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ETD Abstract Container

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Sentinels of The Anthropocene: Investigating an Architecture of The Contemporary Sublime

Funkhouser, Todd
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1623242131059292

Abstract Details

2021, MARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
Humanity currently lacks direction for the future; society must fundamentally change its ways of living and existing. Societies have shifted away from their agrarian past, and many cities are confronted with densification to accommodate an endless flow of new urbanites. Cities are requiring excessive infrastructure to barely produce enough energy and water for the growing populations. Consequently, large regions of the country are left geologically ravaged and discarded once they no longer provide resources for the burgeoning society. If humanity does not reflect and understand what lies ahead, more of the Earth will be devastated in the name of progress. This outlook fuels a new type of architectural discourse, not sustainable, not green, not efficient, but rather pensive and reflective. The new architecture seeks to arrest viewers’ attention then release them into a state of introspection and contemplation much like the sublime artwork and literature of the 18th and 19th centuries. These new approaches need used where they are most impactful: in the presence of humanity’s ecological transgressions to exploit the tensions between historical devastation and existential revelation. An example of this environment is the Inglewood Oilfields in Los Angeles, California. The oilfields are one of the largest undeveloped pieces of land in Los Angeles representing the fraught history of the city’s role in the Industrial Revolution. The richness of the Oilfield’s landscape and history combined with methodologies of the contemporary sublime inform the architecture deployed. Sublime architecture, sculpture, and landscape photography conceptually underpin experiences created in this landscape providing moments of repose, remembrance, and existential reflection. The cumulative experiential effect will provoke visitors to reflect on histories of times past by standing as a reminder of where humanity has been and the future it is tasked with creating.
Michael McInturf, M.Arch. (Committee Chair)
Elizabeth Riorden, M.Arch. (Committee Member)
107 p.
Architecture
Anthropocene; Sublime; Wellness; Los Angeles; Post Industrial Landscape; Photography

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Funkhouser, T. (2021). Sentinels of The Anthropocene: Investigating an Architecture of The Contemporary Sublime [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1623242131059292

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Funkhouser, Todd. Sentinels of The Anthropocene: Investigating an Architecture of The Contemporary Sublime. 2021. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1623242131059292.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Funkhouser, Todd. "Sentinels of The Anthropocene: Investigating an Architecture of The Contemporary Sublime." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1623242131059292

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1623242131059292
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© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.