On April 16, Associate Professor of Design and American Studies Javier Arbona-Homar discussed his new book Explosivity: Following What Remains (University of Minnesota Press, April 2025) at Shaping San Francisco. His presentation is now accessible online.

In Explosivity, Arbona-Homar closely studies violent episodes — many of which are actual explosions — that occurred in the Bay Area from 1866 to 2011. Framed within landscape studies and urban geography, Arbona-Homar proposes a novel approach for how such episodes should be treated in the public’s memory. Arbona-Homar addresses the geography of memorials, critical military studies, and social practice art in his presentation for Shaping San Francisco. Specially commissioned site photography by artist Andrea Gaffney accompanies conceptual musings on sites of explosions.