Visualization and Appraisal of the Emerging Thawing Landscape in Fildes Peninsula — Transfer Park as an Integrator of Antarctic Dynamics

Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies, School of Architecture, Catholic University of Chile, Chile

Abstract: Antarctica is often imagined as a pristine, pure, unfathomable territory. However, from its discovery in the 18th century to its present day status as a zone of strategic importance, it has undergone the intense deployment of infrastructure and logistical activities. Contrary to popular perception, Antarctica bears a strong anthropogenic footprint that is correlated to the different stages of its occupation: first, as a hub for the exploitation of resources, then as a place of sovereign interest and territorial claim by different nations, and finally as a reserve for scientific knowledge and enquiry. This research proposes the existence of a transverse and independent layer to these traces, which is key for rethinking our modes of inhabiting Antarctica: the layer of the “emerging thawing landscape”. This layer is found on the edges of the continent and is constantly expanding inland due to the effects of climate change. Its presence favors the emergence and spread of a novel vegetation that will completely transform the Antarctic landscape. Therefore, this work aims to define such emerging landscape in terms of its relationship with the already existing anthropogenic footprints in Antarctica. The case study will be the Fildes Peninsula of King George Island, home to Chilean, Argentinian, Uruguayan, UK, Chinese and Russian military stations, and core to the highest anthropogenic activity of the continent. The final project will consist of a landscape architecture project for the Frei station on King George Island, conceived around a strategy I termed “Transfer Park” to integrate the coexistence, on the one hand, of a highly delicate emerging soil and, on the other, of the ongoing and severely invasive logistical activities at the station. The project will provide us with a new appraisal of what we will henceforth call the “emerging Antarctic thawing landscape” — defined as the reflection of the effects of climate change on such yonder territory.