A narrative companion to the buildings, structures and infrastructures that accumulate around borders. If cities were the 20th century's favourite playground, borders are the laboratory for globalised phenomena in the 21st century. Hotspots for migrants, barbed wire, green borders, checkpoints, go-slow for cross-border workers, crypto-currency mining farms, casinos, brothels, tax havens: all are to be found on the border. To date, borders lack a political project. In order to realize that project, the authors of Orae worked in situ with those living in border regions in Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Lichtenstein, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Eritrea. They have started to imagine, describe and model the real territory and a potential project for it. "Orae" is a Latin word synonymous with borders. This guide invites readers on a journey inside orae, in a succession of fragmentary narratives from borders and the imaginations of those living in their vicinity.
