Landscapes of Waste
Re-examining the Solid Waste Landfill
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To my parents for their unending support in all my endeavors.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Bachelor of Architecture Undergraduate Thesis Advisor: Erin Putalik 2012-2013
Allison Miller
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INTRODUCTION 01 Experiencing the Geologic 03 Early Drawings 05 Anthropocene Approx.1945present
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SITE
07 Artificial Landscapes: The Hackensack Meadowlands 15 Real and Imagined Topography
17 PURPOSE
17 Abstract
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FICTIONAL EXCAVATION
19 Anatomy of a Landfill 21 Artifacts: An Investigation of Section
25 PROPOSAL
25 Museum of Past and Contemporary Rubbish 27 Sketches and Orthographic Projections 31 An Architecture for Reconstructing Terrain 39 Object Distribution: Area Calculations 45 Process: Excavation, Sorting and Analysis, Display
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August 2012. Batter y 223 Cape May, NJ
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Experiencing the Geologic
Acts of geology, weather, and climate create and destroy terrains in mere instants and over epochs. Humans are playing an increasing role in the material creation and erasure of landscape. Domestication of crops, building of citIntroduction
ies, mountaintop removal, nuclear waste storage, shoreline reclamation, introduction of invasive species... the list goes on. Just as the Hawaiian islands were created by the accumulation of molten rock from volcanic eruptions over millions of years, developers in Dubai
are piling millions of tons of fill into the ocean to make an island in the shape of a palm tree. The human potential to operate at a geologic scale, in both producing and eradicating place, now rivals natural systems. 2
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Early Drawings
“Consider the earth’s history as the old measure of the English yard: the distance from the king’s nose to the tip of his outstretched hand. One stroke of a nail file on his middle finger erases human history.” -John McPhee Introduction
The boundaries between epochs are defined by changes preserved in sedimentary rocks. The rock record of the present does not yet exist, so the question is, will our “stratigraphic layer” be significantly altered from the previous?
On the opposite page are whimsical early drawings considering the legible traces of geologic time (media: pen and ink, goache, watercolor) 4
Anthropocene Approx.1945-present
“A geologic epoch with no precise start date. Significant human impact on climate and ecosystems. Coined by Paul Crutzen. Rise of agriculture. Deforestation. Cement. Combustion of fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas roused from the earth. Extractions and emissions. 5
Operation crossroads vaporizes bikini atoll. Deep geologic repositories. Pacific trash vortex, a swirling gyre of marine litter and plastic. 6.7 Billion humans +. Palo verde nuclear power plant. Three gorges dam. Fresh kills landfill. Las Vegas. Dubai.�
-Friends of the Pleistocene
Introduction
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Artificial Landscapes: The Hackensack Meadowlands
Geomorphic Character: the character and personality of a place revealed in the expression of the landform: we read into the geomorphology of our landscape the dreams and ambitions of our cultural aspirations and values. 7
-Civilizing Terrains: William Rees Moorish
Site
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madeland wetland 5 mi
1966. New York metropolitan area and surrounding wetlands Source: Waste Management, Regional Plan Association, New York
Since early European settlement, attempts have been made to drain and fill the wetlands in order to evict mosquitoes and turn this potentially valuable real-estate into usable land. By the mid 1900‘s, all canal and diking endeavors were deemed failures. With a growing Site
population in the surrounding area, the land became an indiscriminate dumping ground of unwanted debris. After a time, this practice began to fill in the wetlands with the thousands of acres of accumulated waste. The shaded regions of the map represent wetlands that have
been built up into solid ground through the accumulation of various kinds of debris, primarily large amounts of municipal solid waste.
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Keegan Landfill
The site is Keegan landfill in the Hackensack Meadowlands of northern New Jersey. The area is of particular interest because of its geographical proximity to Manhattan which at one point transported the majority of its waste to the Meadowlands. Keegan landfill 11
officially began operations in the 1940’s with most of the landfilling occurring in the 1960’s. A period of inactivity occurred between 1972 and 2009. Today it is an active solid waste landfill.
Solid Waste Landfill Regions
Site
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(Left) South entrance of Keegan landfill. (Bottom) Trash on the side of a service road in Keegan landfill
A dump has no glamour or sex appeal. It marks nothing but the mundane. It lies on the fringe of a city as an archive of the rejected materials of our culture. The New Jersey Meadowlands is the closest open landscape to the urban mass of Manhattan, just two miles away. Site
Covering around 35 square miles, it is similar in size, and orientation, to its urban antipode. Unlike the highly designed and managed space of the city however, the modern Meadowlands were formed more by incident, accident, and happenstance. 14
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Real and Imagined Topography
Active solid waste landfills are in a continual state of construction. Traditional topographic drawings are incapable of chronicling the fluctuating terrain. Therefore, an invented type of topographic representation is necessary to communicate the impermanence of the Site
ground condition. This drawing madeland combines real topography lines with imagined ones obscuring thewetland past, present and possible future forms.
