Landscape and Infrastructure : Reimagining the Pastoral Paradigm for the Twenty-First Century

Landscape and Infrastructure examines the relationship between infrastructure, nature and culture from the 17th century to the present. It looks at the ways in which infrastructure in the urban and rural landscape has been both celebrated and reviled, and provides powerful lessons for architects and landscape designers who are once more seeking to remarry nature, community, sustainability, and infrastructure. Part One of the book traces the history of infrastructural projects through paintings, architecture and landscape design, exploring how they have been variously represented through history as symbols of civic pride and progress, while at other times segregated and disparaged for pollution and poor conditions. Part Two shows how these are not merely historical considerations: from solar and wind farms, to water treatment facilities, waste to energy, and digital infrastructures, we find many of the same debates and challenges at play today. Within a broader historical and cultural context, it showcases the innovative work of contemporary designers who are finding inspiring new ways to reintegrate infrastructure projects into our landscapes and communities. By identifying historical precedents, this study sheds new light on contemporary debates and provides valuable insights into current discussions about infrastructure, landscape, and sustainability. "Landscape and Infrastructure examines the relationships between landscape painting and landscape design from the 17th century to the present, and contemporary infrastructure projects around the globe. These seemingly disparate subjects are united by a shared concern for the pastoral middle ground; a traditionally productive landscape. By focusing an art-historical lens on pre-industrial productive systems and the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the pastoral landscape tradition, we can gain a better understanding of how to weave new approaches to productive infrastructure systems (such as power generation, water filtration and food production) into our contemporary landscapes. With rising demand for clean energy, clean water, and locally-grown food, this study offers a historical perspective on how such systems can be integrated into our suburban and urban areas. Vestigial elements of the pastoral tradition have long held aesthetic sway in our suburbs, cities and national parks, both in Britain and America. Now, as new energy and water related projects encroach on these spaces, remnants of the pastoral play a crucial role in convincing neighborhood residents, municipal leaders, and energy companies or water authorities of the benefits of a neighboring infrastructure. This book investigates the history of that tradition and highlights the advantages it brings as we re-imagine infrastructure in the 21st century"-- Provided by publisher Landscape and Infrastructure examines the relationships between landscape painting and landscape design from the seventeenth century to the present, and contemporary infrastructure projects around the globe. These seemingly disparate subjects are united by a shared concern for the pastoral middle ground; a traditionally productive landscape. By focusing an art-historical lens on pre-industrial productive systems and the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the pastoral landscape tradition, we can gain a better understanding of how to weave new approaches to productive infrastructure systems (such as power generation, water filtration and food production) into our contemporary landscapes. With rising demand for clean energy, clean water, and locally-grown food, this study offers a historical perspective on how such systems can be integrated into our suburban and urban areas. Vestigial elements of the pastoral tradition have long held aesthetic sway in our suburbs, cities and national parks, both in Britain and America. Now, as new energy and water related projects encroach on these spaces, remnants of the pastoral play a crucial role in convincing neighborhood residents, municipal leaders, and energy companies or water authorities of the benefits of a neighboring infrastructure. This book investigates the history of that tradition and highlights the advantages it brings as we re-imagine infrastructure in the twenty-first century. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Infrastructure, Landscape, and the Pastoral Paradigm: A Tale of Two Projects 1 Landscape Painting and the Productive Pastoral Tradition 2 The Eighteenth-Century English Landscape: The Classic Pastoral and Its Productivity 3 The Industrial Revolution and Its Intrusion on the Landscape 4 A Growing Divide: Landscape and Infrastructure in Victorian Britain 5 Progress and Nature in the American Landscape 6 Infrastructure and Landscape in Early-Twentieth-Century England and America 7 Questioning the Infrastructure Paradigm in the Late Twentieth Century 8 Twenty-First-Century Power Generation: An Invitation to the Public 9 Clean Water and Recreation: New Approaches to Water Treatment Plants 10 Food, Community, and the Productive Landscape Conclusion: Reimagining the Pastoral Paradigm for the Twenty-First Century Bibliography Index