Burrow-Goldhahn, A;
(2008)
Spaces of Chernobyl: Emptiness and fullness, absence and presence.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
"Spaces of Chernobyl: Emptiness and Fullness, Absence and Presence" is a research project situated at the intersection of two discourses: the historically specific and the architectural. Underpinning and weaving its way through the report is a dialectic of spatial fullness and emptiness, of presence and absence, a theoretical framework that facilitates the development of a novel and layered perspective on the spaces and architectures of Chernobyl. Methodologically, these spaces are investigated through multi media representations available to an outside, Western European audience, including maps, photographic imagery, websites, written accounts and sound recordings. Representations are acknowledged as a valuable source of (mediated) knowledge and experience, and the report elucidates as much, if not more, about the representations themselves than the actual spaces they represent. In Section I, radiation, an immaterial danger that fills space but exists beyond our sensory capabilities, is discussed in terms of how it was geographically mapped after Chernobyl to make it (phenomenally and conceptually) present. Section 2 is an exploration of emptied architectures, spaces of former habitation evacuated of their inhabitants: the focus is on representations of the permanently abandoned city of Pripyat, mythologized as a dystopic space. Section 3 describes the phenomena of the empty space's new, resilient inhabitants: the reclaiming of space by nature the contaminated space reveals itself to be ecologically full. In Section 4, the Sarcophagus, the concrete and steel container that houses the ruined nuclear reactor, is discussed as a significant presence in the landscape, in terms of human activity and as a symbolic reminder of the Chernobyl disaster. In conclusion, general ramifications for architectural history and further questions are proposed, situating the research within wider debates on wasteland spaces, phenomenology and ocularcentnsm.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Spaces of Chernobyl: Emptiness and fullness, absence and presence |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. Third party copyright material has been removed from the ethesis. Images identifying individuals have been redacted or partially redacted to protect their identity. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1570346 |
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