Brian Nachtrab Portfolio
7 - 25
New East Center
27 - 51
DIA: Beacon Art Campus
53 - 73
Centrum Miejski
75 - 83
Immersion
85 - 131
A Nation is a Machine for Capital
New East Center Spring 2019 Prof. Maged Guerguis Partner: Will Burruss Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 2019 International Student Tall Building Design Competition Semi-Finalist
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View from Lake Michigan
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Building upon the adjacent New East Side neighborhood, the trio of net-zero towers form their own smaller community within the larger context of Downtown Chicago—the New East Center. A large office tower is situated in the north-east corner of the site, with close proximity to the Chicago River. The two shorter towers— one condominium and one hotel—are situated closer to the nearby residential towers, building upon and densifying an already successful neighborhood. The office tower has enough space to be occupied both by residents of the condo tower, the nearby residential towers, and Chicago at large. The goal with this program combination is to create a new dynamic urban center of both culture and commerce.
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Diagrams
Forming Diagram
18,530 ft2 12,755 ft2
12,755 ft2
1. Arrange
2. Extrude 18,530 ft2
C o 68 nd 8, o T 02 o 1 tal ft 2 A re a:
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4. Shear
H 35 ote 1, l To 23 t 0 al A ft 2 r ea :
The Tordo Form When selecting a form for the towers, we opted for a different form of “twist”. The form we chose uses three vertical surfaces, with the fourth being a ruled surface known as a “tordo”. A tordo is composed of one or more hyperbolic paraboloid surfaces which all connect with rules to an orthogonal grid. The tordo form proved beneficial for many reasons. One benefit was the ability to have three sides of the towers hold greater contextual relation with the Chicago skyline, with the fourth face activating the inner plaza and lake-side view. Another benefit, as depicted in the diagram to the left, was the ability to have floorplates of the same area throughout the towers, barring the floors that interact with the form of the crown. 10
18,530 ft2
ft 2
11,143 ft2
1, 69 8, 41 8
Po 69 diu 7,4 m 29 To ft 2 tal A re a:
11,143 ft2
Total Floor Area: Total T 3,435,098 ft2
Diversified Program As a new neighborhood, the New East Center would require a variety of program and occupants to fulfill its purpose. In the diagram above, the tallest tower (blue) is mainly office space, with a large, public observation level at the top (pink). The second tallest tower (green) is a condominium tower, with an amenity floor at the top (pink). The third tallest (yellow) is a hotel, with a public restaurant at the top (pink). The podium/plaza is a space for retail, circulation, and public interaction. All gray colored areas are mechanical or perform some form of utility (i.e. parking in the podium).
Condominium Hotel Retail/Amenity Mechanical
Program Diagram Southeast
Elevator Stair
Vertical Circulation Diagram Southeast
Bracing/Super Columns Columns/Beams Core
Structure Diagram Southeast
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Site Plan
East Waterside Drive
Lake Shore East Park
El Benton Place
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North Westshore Drive
East South Water Street
Lower East W acke
North Harbor Drive
North Lakeshore Drive
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Office Plan Scale: 1” = 16’
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Office Coordination Section Scale: 1/4” = 1’
Office Height: Floor Count: Number of Elevators: Structural Material: FAR: Torque: Average Floor Torque: 14
1628’ 3” 95 Floors 18 Elevators Concrete & Steel 10.93 130.8 1.38
Typical Plans, Sections, Figures
View from office tower toward hotel tower
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Condo Plan Scale: 1” = 16’
15 ft.
12 ft.
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Condo Coordination Section Scale: 1” = 2’
Condo Height: Floor Count: Number of Elevators: Structural Material: FAR: Torque: Average Floor Torque: 16
967’ 54 Floors 12 Elevators Concrete & Steel 4.43 116.4 2.15
Hotel Plan Scale: 1” = 16’
12 ft. 9.5 ft. 9 ft.
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Hotel Coordination Section Scale: 1” = 2’
Hotel Height: Floor Count: Number of Elevators: Structural Material: FAR: Torque: Average Floor Torque:
434’ 10” 30 Floors 4 Elevators Concrete & Steel 2.26 120.9 4.03 17
Structural Axon
Column to beam connection
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Primary to Secondary beam
Michell Truss Connection
Structure
Structural Innovation The towers of the New East Center embrace the cutting edge of structural systems. Due to the tordo shape, the towers require substantial structural bracing. This was taken as an opportunity to express the structure, and celebrate it, like the nearby Hancock Tower. The bracing used for the hotel and condo towers is known as a “high-waisted truss”, and can be thought of as an optimized version of x-bracing. The office tower, with its great height and high wind load, used a “Michell truss”, which is a highly optimized bracing system designed to counter wind loads much like how a cantilever beam counters gravity.
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View towards sky from central plaza
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Skyline view - night
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Skyline Elevation
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South Elevation with Context
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DIA: Beacon Art Campus Fall 2019 Prof. Hansjörg Göritz Partner: Will Burruss AIA Middle Tennessee Student Design Award - Nominee Brewer Ingram Fuller Sustainable Design Award - Nominee
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Beacon, NY: a town that, in most cases, would be just another nondescript locale two hours north of New York City. However, in 2003, a new neighbor arrived—the DIA:Beacon Museum. A center for minimal artworks from the 1960s onward, DIA Beacon has since become a world renown destination for both New Yorkers and tourists alike. As is, the site is quite beautiful, and serves its purpose well. However, there is a great deal of potential left unexplored. First, there is virtually no connection to the Hudson river, either visual or physical. Next, the grounds are well designed in some respects, but could be pushed further to create an art park destination that rivals the likes of the Louisiana Museum of Art in Humlebæk, Denmark. Finally, the site as a whole can and should become more than just a museum destination, but rather an art campus that embraces all stages and levels of art, from creation to exhibition to restoration. Our proposal for the DIA: Beacon Art Campus works with three themes: connection, nesting, and framing. Some aspects of these themes are literal, such as a built connection to the river, or nested gallery spaces. In other cases, the themes are an abstract relation, such as the framing—or rather re-framing—of the site as a art campus, or the conceptual nesting of history surrounded by progress.
