Special places: War
Redcliffe remembers the war years 1939-1949
Redcliffe is a coastal town north of Brisbane. In this website the local public library presents short spoken recollections by 17 residents. It evokes the life of a small town and its rural hinterland, affected by the Second World War,
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Chechen diary
Photographer James Hill’s record of the war in Chechnya. He presents a slide show with audio commentary. The stories are about people’s experience of the conflict, but their setting is always a strong element in the pictures.
»more»Modern ruins
Phillip Buehler’s dossier of ruined ships, railway stations, stadiums, hospitals, Worlds Fair sites, U-boat bunkers and other remarkable places. The author has a sharp eye — look at the other sections of his site too (linked from the home page).
»more»reCyclorama
For a Gettysburg sequel (see July 2000 below), reCyclorama presents a campaign to save architect Richard Neutra’s 1961 visitor centre at Gettysburg National Military Park. The building houses Paul Philippoteaux’s 1883 cyclorama painting of the Battle of Gettysburg.
This web site argues against plans to demolish the building and ‘restore’ the battlefield landscape. See pictures of this important modern building, read news of the conservation campaign and background pieces about 1960s park visitor centres. Pan around the huge circular battle painting with QuickTime VR.
Gettysburg battlefield
On 3 July 2000 a tourist lookout tower next to the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was demolished with explosives. The tower, privately built in 1974, was regarded as an eyesore and provoked a public campaign. A federal court decision allowed the US government to take over the tower and remove it from the landscape. This cnn.com news report includes links to other web sites, and even a video of the tower coming down.
»more»Nevada test site
A set of photographs of the site of more than a thousand nuclear test explosions between the 1950s and 1992. The photographs are the work of Jan W Faul, and prints are for sale.
»more»Castle Tioram
A statement of cultural significance for a site in the Scottish Highlands. It’s linked to a set of other conservation planning documents. A fascinating place, and an example of logical investigation and argument about how to conserve it. The authors acknowledge the influence of Australian conservation thinking, particularly the Illustrated Burra Charter.
Hanford Site Historic District
Hanford (near Richland, Washington, USA) .. was established in secrecy during the Second World War to produce plutonium for America’s nuclear weapons. Peak production years were reached in the 1960s when 9 production reactors were in operation at the Site. All weapons material production was halted in the late 1980s and the Site is now engaged in the world’s largest environmental cleanup project — Hanford is also the subject of a project (well documented on this web site) to conserve and interpret its historic significance.
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