The Wire as Speculative Research

2014. Journal Publication

arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, vol. 18(2)

Cambridge University Press

Peer-reviewed Article

The Wire’s treatment of systemic urban dysfunction has offered invaluable insights on the effects that co-opted institutions can have on people and spaces in American inner-cities. While the content of this HBO programme has much to offer to architects interested in the everyday reality of ghetto living, this paper offers reflections on the latent potential of The Wire’s form on the field of architecture.

The Wire’s rich, complex and dramatic narrative unfolds as an account of actor-network-theory, allowing its creators to use the programme as a highly unusual simulation platform. The Wire’s detailed and exploratory narratives have made a unique use of speculative development, which extends far beyond the depiction of utopian scenarios. With this HBO programme, speculative openings are designed to study failure-points within an urban system – pointing to the very moments standing between alternative futures and their realization. This feature allows tacticians to recognize and potentially address obstacles blocking the door for the ‘new’ to emerge. Following The Wire as method, this paper explores ways by which architects could learn from this way of doing–from this new tool for design researcher– as an attempt to bring urban and architectural utopias into the real via speculative research.