supersurface²⁰¹⁸

In 1969 the radical Florentine architecture firm Superstudio created Il Monumento Continuo (The Continuous Monument). In this project they spawned the concept of a "Supersuperficie" (Supersurface): “an architectural model of total urbanisation”¹ where an uninterrupted grid spanned the Earth. The grid, represented visually as an “endless” assembly of interlocking lines, spans across all territorial forms of architecture, nature and culture. Amidst the Supersurface landscapes become divided and pockets of society develop. Inhabitants of these pockets simultaneously become untethered to their neighbouring environments and context whilst entering a state of global connection – co-existing amidst this one continuous monument.

49 years on Superstudio’s image of Supersurface has been recognised as a pre-vision of the Internet.² Through this frame, the Supersurface has become detached from any physicality as an ordered grid. Instead it is reflected through the ethereal web of connection enabled by the current technology and infrastructure that render global communication possible.

In the post-Internet era, we (2018) come to inherit the “advanced”³ position of the late 1960’s. Biologically we are not so different, however enabled by current platforms of connection, our inhabitance of the Supersurface becomes more than a metaphorical one. In this state, we attempt to orientate ourselves, navigating increasingly untethered positions as individuals amongst a connected surface.