About

“I consider the task of philosophy, faced with the conceptions of the world that men find in their medium, is not to confirm, but to annihilate them.”

– T.W. Adorno

“Esta es mi última transmisión desde el planeta de los monstruos. No me sumergiré nunca más en el mar de mierda de la literatura. En adelante escribiré mis poemas con humildad y trabajaré para no morirme de hambre y no intentaré publicar.”

“This is my last transmission from the planet of monsters. Never again will I submerge myself in the sea of shit of literature. From now on I will write my poems with humility and will work in order not to starve and will not try to publish.”

– Roberto Bolaño, Estrella distante

Welcome to Last Transmission from the Land of Monsters. My name is Juan Pablo Melo. I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Program in Modern Thought & Literature at Stanford University. On this blog I post commentaries, articles, or links relating to my interdisciplinary interests and ongoing research in architecture theory, urbanism, housing, and social theory.

My interdisciplinary research interest is urban theory and history through the lens of planning, design, and architecture discourse and practice. My research methodologies and concepts are drawn from the fields of urban theory, media theory, science and technology studies, social theory, and philosophy.

Currently I am working on a history of planning and architecture discourses in Bogotá, Colombia. The goal of this work is to trace the relationship between discourses, practices, infrastructures, and media as they relate to reconfigurations in the city’s morphology, its signification, and its function, with special attention to the uses of culture (architecture, new media, literature, etc.) in bringing about shifts in the demarcation of public and private spheres.