From the technological sublime to the urban pastoral: rethinking urban and industrial landscapes

The workshop series will focus on four interrelated themes:

i) The shaping of modern industrial landscapes:
How have large-scale technologies such as dams, roads and pylons shaped our
understanding of landscape and urban space? In what ways has the term
'technological sublime' been deployed to explore these kinds of landscapes?

ii) Critical responses to spaces of industrial decline and abandonment:
How have processes if industrial decline affected the meaning and interpretation
of urban and industrial?

iii) The use of the term pastoral in relation to the contemporary city:
How can we use the term 'urban pastoral' to conceptualize the return of nature in
post-industrial city both as a focus of artistic practice and also as a pivotal element in
new urban ecologies and approaches to planning and design?

iv) The emergence of critical debates surrounding the cinematic sublime:
How have urban technological networks been presented in cinematic depictions of
the city? What is the relation between virtual and materials urban landscapes and
their mediation through contemporary city?