March 2021: Aaron Betsky

Can you summarize your work briefly?
I am preparing a couple of projects here at Virginia Tech that I hope will be relevant: one is that I have had a long-time interest in sprawl and in particular in taking urban sprawl seriously, which means studying it with some care so that we can understand how it works. A related project is a study of the Roanoke and New River Valleys that starts from the geology, the history, and the architecture of the area to develop ways of designing in and for this setting, specifically in Blacksburg. I am also working on a project to analyze the relationship between architecture, agriculture, design, to see how we are defined by the landscape of both production and consumption of which we are a part.

How do you see your work contributing to the goals and vision of IIHCC?
One of the things that attracted me to Virginia Tech was the presence of the Destination Areas, which are meant to be the realization of “Beyond Boundaries.” What is of special interest to me is that we understand technology as being human-centered. Technology should be tools that allow us as human beings to establish a closer and more active relationship with both other human beings and the environment around us. So, anything that we can do through art and design to rescue technology from the notion that it is just a means to an end and instead recognize that it has poetic potential and can help us create a more sustainable, beautiful, and more socially open environment.

What other areas outside of your discipline would you consider for future research and proposal work?
The projects I am engaged with are very closely aligned with other work that is going on at Virginia Tech. Beyond that, one of the reasons I came to Virginia Tech is because it is a land-grant university, which means that it both serves its communities and has a direct involvement with agriculture and therefore with food. To that end, I have put some feelers out to other departments to work in an interdisciplinary manner on these projects. Of course, a lot of what I am also talking about is art, and the closeness of the School of Visual Arts and the School of Public and International Affairs in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies is very important to me as well. Finally, I am very interested in the Material Cultures department here, as my way of thinking is very much formed by my exposure to Material Culture Studies.