– DIAGONALS FOR A STRAIGHT WORLD –

Suburbia is arguably the sole sector of urban space with which we engage only horizontally:

1. The zoning regulations which limit the elevation of commercial stretches enforce horizontality on a formal level.
2. The real estate speculative development of the neoliberal city,  commonly referred to  as “sprawl,” enforces horizontality on an communal level .
3. The markers that pedestrians and drivers use for everyday orientation are rarely associated with landmarks visible because of their height. Instead, people’s navigation is based almost exclusively on crossroads, thereby enforcing horizontality on an individual level.
4. Private land and home ownership are themselves horizontal processes – The individual does not own the resources beneath the bedrock of his yard, nor does he have access to the material remnants of memories it may contain. Thus, horizontality is enforced on a legal level.

This project aims to introduce a vertical angle to horizontal suburbia. Through a series of photographs and narratives, each geolocated and collected on a navigable map, Vertical Suburbia presents diagonals for a straight world – views which challenge horizontal perceptions of suburbia and provoke new ways to view the space in which we live. In order to reflect the perspectives of as many suburban citizens as possible, Vertical Suburbia accepts submissions from its viewers.