Geoglyph

Geoglyph, also geoglyph or geoglyph is called a large area on the ground shaped, drawn in lines or formed by street and road trains figure often of several hundred meters size. In urban planning such figurations based pictorially the functions, location and social relations as functional organizational structure ( of interdependence ).

Prehistoric geoglyphs

Due to their dimensions they are often only seen from the air and can survive for extended periods without being obliterated by denudation processes. Often associated with these picture types and functions. The in the form of large zoomorphic objects (horse, whale, monkey, dog, anteater, condor, hummingbird (coordinates 14 ° 41 ' 32 " S, 75 ° 8' 57 " W 14.692222222222 75.149166666667 - ), Parrot, Chaucato, Flamingo, Frigate, Pelican, snake, spider, lizard, dragonfly, elk ( coordinates 54 ° 56 ' 33 "N, 59 ° 11' 32 " O54.942559.192222222222 ) ) as well as plant species such as trees, flowers and spices heaped forms such as Indian Mounds in North America are mostly tombs ( Serpent Mound, Jackson, Ohio) and pointing at the line systems and animals scratching images of Nazca, known as the Nazca Lines in Peru is a connection with underground water collection systems have been observed. Also there are suspicions that the area of this today Nazca Desert in the time of the establishment of these geoglyphs was fertile land, but which slowly became a desert due to climate change. Accordingly, these figures could have also illustrated homage to the gods.

Geoglyphs created by removing the top layer of dark rock, gravel or soil, so that a brighter underlayer is visible. The visible parts then make the actual drawing of scratching image represents a comparable example in Europe is the White Horse of Uffington Hill ( England).

Geoglyphs in the figurative urban planning

The Figurative Urban Development uses the organization of urban space widely applied geoglyph Deities.

Geoglyphs as pictorial classification systems in modern urban

The geoglyphs comparable figures are used as " organic forms " in the modern urban planning for the organization of functions and orientation. This organization forms dissolve the requirement for an "organic architecture" a, by incorporating each component in the framework of the knitted Office concept.

• The Lúcio Costa in 1956 designed plan scheme of the capital Brasília is an aircraft figuration ( Plano Piloto ). The administrative buildings are located here in the cockpit area.
• Rovaniemi, partly or wholly designed in Finland as kneeling, right-pointing Reindeer by Alvar Aalto. The coastal road is distinguished from the knee (district Korvanniemi ) over the head approach ( Terveyskeskus ), to muzzle the outline ( Korvanranta to Koskenranta ). Here the head is where the antlers formed from streets and terraced houses. In the " heart " of this figuration are the administration buildings.
• Paolo Soleri has expanded the theory of geoglyph used as an urban -order image of the people of Mesa City Project as Arcology and realized in Arcosanti in Arizona. A discussion of these architectural theory published David Grierson.
• The city of Lignano Sabbiadoro wanted Rob Krier 2000 form with a road network of human outline.
• In various construction projects in the former Yugoslavia as for Vela Luca lives in Paris, artist Ricardo Porro (* 1925) is concerned with the possibilities of functional -figurative architecture in the form of walk- human images.
• Artificial Islands Palm Islands (Dubai ), whose center since 2003 builds the British architectural firm RMJM.
• In the Netherlands 2007 will be discussed at a polder in the shape of a tulip the project. The project is in conjunction with the projects based in Venice International Centre Cities on Water.

Geoglyphs as pictorial order forms in the historic urban planning

The geoglyphische order form used in modern urban development is also be applied to historical urban development, preferably in the fall of the Inca city of Cuzco in Peru.

• The Inca city of Cusco was built in its incorporation as a figuration of a lying puma. This is overlain by the younger figuration of a standing cougars. The northerly head of both figurations is a still existing fortress-like Inca system, which recorded the 1860 floor plan of EC Squire shows in its urban context. The other, passed on through street bounding the ground plans Inkabauten Cuzco's body image is one of today's hinweinwirkende in urban development early development stage of Cuzco.

Geoglyphs in the Land Art

Even contemporary visual artists of Land Art geoglyphs serve as a source of inspiration. They suggested, for example, Robert Smithson to his temporary work Spiral Jetty (1970 ) that William Holden Ried to his earth sign an island for the time ( 1995) at Munich Airport, Eberhard Bosslet with his intervention at a rain -collecting surface ( acogida ) on Lanzarote and Andrew Rogers the monumental work Rhythms of Life (since 1999), which is composed of several works that are already in seven countries and on six continents are currently present.

A spectacular example of geoglyphs forms of Marree Man with a length of 4.5 kilometers in the Outback at Marree in South Australia. Desert Braeth was from D.A.ST. Arteam in the Sahara Desert near El Gouna created in Egypt in 1997.

A popular form of mostly artificial geoglyphs are crop circles.

Geoglyphs for information

Like all other structures on the Earth's surface can be used for orientation geoglyphs by aircraft. Was created especially for this purpose, the world's largest compass rose on the floor of the Salt Lake Rogers Dry Lake in California.