Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

May 19, 2012

Categorized | Architecture + Design, Art, Critical issues, Planet Earth

Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Posted on 14 November 2010. Tags: Architecture, ecological architecture, effects of climate change, suburbia, urbanism and planning, water shortage

American urban sprawl is rarely seen as attractive or even interesting, but see it from the air and the story changes.

urban sprawl Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Images © Christoph Gielen

These amazing images come from photographer Christoph Gielen, a German photographer who has captured the strange characteristics of urban development and visual impact of the mass developments around the world for years. Taken from a helicopter, Gielen manages to capture the true architectural essence of what these urban developments are all about. Master planning and geometry.

urban planning Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Images © Christoph Gielen

Whatever may catch your eye about these images, it is a stark reminder of what can happen when humans plow-on with progress without stopping to think about what the best collective urban solution for the future might be. Blinded by the vast areas available in a country as big as the US, developers and local authorities seem to have barely stopped to think about the global consequences of housing people further and further away from town center. Suburbia causes the need to spread like viruses over vast uninhabited landscapes for a bit of comfort and a bit of private garden. What they fail to realize is that these intricate ‘networks’ of suburban pockets carry a great burden to this planet. There is a need to travel further for groceries and basic services like water and sanitation have to be unnecessarily diverted and stretched beyond their needs. At a time where the car is being scrutinized and put under pressure to change the ‘old’ mentality of fuel for something cleaner, such as electricity, maybe it is time that architecture in the United states begin to acknowledge its part in this oil dependency mess.

“Sprawl is a really careless use of new land. I want people who look at my photos to start a reconsideration of how they live through my art”

Christoph Gielen

suburban Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Image © Christoph Gielen

suburban sprawl Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Image © Christoph Gielen

suburban hell Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Images © Christoph Gielen

suburban development Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Images © Christoph Gielen

stop urban development Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

Images © Christoph Gielen

population environment Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

population and environment Aerial Suburbia » American suburban sprawl captured from the air

For more amazing images visit the artist’s website or just fly over Las Vegas on Google Earth… it’s frightening!

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About Fermín Beltrán

Fermín Beltrán has worked in Architecture for many years gaining a wide range of real-world design and construction experience. He is fascinated by finding alternatives methods of creating modern architecture in ways that are sustainable, elegant, comfortable and functional. He has vast experience designing and constructing a wide array of buildings ranging from state-of-the-art music halls to social housing and even small holdings in South America. He is currently completing a Masters in Advanced Sustainability at the University of Dundee in Scotland Connect with him on » LinkedIn » and on Flickr

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