dinsdag 1 mei 2012

Villa Plasmodium [Mosquito architecture]


Charles C. Mann's latest book 1493 is as fascinating as his previous book 1491. Early on, after explaining how the US north-south divide was created on top of cultural differences between indigenous people and by Malaria-friendly temperatures he gives us the above image of the Tara Mansion from Gone with the Wind. The sole purpose of Southern plantation mansion design and site-choice is to keep out the malaria carrying mosquitoes: "High on a nearly treeless hill, with tall windows to admit the breeze, it was ideally suited to avoid mosquitoes and the diseases that accompanied them". Mann uses the term Villa Plasmodium. Fascinating.

1 opmerking:

  1. The plantation owners sucking the life from slaves and land. Perpetuating and protecting them selves via the architecture of their space. Now they create virtual spaces for wage slaves hosts; perpetuating the blood meal feast and epidemic/systemic infection of others

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