Hallmanns: Energy Landscapes (completed)

Mia Hallmanns, M.A.: Energy Landscapes: The In/Visibility of Energy in the Landscape

As a natural resource, energy is essential for our life on earth. In the context of climate change, the question of the use of renewable energy sources is therefore of great importance. The research project focuses on a contemporary analysis of the term 'energy' in the course of the energy transition and the need to integrate energy infrastructure, such as wind or solar power, into the landscape. Landscapes are increasingly shaped by technological infrastructure, which raises the question about to design the landscapes of the future.

The project explores the relationship between landscape and energy, nature and technology. The aim is to define the multi-layered concept of 'energy landscapes' with its ecological, techno-economic, social, and cultural layers. We can perceive technical installations such as wind turbines in the landscape or the related  transformation of urban space. However, energy itself is not accessible to the human senses. It can only be perceived as an effect and in its infrastructural anchors. In addition, there are cultural patterns of perception that are inscribed in energy landscapes that need to be taken into account. The project thus addresses the question of the imaginary of energy, its in/visibility in the landscape. On this basis, a further focus of the research project is to explore possibilities for the aesthetic design of energy landscapes.