SEICHE

Citizenship and sovereignty were traditionally rooted in territorial belonging, but as transnational flows of people, capital, goods and information continue to expand, this conception is undermined. The infrastructural systems that sustain these flows present a network of complex topology. In a landscape of overlapping jurisdictions, the design and mapping of interactions among them is a crucial task.

In order to facilitate bureaucratic automation of those interactions and foster frictionless and controlled flow of people and cargo between different sovereign systems Seiche proposes:

– A tool that enables the design and management of techno-legal procedures of information exchange between the institutions that regulate these systems, and the organizations that operate within them. Assisting independent legal entities to co-design data exchange protocols and infrastructures to implement them in their own terms by interfacing legal and data workflows.

– A platform that allows to manage, map and visualize the implemented exchange protocols among individual entities, associations of entities, and complex organizations of a different nature.

Seiche emerges on the premise that:

The proliferation of sensing infrastructures does not only hold the potential of tracking people and cargo, but also visualizing systems and power structures while moving bureaucracy to the back end.

New levels of control require new rights, and ultimately, new levels of freedom in exchange. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the implications of a system – of these characteristics – growing at scale, and the relationship with final users – i.e. human and non-human entities or associations of entities moving across sovereign spaces.

The way different organizations interact is as important as how they behave within the proprietary walls of their respective clusters. However, if Seiche is successful in facilitating interactions, the interstitial space between well-established actors can be used as leverage to grow as a platform.

The ongoing project, conceptualized under the framework of The New Normal urban design think-tank was published in architecture, design and theory journal ARDETH by Politecnico di Torino.

Seiche Movie Description:

The speculative proposal is applied and tested in the form of a cinematic narrative set in Khorgos, Kazakhstan; a logistic enclave in between two infrastructural and political realities that is the cornerstone of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Seiche film consists of five chapters that introduce the platform and Khorgos as the embodiment of the border condition through different perspectives.

Chapter 1 [INTRO] introduces infrastructure as basic condition for the development of urban settlements.


Chapter 2 [BELT] takes a logistics industry perspective and explores transnational movements of cargo through Belt & Road and particularly trough Khorgos Dry Port.

Chapter 3 [BORDER] takes an institutional perspective to look at existing access and exit procedures citizens face in Khorgos ICBC.

Chapter 4 [IDENTITY] takes a human perspective to understand how the cross-border condition generates an identity of its own kind.

Chapter 5 [INTERFACE] introduces SEICHE as a platform to facilitate bureaucratic automation.

传统而言，公民身份和主权植根于领土归属，但随着人员、资本、货物和信息的跨国流动不断扩大，这一观念也被颠覆。支撑这些流动的基础设施系统形成一个复杂的拓扑网络。在司法管辖区相互重叠的情况下，设计和绘制它们之间的交互是一项至关重要的任务。

为了推动这些交互的官僚自动化，并促进不同主权制度之间人员和货物的零阻力或受控的流动，Seiche提出：

一种工具，用于设计和监管这些系统机构及在其中运行的组织之间进行信息交换的技术-司法程序。通过连接法律和数据流程，它将协助独立的法律实体共同设计数据交换协议和基础设施，以自己的方式实施它们。

一个平台，用以管理、映射和可视化在不同性质的实体、实体协会和复杂组织之间实施的交换协议。

Seiche出现的前提条件如下所述：

传感设备的激增不仅具备跟踪人员和货物的潜力，而且在将官僚机构转移到后台的同时，还能将系统和权力结构可视化。

新的控制水平需要新的权利，最终也需要更高水平的自由交换。因此，至关重要的是要留意到具备这些特征的系统大规模增长所带来的影响，以及它与终端用户之间的关系，也即人类与非人类实体或跨区域主权实体之间的联系。

不同组织间的交互方式与它们在各自集群的专有领域中的行为方式同等重要。然而，如果Seiche能成功地促进这样的交互，则高端参与者之间的差距就可作为平台发展的杠杆。

这个正在进行的项目依托The New Normal城市设计智囊团的概念框架，已在都灵理工大学的建筑、设计和理论杂志ARDETH上发表。

Seiche电影介绍：

该推测性方案以电影叙事的形式在哈萨克斯坦的霍尔果斯进行了应用和测试。这个介于基础设施和政治现实之间的物流飞地，是中国“一带一路”倡议的基石。Seiche电影共五个章节，分别从不同的角度介绍了该平台和霍尔果斯是如何作为边界条件的。

第一章【简介】介绍了基础设施作为城市聚落发展的基本条件。

第二章【带】从物流产业的角度，探讨了通过“一带一路”，特别是霍尔果斯陆港的跨国货物运输。

第三章【边界】从制度体系的角度审视了公民在霍尔果斯的中国工商银行面临的现有出入境手续。

第四章【身份】从人本主义的视角来理解跨境条件如何产生独特的自我身份。

第五章【接口】对作为促进官僚政治自动化的平台SEICHE作了专门介绍。

Credits:

Mikhail Anisimov, Tomas Clavijo, Yulia Gromova, Katya Sivers, Andrei Zhileikin

Project supported by Design Trust Seed Grant