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October 25, 2024 Madl Publishes Fictional Design Narrative of the Landscapes of the US Nuclear Highway

Headshot of Andrew Madl. A white male with short, dark colored hair in a dark colored t-shirt.
Andrew Madl, assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has published his latest book with AR+D, “The Nuclear Chronicles: Design Research on the Landscapes of the U.S. Nuclear Highway.”

Through a graphic novel format, the book investigates alternative realities in which nuclear project proposals by the U.S. government, that were not carried out, are implemented, particularly along the “Nuclear Highway” stretching across Interstate 25, in the Southwestern United States.

“It’s very much a reflective book that investigates the agency of landscape to address current and future entanglements between technology, ecology, and social conditions from past scenarios,” said Madl. “The graphic novel format is a product of the content. Maybe how absurd it is in some ways, even though it is based and grounded in reality and factual evidence, it became a way to disseminate design research in a way that moved beyond verbal and written format.”

Through a combination of storytelling, design speculation, and counterfactual history, “The Nuclear Chronicles” not only sheds light on these charged landscapes but also offers design strategies for their future resilience and adaptation.

Madl is presenting his research in diverse formats, including an exhibition at UT’s College of Architecture and Design’s Downtown Knoxville window display. Featuring large, foam-core dioramas and a life-size cutout of one of the novel’s characters, the “nuclear cowboy,” the exhibition draws viewers into speculative environments where proposals like massive cow graveyards—originally designed for disease outbreaks—are reinterpreted as future recreation reservoirs. The exhibit blurs the lines between real-world proposals and speculative fiction, encouraging audiences to rethink land use, technology, and infrastructure.

In addition to the exhibition, Madl produced a short film based on the first chapter of the novel, for entry into film festivals.

“The Nuclear Chronicles: Cultivated Aftermath” is a CGI short film which blends 3D animated sequences with historical events from the book and explores the intersection of military technology and landscape, using the story of the McDonald Ranch, where the world’s first nuclear bomb was assembled and detonated during the Trinity test.