250 ft 5 mi
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Abstract
This thesis examines how architecture can reveal and articulate the hidden material conditions of a solid waste landfill. The contents of the site are examined by a process of fictional excavation through the act of drawing. Real, imagined, and somewhat peculiar object adjacencies unfold to inform the spatial narrative of the museum. Garbology: The study of a society through the analysis of its waste. 17
MVS [Monstrous Visual Symbol]: The largest mon- uments that a society builds for itself. The term was coined by Roland Fletcher, an Australian archaeologist. He speculates that as a society’s motivating ideals undergo change, so do its MVSes. Over the centuries man has poured his resources into the construction of temples, cathedrals, bridges, and
skyscrapers. However, by far the biggest MVS of contemporary American culture is a garbage repository. (Right) New York City skyline from Kearny, NJ
Purpose
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Anatomy of a Landfill
Leachate: A liquid that has filtered through the landfill. It consists primarily of precipitation and a small amount of toxins. 1. Prepared Sub-grade: The native soils beneath the landfill are prepared as needed prior to beginning landfill construction. 2. Compacted Clay: Forms a barrier to prevent leachate and gas from escaping the landfill. There is a natural layer of clay at the bottom of the wetlands making it a good location for landfilling. 3. Geomembrane: A thick plastic layer typically constructed of a special type of plastic called highdensity polyethylene. 19
4. Leachate Collection Layer: A layer of sand, gravel, or a thick plastic mesh called a geonet that collects leachate and allows it to drain by gravity to the leachate collection pipe system. 5. Leachate Collection Pipe System: Perforated pipes, sur-rounded by a bed of gravel, transports collected leachate to specially designed low points called sumps. From there, pumps remove the leachate to leachate management facilities for treatment.
day, the cell is covered with six to twelve inches of soil. This reduces odors, keeps litter from scattering, and deters scavengers. 8. Composite Cap System: Composed of compacted clay, geomembrane, and a drainage layer to prevent excess precipitation from infiltrating the landfill. 9. Protective Cover: Composed of cover soil, top soil, and cover vegetation. Provides additional moisture retention, prevents erosion, and beautifies the surface.
6. Waste: As waste arrives, it is compacted in sections called cells. One new cell is created for every day of dumping. 7. Daily Cover: At the end of each
(Left) Imagined Section of a Landfill
Fictional Excavation
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Artifacts: An Investigation of Section
A fictional excavation is conducted through the act of drawing. By taking a series of sections through a fluorescent lightbulb and a hubcap at intervals of every few millimeters a new understanding of the object arises. This documentation mimics the act of excavation, 21
uncovering an unknown object whose form is revealed as the dirt is removed, layer by layer.
Fictional Excavation
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Fictional Excavation
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A Museum of Past and Contemporary Rubbish:
A compelling analogy can be made between a landfill and a museum. Whereas a museum is a container for objects we deem possess great value, a landfill contains items that essentially have no value at all. However, both of these institutions have the capacity to provide insight 25
on the societies whose material culture is housed there. The museum will include a place in which to sort, display, analyze, and store the collected material excavated from the landfill.
(Right) Interior perspective of plastic bottle display
Proposal
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Sketches and Orthographic Projections
The establishment of a Cartesian coordinate system over a site is an archaeological convention that functions to create points of reference from which the extracted artifacts can be mapped on to. This idea is repurposed to create a spatial system in which the artifacts 27
can be deposited back into. This series of abstractions of the archaeological grid into three dimensional, inhabitable spaces investigate the different ways this system can be adopted so that diverse objects can spatially coexist.
Proposal
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Proposal
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An Architecture for Reconstructing Terrain
madeland
wetland
Proposal
terranean space through a series of rectilinear punctures in the roof. The punctures are of various sizes and heights in order to construct a new terrain that is evocative of the spaces below. The inhabitable roof platform is on level with the existing terrain highlighting the progression between the haphazardly and the meticulously constructed ground.
5 mi
The building is oriented in the cardinal directions mimicking the conventions of an archaeological dig. It is long and thin in order to achieve the widest cross section through the landfill, cutting through each decade of active operations. It is primarily underground, displacing an enormous amount of landfilled material which is then rationally reconstructed on display racks within the museum. Light enters the sub-
250 ft
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Rendered plan concept
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Perspective of inhabitable roof Proposal
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South elevation of public entrance
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Proposal
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A section through a light well and an excavation
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Proposal
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Object Distribution: Area Calculations
The objects are distributed throughout the building according to their primary material type; ceramic, glass, textile, metal, wood, plastic, and paper. The amount of square footage assigned to each material in the building correlates with data of how much of that material 39
should be present in the landfill.
Research Center: Loading Dock + Initial Screening Sorting Labs Data Analysis Center
Artifact Archive: Ceramics Glass Textile Metal Wood Paper Plastic
Excavation:
Proposal
= 9350 ft
2
4650 ft 2850 ft 1850 ft
2
= 59294 ft
2
2 2
0.5% 3.1% 7.3% 6.5% 4.5% 23% 26%
= 5831 ft
2
Total = 74475 ft
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0.5% Ceramics
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3.1% Glass
7.3% Textiles
Research Center
6.5% Metal
4.5% Wood
26% Plastic
23% Paper
(Top) Longitudinal section (Bottom) Material distribution map Proposal
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(Top) Rendered longitudinal section (Bottom) 2nd Floor plan Proposal
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Excavation
There are two active excavation sites within the museum. These function to supplement the material collected in the original excavation of the waste displaced by the building.
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Proposal
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Sorting and Analysis
The material is first sent through an initial screening process that is modeled after landfill mining systems. It involves using a series of trommel screens, air sorters, and magnetic separators to do the primary sorting. Then a team of sorters goes through the remainder 47
categorizing and documenting the material. Finally, an array of scientists, statisticians, and sociologists use the data extracted to advance their research on the society that created the waste.
Proposal
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Display
A level of categorization occurs on the shelves where the material is arranged in relation to how deep it was found in the landfill. In this way, the relative position of strata is preserved. All quickly decayable organic material has been excluded from the range of objects 49
displayed.
Proposal
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3.1% Glass
(Right) Rendered plan of display areas for glass artifacts
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Proposal
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Inspirations: Friends of the Pleistocene Long Bets Center for Land Use Interpretation Civilizing Terrains: by William Rees Morrish Robert Smithson
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