Atlas of the mining habitat, volume 1: Northern France, From Building to Continent: How Architecture Makes Territories

Niemann, Sebastian;Ledent, Gérald
(2018) From Building to Continent: How Architecture makes Territories, Centre for Research in European Architecture — Location: University of Kent, Canterbury

Files

No attached file found for this publication.

Details

Authors
Abstract
The coal basin extending from Northern France to the Ruhr area was exploited from the beginning of the 19th century on. Literally based on the geological characteristics of the territory and entailing the realisation of all necessary equipment and infrastructures, it constitutes a unique cultural landscape. Originaly sparsely populated, the territory was dramatically transformed by the , massive construction of housing inherent to the mining industry. This research produces an atlas illustrating the joint development of the coal industry and habitat. It consists in the representation by architectural drawing of exemplary realisations at various scales (territory, settlement, housing). Their comparative analysis displays the specific characteristics of the mining habitat and its evolution, as a genuine architectural type. Furthermore, beyond the study of the buildings themselves, it enlightens the interdependence of uses and spaces. This research adds an important chapter to the scientific work, which is in its architectural point of view complementary existing ones. It also strengthens an understanding of the “type” as an evolving relationship between uses and spaces. The type originates in a specific territory, summarizing its very identity. It can thus be pictured as the leitmotif through the history of the territory and the evolution of its structure at all scales.
Affiliations

Citations

  • APA
  • Chicago
  • FWB

Niemann, S., & Ledent, G. (2018). Atlas of the mining habitat, volume 1: Northern France, From Building to Continent: How Architecture Makes Territories. From Building to Continent: How Architecture makes Territories, Centre for Research in European Architecture, University of Kent, Canterbury. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/172745