Building on her first lecture ‘The Geometry of Modern Paris,’ Banister Fletcher Global Fellow, Dr Min Kyung Lee will open the second lecture of this series with a focus on Interwar France, plotting the intersections between military motivations and the emerging field of urbanism.  

The quantification of space entails translating qualitative elements into numerical and graphic calculations. The historic process of this enumeration and mensuration begun during the Enlightenment, when space became defined by geometric dimensions, objectified, counted, and mapped. Arguments for quantification were based on rising values of objectivity within emergent bureaucratic practices, often in the service of colonial and imperial ambitions.  

This lecture describes the historical period of Interwar France when the desire for objective representations of cities aligned with military motivations. Instead of creating greater clarity, however, these graphic media justified the establishment of administrative bodies that obscured political intentions, out of which emerged the field of urbanism in the early decades of the 20th century. 

It is followed by a panel conversation on Tuesday 25 May. Read full details here. 

Find out more about Dr Min Kyung Lee’s Banister Fletcher programme and the fellowship here.