Cultural Imaginaries and Border Narratives: A Speculative Design Perspective

Celebrating San Diego and Tijuana as the 2024 Word Design Capital, Rene Peralta will discuss the urban border between the United States and Mexico, specifically between the cities of Tijuana and San Diego in "Cultural Imaginaries and Border Narratives: A Speculative Design Perspective." Peralta will explore the transformative intersection of speculative design with cultural identities at the US/Mexico border. This presentation delves into how architects and designers harness speculative design to construct and deconstruct the cultural narratives that define physical and metaphorical borders. This event is presented with the Coronado Cultural Arts Association.

Rene Peralta studied Architecture at the New School of Architecture in San Diego and the Architectural Association in London, England. He has a Master of Science in Planning with emphasis in History and Theory from the University of Oklahoma. Peralta is a co-author with Fiamma Montezemolo, and Heriberto Yepez of the book Here is Tijuana, Black Dog Publishing, London 2006. He co-edited along with Tito Alegría and Roger Lewis the commemorative edition of the book A Temporary Paradise: A look at the San Diego Region's special landscape, published by COLEF in 2018 and initially prepared by Kevin Lynch and Donald Appleyard in 1974. His work investigated the urban and cultural futures of the US / Mexico border region specifically between the cities of Tijuana and San Diego. Rene is currently part of the full-time faculty at The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma.