Infrastructure as a work of art Authors Marat Nevlyutov Institute of Theory and History of Architecture and Urban Planning, branch of the Central Research and Project Institute of the Ministry of Construction of Russia Downloads PDF (Russian) DOI: https://doi.org/10.51461/issn.2309-3072/89.2825 Published 2026-09-14 Issue No. 89 (2026): networks et cetera Section refereed articles License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. How to Cite Nevlyutov , M. (2026). Infrastructure as a work of art. Project Baikal, 23(89), 54-58. https://doi.org/10.51461/issn.2309-3072/89.2825 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver AMA Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX Keywords: Walter Benjamin, infrastructure, boulevards, sewers, arcades, loss of aura, aestheticization of politics Abstract This article examines technology and urban infrastructure as potential works of art through the lens of Walter Benjamin’s philosophy. It analyzes key infrastructural objects from The Arcades Project — ranging from Haussmann’s grand boulevards to the Parisian sewers and arcades. At the core of the article lies the dialectic of proximity and distance, the loss of aura and the return to it. The article argues that infrastructure can be regarded as a work of art only when it simultaneously performs a multidirectional movement of distancing the near and losing the aura. References Benjamin, V. (2012a). O ponyatii istorii [On the Concept of History]. In Uchenie o podobii. Mediaesteticheskie proizvedeniya [The Doctrine of the Similar. Media-Aesthetic Writings] (pp. 237–253). Moscow: RGGU. Benjamin, V. (2012b). Proizvedenie iskusstva v epokhu ego tekhnicheskoi vosproizvodimosti [The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technical Reproducibility]. In Uchenie o podobii. Mediaesteticheskie proizvedeniya [The Doctrine of the Similar. Media-Aesthetic Writings] (pp. 190–234). RGGU. Benjamin, V. (2025). Kniga passazhei [The Arcades Project]. Ad Marginem. Berman, M. (2020). Vse tverdoe rastvoryaetsya v vozdukhe. Opyt modernosti [All That Is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity]. Gorizontal. Bodler, Sh. (1986). Poet sovremennoi zhizni [The Painter of Modern Life]. In Ob iskusstve [On Art] (pp. 283–315). Iskusstvo. Bulgakova, E., & Lidin, K. (2021). Urban infrastructure modeling: Ethical and aesthetic aspects. Project Baikal, 18(70), 84–89. https://doi.org/10.51461/projectbaikal.70.1894 Claretie, J. (1896). La vie à Paris en 1895 [Life in Paris in 1895]. Bibliotheque-Charpentier. Dulaure, J. A. (1821). Histoire physique, civile et morale de Paris depuis les premiers temps historiques jusqu’à nos jours [Physical, Civil and Moral History of Paris from the Earliest Times to the Present Day] (8 vols.). Guillaume. Engländer, S. (1864). Geschichte der französischen ArbeiterAssociationen [History of French Workers’ Associations] (Vol. 2). Hoffmann u. Campe. Gautier, T. (1856). Mosaique de ruines [Mosaic of Ruins]. In Paris et les Parisiens au XIX siècle: moeurs, arts et monuments (pp. 38–39). Morizot. Haussmann, G. E. (1890). Mémoires de Baron Haussmann [Memoirs of Baron Haussmann] (Vol. 2). V. Havard. Hugo, V. (2017). Otzverzhennye [Les Mis érables]. Inostrannaya literatura. Laronze, G. (1932). Le baron Haussmann. F. Alcan. Nadar, F. (1900). Quand j’étais photographe [When I Was a Photographer]. E. Flammarion. Nevlyutov, M. R. (2023). Reversible techniques of Manhattan cuts by Rem Koolhaas. Theory and History of Architecture, (1), 90–100. Plechanow, G. (1903). Über die Anf änge der Lehre vom Klassenkampf [On the Origins of the Doctrine of Class Struggle]. Die Neue Zeit, XXI (1), 285–289.