OAT 2019 is a triennial of architecture that under the spell of "The Architecture of Degrowth," brings together architects, artists, and cultural agents with proposals on the topic. For the 5th edition of the Oslo Architecture Triennale, AC/E supports the participation of Spanish artists Pep Avilés and Laia Celma Adrover to present the project "Scorched Earth: Ecological Rites and the Architecture of Abandonment".
Centralia was a mining town founded in 1842 in Pennsylvania. During the earlier decades, Centralia became a flourishing, thriving community thanks to the richness of the anthracite coal mines operating in the region. The town continued increasing its population sparked by railroad construction and welcomed migrants contributing to the economy of coal extraction well into the twentieth century. In the postwar years, its population reached a peak of 2000 inhabitants. In 2018, only seven of them remain.
Given the environmental conditions in which Centralia’s degrowth took place, the project proposes an energy ritual acting as a remedial memorial as well as resource to generating new forms of social and architectural organization in abandoned mining towns. The system will claim the burning energy for the reconsideration of political and environmental post-industrial settlements. This technology is already feasible and the energy, ready for "dépense."
Centralia was a mining town founded in 1842 in Pennsylvania. During the earlier decades, Centralia became a flourishing, thriving community thanks to the richness of the anthracite coal mines operating in the region. The town continued increasing its population sparked by railroad construction and welcomed migrants contributing to the economy of coal extraction well into the twentieth century. In the postwar years, its population reached a peak of 2000 inhabitants. In 2018, only seven of them remain.
Given the environmental conditions in which Centralia’s degrowth took place, the project proposes an energy ritual acting as a remedial memorial as well as resource to generating new forms of social and architectural organization in abandoned mining towns. The system will claim the burning energy for the reconsideration of political and environmental post-industrial settlements. This technology is already feasible and the energy, ready for "dépense."