The Architectural Review #1510

In making the map that appears on this issue’s cover, artist Sabine Réthoré ‘ignored the borders’ and instead traced the routes and rivers that link ‘the thousands of points or places of exchange’. As Laura Lo Presti writes, ‘maps of the Mediterranean have become ingrained in our minds and are accepted as if they show inherent, natural features, even though they are subjective and human-made.’ The framing of this region as ‘the Mediterranean’ is similarly a human construction, with multiple faces and identities. The sea has a dual nature – it is both a barrier and a connection, depending on which coast you stand on.