Reshaping Robert Adam's Landscape

Authors

  • Miguel Guitart Vilches Universidad de Zaragoza

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.201429343

Keywords:

Disurbanization, landscape transformation, landscape rediscovery, non-spaces' reshaping, order behind chaos

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the search for a preservation of Robert Adams’ transforming landscapes of the American West of the 1960s, through the relationship between his photography and the pessimistic discourse originated in the metropolises’ disurbanization following the cold war and the nuclear menace. Adams chose not to photograph the natural beauty of Colorado but to document, without irony, the transformation of that landscape by human activity. We will explore Adams’ idea of order behind the chaos and how the author understands how these apparent non-spaces are transformed into a new architecture by means of man´s intervention, unveiling the potential of the connections between the original landscape and the intruder. The work by Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Ed Ruscha, Robert Venturi and Edward Dimendberg will help understand Adams’ position in the artistic discourse of the 60s.

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Author Biography

Miguel Guitart Vilches, Universidad de Zaragoza

Miguel Guitart Vilches (Sevilla, 1973). Architect, designer, academic and writer from Madrid, Spain. He obtained his Ph.D. in Architecture Sum- ma Cum Laude in 2014 at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid ETSAM. He studied architecture at the ETSAM, obtaining his professional degree Cum Laude in 2000 and his Master’s Degree at the Graduate School of Design GSD at Harvard University, graduating in 2003 as a Fulbright Scholar. He has taught at EINA University of Zaragoza UNIZAR (Associate Professor 2013-), UPSAM University (Associate Professor 2006-2014), Boston Architectural Center (Teaching Fellow, 2002-2003), Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (Visiting Lecturer, 2013, 2012, 2010), Harvard University GSD (Visiting Critic, 2002) and ESNE-UCJC (Visiting Lecturer, 2011, 2012). Guitart has also lectured at the School of Architecture and Planning at the State University of New York at Buffalo SUNY B/a+p (2013), and at the School of Design and Construc- tion at Washington State University (2014).

References

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Published

2014-06-30

How to Cite

Guitart Vilches, M. (2014). Reshaping Robert Adam’s Landscape. ZARCH. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, (2), 186–197. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.201429343

Issue

Section

Miscellany