Thomas Zeller, Univ. of Maryland, speaking at the Routes conference

 

International conference

Routes, Roads and Landscapes: Aesthetic Practices en route

Venue: The Oslo School of Architecture and Design

Date: 24th-25th September 2009

Click here for the conference program

Click here for short bios of routes-conference-speakers

click here for info on ingrid book & Carina Hedén’s routes conference exhibition: ‘produced landscapes’

If ‘landscape’ is defined as culturally configured nature, then infrastructure may be considered the single most important factor generating it. The route makes nature accessible, defining our viewpoint towards it and conditioning our involvement with it. As such, paths, roads and railways constitute poignant meeting points between nature and culture, representing as well as facilitating our relation to the natural world. This two day conference sets out to investigate the ways in which various kinds of routes have shaped modern conceptions of the landscape by framing it as a view, an aesthetic object, or a place for interaction. We will inquire into the role of the route itself, both as an aesthetic object and as a setting for aesthetic practices.

In order to elucidate these topics, the Routes project invited a series of outstanding international scholars from many fields for a two day conference. We also invited scholars and students to submit abstracts related to the following conference topics (see below).  

Topic A) The Landscape Invented

This session discussed pictorial and textual representations of landscapes, ranging from 18th century topographical literature and prospects to the scenic landscapes of 19th century national romanticism. Key note speakers in this session included the architectural historian Finola O’Kane from University College Dublin and the geographer Charles Withers from the University of Edinburgh. Open session speakers were cultural historian Brita Brenna from the University of Oslo and architectural historian and PhD student Elsa Lam from Columbia University, New York.

Topic B) Haptic Routes

This session investigated the journey as an “aisthetic” interchange between material and experiential phenomena, where the road and the landscape become arenas for a wide range of aesthetic practices. The key note speaker to this session was the philosopher Gernot Böhme, professor emeritus at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Open session speakers were literature scholar Janike Kampevold Larsen from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, the freelance art historian Jørgen Lund, and the historian and PhD student Josephine Hoegaerts from KU Leuven.

Topic C) The Route as Experience and Interchange

This session looked at historical as well as contemporary understandings of the route, its cultural significance and its epistemological impact. The session included a key note speech by the historian David Nye from the University of Southern Denmark and open session papers by philosopher Beate Elvebakk from the Norwegian Institute of Transport Economics, sociologist  and PhD student Daryl Martin from University of York, sociologist Daniel Nordmark from Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, and anthropologist Gro Ween from the University of Oslo.

Topic D) Mobility as Icon and Occurrence

Mobility has been invested with a multitude of cultural and aesthetic significances in the 19th and 20th centuries. This session investigated some of the ways in which mobility takes on a cultural meaning in modern society. Key note speakers were the cultural geographer Tim Cresswell from University of London, Royal Holloway and the landscape historian Alessandra Ponte from the University of Montreal. Open session papers were presented by art historian Even Smith Wergeland, AHO, architect David Peleman from the University of Ghent, and historian Thomas Zeller from the University of Maryland, US: