A Manufactured Landscape
A manufactured landscape This work explores the rich layered landscape of the Gwent Levels and focuses its attention on man’s intervention in the landscape. The Romans reclaimed the land from the sea between the 2nd and 4th century A.D. The ‘reens’ or watercourses in the Gwent Levels evidence how the land has been managed and drained over the years. However, this landscape is under threat by a burgeoning society that seeks greater efficiency and growth in business. Government has proposed that a new motorway be built from Magor to Castleton. The M4 corridor is the main artery that connects London to South Wales and thus is seen as a major way of attracting new economic activity to South Wales. My project rejects the ideas of the romantic landscape in preference to a more utilitarian approach in that the work seeks to explore and identify changes in the environment and to raise questions about how technology facilitates advancement.