Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning

Technical Lands: A Critical Primer

Patents and physical geography have paralleled each other for more than

six centuries. The systems, modules, instruments, strategies, material

processes, and devices disclosed in patents transform landscapes, construct

sites, and are integrated into the everyday environment. Patent law, and the

bureaucratic infrastructure that supports the global patent system, also

have geographical dimensions through the management of sequential

innovation, transfer of technology, and strategic initiatives at the intersection

of innovation and environment. The agency of patent law and patented

technology is particularly relevant today, as environmental systems and the

infrastructure of urban landscapes become more technologically advanced,

networked, logistical, and integrated, simultaneously expanding the disciplinary

scope of environmental design and planning disciplines while challenging

conventions of representation and praxis. This chapter explores

the geographical dimension of patents, representations of technology and

environment in patent documents, and the patent system’s role in creating

knowledge infrastructure and anticipatory governance for future planetary

management. Together these interconnected themes and histories offer a

critical reflection on the history of environmental