The Four Sublimes of Megaprojects
Why megaprojects keep booming globally
Why are megaprojects so attractive to decision makers?
Megaprojects are booming globally. What drives this boom? Why are megaprojects so attractive to decision makers?
The answer lies in what I call the “four sublimes” of megaprojects.
The first of these, the technological sublime, is a term variously attributed to Miller and Marx (no, not that Marx!) to describe the positive historical reception of technology in American culture during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.*
The technological sublime is the rapture engineers get from building projects that push the boundaries for what technology can do
Karen Trappenberg Frick introduced the term to the study of megaprojects and here describes the technological sublime as the rapture engineers and technologists get from building large and innovative projects with their rich opportunities for pushing the boundaries for what technology can do, like building the tallest building, the longest bridge, the fastest aircraft, the largest wind turbine, or the first of anything.
