Atlas of Spatial Figures: Exploring Spaces of the Contemporary

Globalization, as it is conceptualized in the early twenty-first century, is undergoing significant transformations. While we continue to live in a globalized world where markets, technologies, and cultures remain deeply interconnected, we are also confronted with trade wars, global health crises, technological decoupling, and escalating environmental damage. Traditional theories of globalization are insufficient to fully analyze these shifts. Drawing on empirical research from the Re-Figuration of Spaces Collaborative Research Center, the book tests the interplay between analytical, narrative, and visual thinking, translating theoretical figures of thought into spatial stories. Three-dimensional table configurations by Nikolaus Gansterer allow the reader to think visually while navigating the research topics. Atlas of Spatial Figures proposes new spatial imaginaries to better capture the complex realities of our world.

• Significant contribution to the transformation of spatial thinking
• Comprises sixteen research projects from the fields of sociology, anthropology, geography, communication studies, architecture, planning, and visual arts
• Innovative visualization techniques including sixteen mixed-media table configurations

Ignacio Farías is Professor of Urban Anthropology at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. His research addresses current ecological and infrastructural urban transformations, as well as experimentation with ethnography as a mode of city-making performed with others and by multimodal means.

Silke Steets is Professor of Sociological Theory at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg. Her research interests include urban sociology, sociology of space and architecture, qualitative research methods, and the history and epistemology of sociological thought.

Nikolaus Gansterer is an artistic researcher teaching at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. His work explores transmedial systems of notation between drawing, writing and performance. He creates diagrams of moods, atmospheres, and situations by focusing on their intertwined processes of sense-making.