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Monthly Archives: January 2016
Subnature: Architecture’s Other Environments
Nature is a governing feature of postindustrial architecture and planning. Few would contradict the notion that living in harmony with nature—with greenbelts, sunshine and beautifully-landscaped parks enhances our lives. In prioritising this mode of living we adopt an exclusionary definition … Continue reading
Isolated Building Studies
There’s something romantic about “nail houses”. That’s what China calls a building whose owners refuse to vacate in the face of mass redevelopment. The phenomenon came about when China’s population increase and flow towards urban centres began. As China’s cities … Continue reading
Non-Places
Marc Augé is a French anthropologist who, in many ways, is typical of continental social scientists in that he spends the majority of Non-Places providing a deep theoretical justification for his research, carefully situating it in particular strains of anthropology and … Continue reading
Photoessay: Derelict Newcastle
This is a portrait of city in perpetual stasis. The collection shows an unauthorised narrative of Newcastle behind fences, over walls and in places you’re not meant to look. Images of the Tyne Bridge are cultural shorthand for Newcastle. The greeny-blue steel … Continue reading
Jarrow Slake
Jarrow Slake was a large area of mudflats which would fill up and drain according to the level of the River Tyne. Industry sprouted along the Slake, with historical ordnance survey maps showing timbre ponds in the spot where the … Continue reading
Rank Hovis Flour Mill
If you have ever eaten bread in Britain, chances are you’ve tasted the output of Hull’s Rank Hovis Flour Mill. The facility opened in 1952 as Clarence Mill and closed in 2005. This mill was a direct replacement for one on … Continue reading
South Tyneside College
This is the Hebburn campus of South Tyneside College, which closed in 2011 owing to unsustainable upkeep costs. The full site was demolished in 2015.
Clasper Village Estate
For over five years Gateshead Council has been forcibly rehousing the residents of the Clasper Village Estate on the banks of the River Tyne. The estate was built in the 1960s and within 30 years had succumbed to problems created … Continue reading
Hyperart: Thomasson
“Thomasson” is the term coined by Japanese conceptual artist Genpei Akasegawa to describe vestigial remains of the urban past that can be found in any city around the world. These are the staircases that don’t lead to dead ends, the … Continue reading
