Cultural Landscapes

Organised by a research group at Madrid's UPM School of Architecture, an exhibition sheds light onto the spatial aspects of Spanish energy production infrastructure.

At the Spanish capital's La Arquería de Nuevos Ministerios, students from the Architecture department of the Politecnico de Madrid have coordinated the “Cultural Landscapes of Energy” exhibition, which seeks to divulge, in an informative and entertaining fashion, the spatial aspects of Spanish energy production infrastructure whilst exploring its cultural, territorial, aesthetic and heritage values.

"Research on the national energy system often establishes abstract models linking production flows, economic value and even pollution, leaving behind the spatial and cultural aspects of energy," the exhibition's curatorial statement claims, offering that "industrial environments for energy production are some of the more complex and relevant territorial systems." The reflection demanded by this scenario should include the consideration of the interaction between energy and society when planning for sustainable territorial and economic development.

Top and above: "Cultural Landscapes of Energy", installation view at La Arquería de Nuevos Ministerios, Madrid

The exhibition builds an atlas of parts of the Spanish territory where energy industry is deployed with greater intensity, seeking to delve deeper into their economic, social and cultural reality. Maps, tactile cartographies, newspaper covers, models, documentaries, film clippings, photographs, material samples and sound registers reveal the parameters for an integral approach to energy landscapes supplying the Spanish urban environments.

"Cultural Landscapes of Energy", installation view at La Arquería de Nuevos Ministerios, Madrid
"Cultural Landscapes of Energy", installation view at La Arquería de Nuevos Ministerios, Madrid