Antarctic Resolution

Book excerpt: In the era of the Anthropocene, it?s urgent to shift our collective attention southward. Antarctica, a continent that accounts for 10% of Planet Earth and 70% of the world?s fresh water, represents at once the repository of planetary data essential to produce reliable climate change projections, and the biggest threat to all coastal sites.00On the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica, 'Antarctic Resolution' offers a high-resolution image of the hyper-surveilled yet neglected continent and instigates a decisive resolution towards a supra-national governance model. Advocating for true trans-national and cross-disciplinary collaboration, 'Antarctic Resolution' brings together, for the first time in Antarctic bibliography, international experts and practitioners in the fields of science, architecture, engineering, history, political science, law, anthropology, literature, art and technology.00The holistic agenda of Antarctic Resolution, which includes dedicated chapters on the role of science and politics in the continent, culminates in the first ?Declassified Archive of Antarctic Architecture.? Revealing the unique evolution of inhabitation models and architectural typologies in the extreme (from the first Antarctic hut to advanced contemporary structures), the Archive questions the motives that led to an unexpected architectural redundancy on the continent.00Developed by UNLESS, a not-for-profit organization which mobilizes architecture as an agency for territorial investigation, Antarctic Resolution juxtaposes academic content with highly visual information. Alongside archival and contemporary photography, the book is dense with drawings, diagrams and cartographies produced by the global network of the Polar Lab.00Resisting the temptation of imposing a conclusive narrative, the publication structure offers knowledge in the form of fragments ? flashes that shed light in a continent that lies in the dark for six months each year.