Atlas of Places

Reaching its own optimum in the construction of places so functional that they become invisible, contemporary architecture is a transparent architecture. Having to enable the rapid circulation of individuals and commodities, it tends to reduce space to its purely geometrical dimension. Destined to be crossed by an uninterrupted succession of textual, visual, and iconic messages, it must ensure them maximum readability (only a totally transparent place is able to ensure the total conductivity of information). Subject to the hard law of consensus, the only permanent messages allowed will be confined to a role of objective information. Thus, the content of those immense signs along highways have been preceded by in-depth study. Many opinion surveys have been done in order to avoid shocking one category or another of motorists; social psychologists have been consulted, as well as specialists in road safety; all of this to end up with directions such as “Auxerre,” or “The Lakes.”