"Time is the substance I am made of". Human Impermanence and Architectural Objects in Contemporary Antarctica

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Pre-Recorded Video Presentation Things and the Global Antarctica", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The prevailing image of Antarctica as a natural and pristine territory has been reinforced by the Treaty System policies on environmental protection toward the minimization of human impact. In this framework, humans have been perceived as transient visitors and 'things' as removable objects. This presentation discusses the notion of human impermanence in Antarctica through the architectural analyses of buildings that entered the Antarctic scene in the 1970s.This study is focused on architectural objects meant to be used in Antarctica for a short period of time but that have lingered on there for decades. Two case studies are presented: the dome of the SouthPole (1975), built by the United States based on the ideas of the architect Buckminster Fuller, and the Igloo Satellite cabin bought by Australia to the Tasmanian designer Malcolm Wallhead (1970).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Pre-Recorded Video Presentation Things and the Global Antarctica   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow