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Csepely-Knorr, L., Coucill, L., 2018.

Territories of Power: Landscapes for Public Amenity

Output Type:Conference paper
Presented at:KSA Create Biennial Conference 2018. From Building to Continent: How Architecture makes Territories
Publication:Https://research.kent.ac.uk/frombuildingtocontinent/wp-content/uploads/sites/106/2018/05/Abstracts-List.pdf
Venue:University of Kent, Canterbury
Dates:28/6/2018 - 29/6/2018

Power generation in post-war Britain was characterised by size, scale and the uncertainty of unprecedented technologies. As such, it demanded new locations, away from populated centres, and new approaches to design. This paper will explore how this setting generated two new territories of power; one geographical and one operational.

New territories emerged as architects and landscape architects explored the manifestation of power generation in areas of protected land, such as coastlines, national parks and designated areas of outstanding natural beauty. In these new landscapes, where industry converged with nature, protecting visual amenity became a core duty of the commissioning authority, the newly nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). Consequently, interdisciplinary design cooperation, particularly across engineering, architecture and landscape architecture, gained currency during this period and the operational territories of designers and the CEGB began to merge.

This paper will explore the territories of amenity and interdisciplinary cooperation. Through the analysis of key examples of power stations, the research will shed light on how the scale of development required by new electricity generating complexes designed new geographical territories, and how the complexity of this design task resulted in new, exemplary operational territories in design cooperation.