Deindustrialization without end: smokestacks as postindustrial monuments

Abstract

This photographic essay explores how obsolete smokestacks were recast as postindustrial monuments in the urban design-led “reconstruction” of Barcelona since the 1970s. Within the context of the “long goodbye” of deindustrialization, the accompanying text traces how industrial chimneys were re-signified and monumentalized. The images, result of a photographic survey of all remaining smokestacks in the city, frame these industrial obelisks within the transformation of their surrounding landscapes. They constitute a key element of an ongoing investigation melding creative practice and qualitative research, in which I argue that serial photography and participatory curatorial practice can elucidate the ambivalent experiences of deindustrialization.