Exploring architectural history through the Petroleumscapes of the Randstad to imagine new fossil-free futures

Abstract

Architectural history in the 21st century is expanding beyond its traditional focus on specific styles, materials, or building typologies and on famous architects, iconic movements, or paradigmatic cities. Following other historical fields that have embraced more complex approaches and adopted new analytical frameworks, architectural historians are exploring themes such as human relations, transnational networks, and cross-cultural exchanges. While changing their disciplinary scope, they are also finding novel ways to engage contemporary discussions – such as the ones held in Paris in December 2015 as part of COP21 on climate change, rising sea-levels, and sustainable energy futures beyond oil. In order to understand this complex present and to meaningfully imagine new futures, they can critically explore histories of iconography, symbolism, and imaginaries of select architecture and vernacular built form, analyzing their social, cultural, economic and aesthetic values.ArchitectureArchitecture and The Built Environmen