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Hyperborder: The Contemporary U.S.–Mexico Border and
Its Future by Fernando Romero/LAR
Princeton Architectural Press, 2007
This highly-anticipated book presents
an interdisciplinary overview of what is one of the most
contested places in the world today: the US-Mexico border.
Given the recent decision for the United States government
to strengthen border security via both manpower and a lengthy
wall, it's no surprise that the area is ripe for research
and speculation from an architectural point of view. Fernando
Romero and his Laboratory for Architecture, a Mexico City-based
practice, bring both together in this well-made book.
Romero's experience with Rem Koolhaas
comes across clearly in the former, the thorough research
intelligently and clearly presented in three-color visuals,
like maps of migrant deaths and water stations or statistics
on border crossings and trade. In an area as controversial
as the US-Mexico border, this research helps present the
myriad aspects of the region in all their complexity, well
beyond the simplified dichotomies that the mainstream media
pushes. The research educates the reader towards a greater
understanding of both borders in general and this one in
particular. Certainly one won't find answers to the difficult
problems that seem to always return to the border -- be
they immigration, the economy, or other issues -- but the
questions that strive for an answer will be different. For
example, all too often borders are seen as hard lines (hence
the attempt by the US government to equate border with wall),
but environmental processes (water, air pollution) don't
follow those borders, nor do wildlife; if anything this
example illustrates how the physical definition of borders
negatively impacts things that the wall, in this case, wasn't
intended to address in the first place. Where one might
have asked, "Do we build a wall here or do we provide
24-hour security?" one may change to questions of,
"Is the border a line like a wall, or is it a zone
that overlaps each country in an acknowledgment of the interrelationship
of each?"
Romero touches on just about every
issue surrounding the border, be it obvious (security, narcotraffic,
migration) or not (energy, health, education). Interspersed
with the text and images related to the research are the
future speculations. These 38 scenarios do not fall on one
side or the other in terms of issues like security. Instead
they paint a picture of where our present course may lead,
good or bad, leaving the judgment calls to the reader. This
is not a book trying to change one's thinking on immigration,
security, or the environment towards a "correct"
position. Rather it tries to clearly present these and other
issues to reader where their complexity and nuances illustrate
the interdependent nature of life on both sides.
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