Sean Kinnear
Published: 21 January 2019
The Nuclear Bunker: Tracing, analysing and preserving the remnants of Cold War architecture in Scotland.
University of Glasgow
The Nuclear Bunker: Tracing, analysing and preserving the remnants of Cold War architecture in Scotland.
My doctoral thesis will analyse Cold War nuclear bunker architecture left within Scotland by tracing the origins and typological evolution of these buildings, in the wider social and geo-political context. What were the complex relations between military architecture, civil governance, and British society in the Cold War period? By enacting a thorough investigation into the cultural and historical significance of bunker typologies on a national scale, can we propose a stronger framework for their conservation and adaptive reuse? Through conducting in-depth archival research on de-classified government files and undertaking active fieldwork across Scotland, I intend to survey and record the existing structures remaining within the built environment.
To fully decipher their often-fragmented history, I aim to compile a holistic picture of the nuclear bunker’s provenance in a time of heightened anxiety during the Atomic Age. By pushing the frontiers of Cold War bunker study beyond anything that has been complete to date, I hope to uncover the unanswered questions that surround these unique historic relics before they are lost to natural decay, or man-made demolition.
First published: 21 January 2019