A contemporary archaeology of Londons mega events from the Great Exhibition to London 2012
"Contemporary Archaeology of London's Mega Events explores the traces of London's most significant modern 'mega events'. Though only open for a few weeks or months, mega events permanently and disruptively reshape their host cities and societies: they demolish and rebuild wh...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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London
UCL Press
2022, 2022
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| Collection: | JSTOR Open Access Books - Collection details see MPG.ReNa |
| Summary: | "Contemporary Archaeology of London's Mega Events explores the traces of London's most significant modern 'mega events'. Though only open for a few weeks or months, mega events permanently and disruptively reshape their host cities and societies: they demolish and rebuild whole districts, they draw in materials and participants from around the globe and their organisers self-consciously seek to leave a 'legacy' that will endure for decades or more. With London as his case study, Jonathan Gardner argues that these spectacles must be seen as long-lived and persistent, rather than simply transient or short-term. Using a novel methodology drawn from the field of contemporary archaeology - the archaeology of the recent past and present-day - a broad range of comparative studies are used to explore the long-term history of each event. These include the contents and building materials of the Great Exhibition's Crystal Palace and their extraordinary 'afterlife' at Sydenham, South London; how the Festival of Britain's South Bank Exhibition employed displays of ancient history to construct a new post-war British identity; and how London 2012, as the latest of London's mega events, dealt with competing visions of the past as archaeology, waste and heritage in its efforts to create a positive legacy for future generations."-- |
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| Item Description: | Title from PDF document (viewed May 24, 2022) |
| Physical Description: | xvi, 288 pages illustrations |
| ISBN: | 9781800082427 9781787358478 9781787358454 9781787358461 1787358461 178735847X 1800082428 1787358453 |