphasis on an idea of scarcity and the statement that a healthy anthropocene will see a de-industrialization of water systems.

The point about scarcity is interesting to me because while it is not included in the super interesting list of ideas used by the Tohono O'odham, it is one of the foundational principles behind the idea of the free market and capitalism, suggesting an implicit assumption about the environmental situation that I don't imagine is intentional, but is problematic. I'm sure that there are in fact certain moments or periods when there is a lot of water in specific arid places, and the dance between the two conditions creates a lot of the specific forms and effects that make that place, for instance. Or one could imagine other qualities or concepts as being more fundamental to the place, as the Tohono O'odham evidently do (thanks for the intro to this, btw).

Second, what is the definition of industrial you have here that healthy anthropocene systems will be moving away from? To my mind it is the intentional manipulation and movement of large amounts of bulk materials cheaply, but that isn't necessarily something the anthropocene needs to run from, so perhaps this essay imagines something else?

thank you. Looking forward to hearing thoughts.]]> http://places.designobserver.com/feature/drylands-water-infrastructure-and-the-west/32968/#comments 2012-03-21T16:52:12-05:00