1st Edition
Reimagining Industrial Sites Changing Histories and Landscapes
The discourse around derelict, former industrial and military sites has grown in recent years. This interest is not only theoretical, and landscape professionals are taking new approaches to the design and development of these sites. This book examines the varied ways in which the histories and qualities of these derelict sites are reimagined in the transformed landscape and considers how such approaches can reveal the dramatic changes that have been wrought on these places over a relatively short time scale.
It discusses these issues with reference to eleven sites from the UK, Germany, the USA, Australia and China, focusing specifically on how designers incorporate evidence of landscape change, both cultural and natural. There has been little research into how these developed landscapes are perceived by visitors and local residents. This book examines how the tangible material traces of pastness are interpreted by the visitor and the impact of the intangible elements - hidden traces, experiences and memories.
The book draws together theory in the field and implications for practice in landscape architecture and concludes with an examination of how different approaches to revealing and reimagining change can affect the future management of the site.
Preamble
1. Introduction
2. The qualities of derelict, underused and neglected sites
3. Eleven landscapes and their qualities
4. Designing to reveal change
‘Musing on the tracks – the first interlude
5. Perceptions of material and spatial qualities in developed sites
‘Temporalities at Orford Ness’ – the second interlude
6. Perceptions of temporal qualities in developed sites
‘My memories at Bentwaters’ - the third interlude
7. Perceptions of the qualities and their impact on memories
8. Implications for practice
9. Managing change
Biography
Catherine Heatherington was awarded her PhD (Landscape) from the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research focuses on people’s responses to landscape change and continuity in developed brownfield sites with particular emphasis on the implications for practice. Catherine is a landscape designer and consultant based in the UK and is a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers.
"The complex legacy of post-industrial and military landscapes presents ecological challenges across the world today, requiring close scrutiny and imaginative responses. Catherine Heatherington’s fine-grained exploration of the successful recuperation of the former gun-ranges at Rainham Marshes near London, along with other case studies, provides essential insights into how best to approach this new landscape condition. The book provides an invaluable resource for those who now manage such derelict and neglected sites and, ultimately, for the wider public - for whom they are the new landscapes of leisure and environmental renewal."
Ken Worpole, Emeritus Professor, Cities Institute, London Metropolitan University, UK
