Architecture Commons^™

Subversia: The SubUrban Subversive, Emily Cox

All Theses

The palimpsest is, by definition, 'writing material (as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased.' It provides a conceptual field for the layering of text, or meaning, over time. This text may be built up by successive authors and can be altered by additions and erasures. Traces of these amendments remain, providing a history of revision of the original text. Additions that comment on and interpret the primary text are called marginalia.
Landscape operates as a palimpsest, with written, rewritten, erased, and revised layers of history. While typically considered ahistoric, the suburban …