Le toposcope et l’indicateur des alpes

The orientation tables produced by the Touring Club de France (TCF) at the beginning of the 20th century display composite representations of the landscape on circular or semicircular platforms made of enamelled lava. As part of our doctoral research into the relationship between landscape and desig...

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Main Author: Rachel Floch
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Agrocampus Angers, Ecole nationale supérieure du paysage, ENP Blois, ENSAP Bordeaux, ENSAP Lille 2024-11-01
Series:Projets de Paysage
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/paysage/34082
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author Rachel Floch
author_facet Rachel Floch
author_sort Rachel Floch
collection DOAJ
description The orientation tables produced by the Touring Club de France (TCF) at the beginning of the 20th century display composite representations of the landscape on circular or semicircular platforms made of enamelled lava. As part of our doctoral research into the relationship between landscape and design, we explore the dual dynamics of the orientation table as a device deployed in space and a representation of the landscape. We posit that the orientation table is at the intersection of space and image in the form of an ‘edifice-image’. The aim is to understand how these objects are in situ insertions in a territory and how they simultaneously act in visu by producing a representation of the landscape during a walk. By analysing a body of texts written by members of the TCF and their collaborators between 1903 and 1938, we will focus on two devices which appear to be the prototypes of the orientation tables installed by the TCF. We first focus on the toposcope, a military surveillance device that was particularly popular in the 18th century. We then focus on the Alpine indicator, a device used throughout the 19th century by tourists exploring the peaks at the heart of the Swiss Alps. We will see how these two devices, through the two types of perspectives they construct of the landscape - one military, the other contemplative and instructive – resulted in the orientation tables, which in their own way sought to reach beyond the limits of what is visible.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1969-6124
language fra
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher Agrocampus Angers, Ecole nationale supérieure du paysage, ENP Blois, ENSAP Bordeaux, ENSAP Lille
record_format Article
series Projets de Paysage
spelling doaj-art-96f131da4a314d5a84da620c387d30752025-02-05T16:20:34ZfraAgrocampus Angers, Ecole nationale supérieure du paysage, ENP Blois, ENSAP Bordeaux, ENSAP LilleProjets de Paysage1969-61242024-11-013010.4000/12pqdLe toposcope et l’indicateur des alpesRachel FlochThe orientation tables produced by the Touring Club de France (TCF) at the beginning of the 20th century display composite representations of the landscape on circular or semicircular platforms made of enamelled lava. As part of our doctoral research into the relationship between landscape and design, we explore the dual dynamics of the orientation table as a device deployed in space and a representation of the landscape. We posit that the orientation table is at the intersection of space and image in the form of an ‘edifice-image’. The aim is to understand how these objects are in situ insertions in a territory and how they simultaneously act in visu by producing a representation of the landscape during a walk. By analysing a body of texts written by members of the TCF and their collaborators between 1903 and 1938, we will focus on two devices which appear to be the prototypes of the orientation tables installed by the TCF. We first focus on the toposcope, a military surveillance device that was particularly popular in the 18th century. We then focus on the Alpine indicator, a device used throughout the 19th century by tourists exploring the peaks at the heart of the Swiss Alps. We will see how these two devices, through the two types of perspectives they construct of the landscape - one military, the other contemplative and instructive – resulted in the orientation tables, which in their own way sought to reach beyond the limits of what is visible.https://journals.openedition.org/paysage/34082landscapeperspectiveviewpointorientation tableindexer
spellingShingle Rachel Floch
Le toposcope et l’indicateur des alpes
Projets de Paysage
landscape
perspective
viewpoint
orientation table
indexer
title Le toposcope et l’indicateur des alpes
title_full Le toposcope et l’indicateur des alpes
title_fullStr Le toposcope et l’indicateur des alpes
title_full_unstemmed Le toposcope et l’indicateur des alpes
title_short Le toposcope et l’indicateur des alpes
title_sort le toposcope et l indicateur des alpes
topic landscape
perspective
viewpoint
orientation table
indexer
url https://journals.openedition.org/paysage/34082
work_keys_str_mv AT rachelfloch letoposcopeetlindicateurdesalpes