Mainly ignored within architectural discourse, motorways are megastructures in the landscape – enormous in size they traverse nations and international borders.
Although for hundreds of miles motorways lay upon the landscape without incident, the geographical area between the Alps and Naples contains a variety of complex topographies and urban conditions, sites rich in moments where the motorway architecture transcends function to become poetic.
As a recipient of the AA’s inaugural Research Publications Fellowship, within this lecture Sue Barr will discuss how large format topographical photography can be used to identify incidents of the sublime within the landscapes of motorway architecture.
Sue Barr is Head of Photography at the AA and holds a PhD from the Royal College of Art. She works and exhibits internationally, most recently as part of AutoPhoto at the Foundation Cartier in Paris.
Image: Viaduc des Egratz. 2015