The Built Ocean, EAHN Porto
Architects require solid ground on which to base their practice, yet oceans have always been a key element shaping the history of architecture and the built environment. The EAHN thematic conference The Built Ocean shifts the focus of architectural history from the land to the sea. It will address the planet’s bodies of salt water either as areas of increasing urbanization (through the building of structures such as underwater cables, oil rigs, windmills, etc.), as connectors between space and cultures (navigation routes for people and resources, transported in the form of knowledge, labour, and materials), or as an ecosystem functioning, in connection with the land, as an essential life-support system (defining climatic patterns, providing resources from food to raw materials, and securing services from carbon sequestration to large-scale habitats). The conference brings together scholars representing a wide range of interdisciplinary knowledge to cover a broad chronological scope, from deep history and archaeological sources to more recent accounts of ecological decline and potential futures. Where is the architecture of the sea? To what extent does the built environment impact saltwater landscapes? What reciprocal impacts do seascapes have on the built environment?
Erik Langdalen presented the paper «Oceanic monuments» on the provenance of the offshore petroleum industry as hyper monuments. Mari Lending sat on the scientific committee and chaired the panel on “Images”.
