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Project

On Worn Out Landscapes. Mapping Wasteland in the Charleroi and Veneto Central Territories

Across Europe wastelands apparently show great similarities; however, they are intrinsically different.
Going beyond the idea of brownfields, this thesis focuses on the meaning of wasteland in the European territories. Moreover, this research studies the analysis and interpretation of the genesis of wasteland as a concept that has crossed conventional classifications, and in the prospect of investigating its territorial dimension. In order to address this issue, the thesis states that wastelands can be interpreted as dynamic and complex landscape elements that continue to interact with the urban territory while revealing new relations all told.
Firstly, the thesis observes how different productive models have left distinctive traces across the territory, via the analysis of two case studies, namely those of the Charleroi region (BE) and the Veneto central area (IT). The selected areas embody the traces of the conclusion of two models of industrial production, respectively Fordist and post Fordist. The encounter between diverse transformations in the productive, social, and environmental models of these two territories has generated different wasteland situations that are often generalised and over-simplified. To disclose this complexity, this thesis proposes a threefold approach: a territorial survey, the construction of a series of narratives, and a mapping exercise.
This approach enables an “invisible” landscape to appear and to be named: a crowded and composite milieu that more conventional figures and ground readings are incapable of grasping or engaging.
Furthermore, this thesis reconstructs a discourse on the contemporary urban approaches to wasteland that have developed over the last 50 years. During this time, three main perspectives on wasteland and territory in general have been developed and criticised: an anthropocentric interpretation, an ecological interpretation, and finally a cyclical approach.
Lastly, the thesis investigates, through historical cartographic explorations, how wasteland has shifted and simplified according to spatial value construction. Based on the idea that maps can be considered the representation of social intention on the territory, the thesis explains how the notion of wasteland transforms accordingly with the technological and cultural concept of productivity.

Date:28 Jun 2013 →  27 Oct 2017
Keywords:wasteland, landscape urbanism, mapping
Disciplines:Architectural engineering, Architecture, Interior architecture, Architectural design, Art studies and sciences
Project type:PhD project