Alta Velocita' / High Speed:
Treni e stazioni / Trains and Stations
by Editoriale Domus

The real relief of the high-speed train is only that of the irreversible arrow of time. The TGV can only be discribed from inside its journey. Walled into the tunnel of passing time, the voyeurs-voyageurs occupy not so much the carriages of a train as the acceleration of a displacement without emplacement. The metropolitics now announced will essentially require, in addition to major air and railway lines, electronic information highways and satellite networks capable of creating "the unity of time" for a telecommunication that has become universal. The future electronic highways will effect a general and instantaneous commutation of data that will foster a global decolonization of human activities. The former superiority of the spatial situation will bit by bit lose its historical importance, to the benefit of a protocol of temporary access to networks which will, with the routing of information, facilitate the instant connection of messages.

Comment: This Special was published in June 1996, Issue nr 4, and includes a.o. the following articles : 'La freccia del tempo / The Arrow of Time' , Paul Virilio on, pp 6 - 9; Il design/Design', Michele De Lucchi, pp 83 - 90.