Parallel City

This slideshow is part of: Master of Architecture II Thesis 2012

Parallel City

Seongmo Ahn

In 2011, the Egyptian revolution emerged not by a hero but by a mass of peers. Facebook made their gathering and sharing of ideas and ideals possible. Collective opinions triggered the actual revolution through the physical city, Cairo. During the protest, people mobilized through Twitter, informing their actions to the world via Youtube. The shutdown of the Internet three days later by the Mubarak Government was the strongest indication of the power of the “cloud,” the parallel city. Presently, we exist not only in the actual city, but also, simultaneously, in the virtual city through the use of the Internet in its various forms. This creates parallel cities that reflect and influence each other. Through their interplay, our perception of time, space and the city itself has been changed. My thesis is the exploration of the nature of this phenomenon by reading this invisible city through drawings focusing on the recent Egyptian revolution in Cairo.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.