INDUSTRIAL / POST-INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE

INDUSTRIAL/POST-INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE

Landscape of civilisation development or degraded natural environment forming part of the cultural landscape. Other name: industrial (post-industrial) or engineering landscape,

The industrial landscape was created as a result of the processes of development, settlement and urbanisation, lasting from the Neolithic period to contemporary times. Therefore, it is the result of human activity consisting in urbanisation of areas, exploitation of natural resources and construction of the industrial and road infrastructure. The dominant elements of the industrial landscape are the forms created as a result of landscape exploitation (heaps, quarries, excavations, gravel pits), industrial structures (chimneys, water towers, oil derricks or mining shafts), engineering structures (bridges, embankments, dams, canals, flood banks), municipal infrastructure (power plants, power lines, gas supply facilities, water supply systems), transport infrastructure (railway lines, roads, ports, quarries, depots). This landscape is sometimes negatively perceived by the local population due to the associated interference with the natural landscape, overexploitation of natural resources, degradation and pollution of the environment. The post-industrial landscape is an area where industrial or operational activities have ceased, but where the effects of these activities are still visible in the form of a devastated environment or infrastructure remnants.

The rapid development of the industrial landscape occurred with the advent of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century. The transformation of the landscape was followed by Hoskins, who has shown how economic development and industrialisation over the centuries changed the natural landscape, introducing foreign forms into it: from windmills and water mills, through mines, to factories and adjoining workers’ housing estates, which over time grew into larger urban complexes. Landscape transformations are continuous, but their evaluation is changing: many buildings previously associated with industrialisation (e.g. windmills) are now regarded as monuments blended into the landscape, while their modern forms (e.g. wind turbines) are perceived as strongly interfering with the landscape.

One of the important reasons for the industrialisation of the landscape was the development of means of transport (railways, cars, airplanes) and the transport infrastructure. Changes in this area improved the movement of people and goods and caused a change in the experience of time and space. In the 19th century, newly built railway lines often crossed attractive scenic areas, demolishing the natural landscape. Contemporary highways (post-humanistic according to Baudrillard) eliminate the old (anthropological) road network, marking out new routes that promote some landscapes and while hiding others. The space itself has been reorganised as a result of changes in the landscape: motorways, petrol stations, airports, parking lots, billboards by the roads make it difficult to distinguish between natural and artificial landscapes.

Over-exploitation, environmental degradation or depletion of natural resources has led to the emergence of a post-industrial landscape over time. It is characterised by changes in the lay of the land in the form of artificial expositions of the soil, excavations or embankments. They are accompanied by often abandoned, mostly devastated architectural infrastructure. The post-industrial landscape can be the object of two types of activities: it is protected as an element of the historical and cultural heritage (by including culturally valuable complexes on the UNESCO heritage list) or it is the subject of reclamation and restoration of the local community (by creating city parks, museums, cultural centres). The tradition of reclamation of post-industrial areas dates back to the 19th century (e.g. Buttes-Chaumont park in Paris was built on the site of an abandoned quarry). Today, similar activities are facilitated by heightened ecological awareness, botanical gardens and environmental education centres (e.g. the Eden Project in Cornwall) are being created in the excavations.

Interest in the industrial landscape is reflected, among others, in post-industrial tourism. Edensor wrote about the post-industrial landscape as degraded architecture, which still has a sensual potential, in the context of ruins. The post-industrial landscape has also become a space for artistic activities, especially in the landart, eco-art, earthwork or art of recovery. Herman Prigann (mines in Germany) and Robert Smithson (mines in the Netherlands) are representatives of post-industrial landscape art. In Poland, one of the first artistic projects in the post-industrial landscape were the activities of Konrad Jarodzki in the Turów Mine in 1971 and Jan Berdyszak on post-mining heaps.

[B .F., M. K.]

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