Borderless Landscapes of Control

The airport landscape from its early pastoral scenes has evolved through its various wildlife and human security measures to become one of the most regulated and unparalleled landscape typologies. Today, with the advancement of monitoring and surveillance technology, the airport has also become a pivotal case study in the reconceptualization of the contemporary border as it shifts from mere concrete demarcations into complex, multidimensional landscapes of control. 

This thesis uses Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as a test site to imagine the role of emerging surveillance and data control systems in a new land management approach. Much like the ancient nomadic shepherd that managed an economy through a symbiotic common land system, this new technology has the capability to operate at the same borderless and complex state of nature itself.