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Stim and Dross: Rethinking the Metropolis

Introduction

Originally published in 1994 in the journal, Assemblage, no.25 published by the MIT Press (Cambridge, MA: 1994) Stim and Dross is an influencial article written by Lars Lerup. Cited in many influential publications regarding the emergent field of Landscape Urbanism (including Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America and CENTER, Volume 14: On Landscape Urbanism ), Stim and Dross was written at a time when the ideals of Landscape Urbanism were in their infancy and as such, the article has played an important role in the evolution of the movement.

Page Contents

Style

Half of the title of the article Stim and Dross is drawn from  William Gibson's seminal, dystopic and cyberpunk genre defining The Sprawl Trilogy. Specifically, "stim" in Gibson's universe is short for stimulation. The latter half of the title, "dross",

Terminology

Many terms pertinant to landscape urbanism are used and in some cases coined in the article Stim and Dross. Many of these terms are listed and defined here.

Holey Plane

Zoohemic

Dross

Stimulators

Stimdross

Feed http://www.theconstructs.com Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:15:04 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 en-us Review: Center 14, On Landscape Urbanism http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=11 <p>Review Forthcoming. </p> Jeff Alexander Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:31:42 +0100 Review: Drosscape. Wasting Land in Urban America http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=9 <p>In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568987137?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thecon05-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1568987137"><em>Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America</em></a>, Alan Berger deals with a particularly interesting and relatively recently emergent classification of space in urban areas: Drosscape. Very generally and loosely defined as waste landscapes, Berger begins by describing the process by which these spaces develop and explains why they result from normal, healthy urban growth. Berger draws from some of the texts that are credited with forming the foundation of the emergent field of landscape urbanism such as Lars Lerup's <em>Stim and Dross: Rethinking the Metropolis</em> and Ignasi de Sola-Morales <em>Terrain Vague</em>. ... Jeff Alexander Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:53:30 +0100 My name is Rob http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=7 <p>Hi Rob! Thanks for joining! And I'm glad you like the site. My hope is that it will grow to become a valuable resource to landscape archtects, and anyone else in the industry for that matter. If you have any input, feel free to let me know!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> Jeff Alexander Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:31:47 +0100 Review: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=6 <p>When you first pick up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0865475873?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thecon05-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0865475873">Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things</a><img height="1" border="0" width="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecon05-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0865475873" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" />, it's immediately obvious this book is a little different, and not just in the content. The book is very heavy for it's size, and the pages have a texture more like plastic than paper. The reason for this is that the book IS different. It's not made out of paper, rather the synthetic pages are made of plastic resins and inorganic fillers. ... Jeff Alexander Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:57:07 +0100 Review: Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How it can Renew America http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=5 <p>Author of best selling <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312425074?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thecon05-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0312425074">The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century</a><img height="1" border="0" width="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecon05-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0312425074" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" />, Friedman takes his global expertise and insight to new places with <a href="http://www.amazon. ... Jeff Alexander Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:57:30 +0100 Review: Landscape Urbanism: a Manual for the Mechanical Landscape http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=4 <p>Another influential book on the emergent field of landscape urbanism is Mohsen Mostafavi's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1902902300?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thecon05-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1902902300">Landscape Urbanism: A Manual for the Machinic Landscape</a><img height="1" border="0" width="1" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecon05-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=1902902300" />. This particular book has more of an architectural influence on it. However there are notable contributions that focus on landscape. <br /> <br /> One such essay is Corner's <em>Landscape Urbanism. </em>Here, Corner presents five themes of landscape urbanism. ... Jeff Alexander Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:57:55 +0100 Review: Designing the High Line: Gansevoort Street to 30th Street http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=3 <p><font size="2"><br /> Few projects</font> have such an interesting evolution that results in such a successful solution. The High Line in New York City is just such a project. On the rare instances in which these projects do occur, it's always exciting to see a publication about the project. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615211917?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thecon05-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0615211917">Designing the High Line: Gansevoort Street to 30th Street</a><img height="1" border="0" width="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecon05-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0615211917" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" /> is just such a publication. ... Jeff Alexander Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:58:23 +0100 Review: The Landscape Urbanism Reader http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=2 <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568984391?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thecon05-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1568984391">The Landscape Urbanism Reader</a><img height="1" border="0" width="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thecon05-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=1568984391" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" /> (edited by Charles Waldheim) is a collection of essays from some of the founders and foremost practitioners of the emergent field of landscape urbanism. Being a collection of essays as opposed to a comprehensive manifesto, the book runs the risk of coming across as an incongruous and haphazard pastiche of divergent thoughts. ... Jeff Alexander Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:58:42 +0100 Hi, My name is Jeff. http://www.theconstructs.com/main/boards/index.php?t=1 And I kinda built this place. Just thought I would introduce myself. Not too many people here right now, but hopefully that will change! Jeff Alexander Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:58:19 +0100