Gunpowder Park: A Case Study of Post-Industrial Reinhabitation

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2008-09

Authors

Tyman, Shannon K., 1981-

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon

Abstract

As urbanization increases, there is growing pressure upon derelict and contaminated sites (i.e. brownfields) for new development. Creatively (re)considering these post-industrial spaces is essential to ecological health. Ecology, as philosopher Felix Guattari has observed, is not a simple equation but a complex of relations. As the landscape plays a critical role in mediating the human-nature relationship, the recomposition of our landscapes may enable a new quality of (postmodern, urban) life. Just outside of Greater London, Gunpowder Park provides an example of a munitions testing site that is now a park for arts, science, and nature. The new alliances developing on this site stress an artistic perspective and thus gesture toward dwelling differently. Synthesized from bioregionalism and Guattari' s ethico-aesthetic paradigm, reinhabitation is developed as a place-engaged, politically-active, ethically-attentive, and aesthetically-inspired lifestyle through which to take responsibility for our landscapes and seek new relationships with ourselves and the world around us.

Description

xi, 115 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.

Keywords

Citation