An Ultraviole(n)t Border

Densities, Ersela Kripa, Essay, Formats, No Density, Politics and economics, Stephen Mueller, Territory and mobility, Topics, Urban Paradigms

Borders, California, Climate change, Desert, Ephemeral, Essay, Extreme environments, Geography, Geopolitics, Human rights, Inequality, Landscape, Mapping, Mexico, Migration, Mobility Paradigms, Political implications, Political instability, Security, Shade Shaping, Solar radiation, Structure, Technology, Temporary Interventions, Territory&Mobility, Texas, USA

This essay was previously published in e-flux as part of At The Border, a collaboration between A/D/O and e-flux Architecture, in April 2020.

The US-Mexico borderlands can be defined by shifting and intensifying bands of ultraviolet radiation that impact bodies in asymmetrical ways, enact new forms of migration, and condition space and power relations. Operating within this framework, the national security apparatus has become expert at deploying tactical infrastructures that mitigate the impact of ultraviolet radiation on its agents in order to inspect and manage other bodies more efficiently. Border agents deploy, manage, and appropriate shade in the name of state security. While state agents and security space are increasingly protected from impacts of ultraviolet radiation, the borderland public and public space beyond the limits of security space are routinely exposed.