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| Oil rigs on the shore of the Tay. |
Three vast towers of criss-crossed steel loom over warehouses and apartment blocks, their tension and verticality in stark contrast with the flat, grey expanse of the estuary. These improbable apparitions sit upon a base which appears to be a solid mass of rivets and metal, its strange irregular bulk makes it seem like an extension of the concrete wharf. The notion that this surreal, fragile structure can even float seems to stretch credulity, let alone the image of it standing up to the tumult and violence of weather on the North Sea.
Oil rigs, anchored in the port while undergoing repairs, have become a familiar feature in Dundee. Their strange forms have joined the spires and tower blocks as part of the city’s skyline.
What is it about these industrial mega-structures that is so striking and captivating? Perhaps the fact that while they are often huge in size, they are without scale. They relate to a world of industrial activities completely removed from the human scale of our everyday environments. This makes these objects profoundly alien to us. We are used to observing buildings and intuitively understanding their purpose and how they are occupied. Lacking the common language of doors, windows, streets and steps, these objects appear more like sculptures than architecture. Trying to understand them is like reading hieroglyphs, individual symbols or forms may be recognisable, but the whole remains stubbornly abstract.
In some respects these structures are more like the cliffs and canyons of the natural world than something made by man. They exist at a wildly different scale from the rest of our build environment and although we may perceive some logic or system behind their formation, it is a process beyond our everyday understanding
That abstraction, that lack of scale, that strange, somewhat intimidating presence is what makes these industrial artefacts a valuable addition to our built environment. They are a reminder that the pragmatic can also be dramatic, that the useful can also be beautiful. Our industrial structures and civil infrastructure have the potential to be a source of excitement and spectacle within our cities.
Viaducts, bridges, substations and gasometers are present in every city in the world, but they need not be treated as necessary evils. They can be celebrated for the opportunity they present to enliven the city, to bring a touch of sculpture, scale and drama to the skyline.
