The City of Shades

This online zine invites readers to confront the crisis of our climate cultures by shifting their gaze away from the sun and toward the protective architecture of shades. Recognizing that extreme heat is no longer a distant event but a chronic, unequal urban reality, the text challenges the modern heliocentric tradition that celebrates irradiation while ignoring the vital need for shelter. It argues that modern infrastructures have become “hopelessly problematic,” necessitating a radical redescription of urban habitability—one that places shades at the center of our thinking rather than as a mere absence of light. Through an ethnographic and evolutionary lens, the zine explores “sheltered thinking” as a crucial tool for survival. It traces a long, interspecific history of finding refuge, from the subterranean burrows of our ancestors to the microclimates produced by the “terraforming” power of trees. By framing shades as a way to think protected from the sun’s scorching heat, the work functions as a sensory field guide for a warming planet. It encourages a shift in perception where shadows are seen as active, life-sustaining interfaces that allow for figure-ground distinctions and provide the necessary respite for urban life to persist. Ultimately, the zine calls for an “umbrology” of the city: a practice of documenting and cultivating these cooling fragments to invent more plural and caring ways of living in an era of climatic mutation.