Manufacturing Heterotopies: Port Bay, Transnational Flows and Industrial Spaces in Reconversion

Abstract

This article presents preliminary results of a research project that is based on experimental ethnography, and which studies the heterogeneity and multiplicity of dwellings in the second historical enlargement of the city of Montevideo. We focus on the present characteristics of the bay area characterized by large transformations on a local scale, following the transnational flows that make up the territory in its socio-technical dimension. Our purpose is to analyze these processes focusing on the cityÍ€™s factory architecture. For this purpose, we explore the notion of Í€˜heterotopiaÍ€™ coined by Foucault, present in various transdisciplinary investigations. Along this line, heterotopic territorialities in tension between deterioration and gentrification are identified. We conclude that this area of Montevideo offers great potential to rethink the cityÍ€™s relationship with the bay from which it emerged and which has been captured by the energy and business infrastructure associated with port activities.