How Ruins Acquire Aesthetic Value: Modern Ruins, Ruin Porn, and the Ruin Tradition

Whitehouse, Tanya

This book provides the first recent philosophical account of how ruins acquire aesthetic value.  It draws on a variety of sources to explore modern ruins, the ruin tradition, and the phenomenon of “ruin porn.”  It features an unusual and original combination of philosophical analysis, the author’s photography, and reviews of both new and historically influential case studies, including Richard Haag’s Gas Works Park, the ruins of Detroit, and remnants of the steel industry of Pennsylvania.  Tanya Whitehouse shows how the users of ruins can become architects of a new order, transforming derelict sites into aesthetically significant places we should preserve.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Pivot

Publication Date: 2018-12-12

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9783030030643

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-03065-0

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 122