TY - JOUR T1 - Three Dimensions of Technology in the American Landscape JF - Landscape Journal SP - 66 LP - 79 DO - 10.3368/lj.11.1.66 VL - 11 IS - 1 AU - Robert L. Thayer, Jr. Y1 - 1992/03/20 UR - http://lj.uwpress.org/content/11/1/66.abstract N2 - Most of the landscapes we experience in our daily lives are the piecemeal results of functional necessity rather than intentional design for human affect. Utilitarian, largely unselfconscious, and forged in response to the working technologies of the time, these technologically-influenced landscapes seem to operate on three levels or dimensions, which are referred to hereafter as the perceptual level (landscapes seen as patterns of light and dark), the functional level (landscapes recognized as having a primary function), and the symbolic level (landscapes representing abstract concepts or values not automatically expressed in their form). The public's assessment of landscapes influenced by technology may result from interaction of three social attitudes or predispositions: technophilia (fascinated addiction to technology), technophobia (fear of technology's impact on the land and nature), and topophilia (modified from Tuan, 1974—love of land, nature, and place). ER -