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Design for Integration There are many positive and effective ways that redeveloping the site as an art campus could affect Beacon. The addition of an art campus would bring more visitors to the city and site, and thus more money into the economy of Beacon. The project masterplan works to unite the surrounding community with a trolley system and shuttle system. We plan on constructing a trolley station on the site going to the east edge of downtown and north to the train station. Environmentally, the project works to create a dialogue between the built and natural environment. The project should connect with nature and work to not only preserve nature but also to enhance it so that it can be observed and experienced in relation to the river. Design for Community As mentioned, one of the main aspects of the project master-plan is the trolley system that connects visitors to downtown Beacon and connects local neighborhoods to the train station and the Dia campus. The extension of the campus into the city can be observed at the beginning and end of Main Street. On the east side of main street there will be a trolley station that will connect people physically and visually through the pocket park that will be located behind the trolley station. On the west end of Main Street there will be a shuttle stop that will transport people to the train station and back to Dia. In creating this urban circulation, we work to propagate the art campus into the city of Beacon, adding a new layer of culture and dynamism into the contextual fabric. We also want to investigate connections to Newburgh so that we can expand and connect to more communities. Design for Economy There are many aspects of our addition to Dia: Beacon that impact the economy of the surrounding communities in a positive way. The addition of an art campus will draw tourists, who will bring money, to the town of Beacon. Beacon is located north of New York City, accessible by a two-hour train ride. Beyond that, Dia: Beacon has garnered a well-earned reputation on the international stage, and the transformation of the site from art museum to art campus could strengthen this presence.
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Structure
Vertical Structural Elements
Beams Design for Discovery Our ambition for the new Dia: Beacon art campus is that of an architecture that inspires. Whether that be an artist that visits the art campus to view the modern art, or a student that attends the art academy on campus, we aim to design a space that inspires. Architecturally we plan to design forms and facades that engage in an architectural conversation about integration with nature and built environment. The connection should be apparent, and it should become a precedent in which future designers take note of and design toward.
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Canopy
Waffle Slabs
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Systems
Dedicated Outdoor Air System
Hydronic Radiant Heating Design for Energy There are many ways that the design collects energy through changes to the original building and through the additions to the art campus. We add PV panels to the roofs of the new additions to collect additional energy. The site is located along a river and in the bottom of a valley so the wind energy collection could be substantial. The hydro energy collected from the river could also be substantial due to the size and power of the Hudson River. Lastly, the use of geothermal hydronic radiant heating and cooling allows for a more sustainable form of conditioning the interior spaces, due to the reduced need for heating or cooling the water.
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Lighting
Combined Systems
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Design for Ecology Our master plan design for Dia: Beacon impacts the environment in that it works to preserve and enhance the pastoral landscape that surrounds the site. A portion of the addition is constructed into a hillside so that it disrupts the environment as little as possible. Another portion is built underground so that we can retain a visual connection to the river and to frame a pastoral view that can be appreciated anywhere above the buildings. The forms of the buildings create a threshold that builds up to the aesthetic and reveals the largescale view through the forest and over the river. Design for Water Collecting water on site will be approached in multiple different ways, through rainwater and possibly the river water located next to the site. Rainwater can be collected on the roofs of new structures as well as through permeable pavers on site. Fresh water could also be collected due to the site’s proximity to the Hudson river. The water would be used around the site to water landscape vegetation and utilized in water features that are integrated within the landscape and vegetation. Water could physically connect the site to the river and would strengthen the idea of blurring the built and natural environment. Design for Wellness An important aspect of wellness is maintaining a connection to natural conditions, such as sunlight or fresh air. Our design works to integrate the site with the natural environment both physically and visually. We have display pavilions juxtaposed with the river and the art park, creating an interesting conversation between the built and natural landscape. In relation to the underground building we did this so that we could keep a pastoral landscape connecting the forested area to the river. We also oriented the underground portions of the site so that they had a visual connection to either the sky through light wells or to the river though large windows that let in ample light. Design for Resources We worked to retain and reuse the resources of the site. One resource that we are reusing is dirt that will be removed toward the front of the site and moving it toward the back of the site to use as infill for the raised art park. We also anticipate cutting down numerous trees on the site, so in response we would like to replant indigenous trees in the new forested areas of the art park and reuse the trees in construction and furnishings. We want to impact the natural environment as little as we can and enhance the nature through the addition of architecture on the landscape. Design for Change In our proposal, we plan on changing the Dia: Beacon art museum to the Dia: Beacon art campus. We do this though the addition of an art academy, additional exhibition space, and artist in residence housing. We feel this site can grow into an internationally known art campus that exhibits and creates modern art and sculptures. Through thinking about how we can integrate the site with the fabric of the city, we decided to establish a trolley and shuttle system that transports people to the downtown portion of Beacon. In doing this we are thinking about the city and how the addition of an internationally known art campus is going to impact the city 50 to 100 years in the future.
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Plans
Site 35
Plans
1st Floor 36
2nd Floor 37
Plans
3rd Floor 38
4th Floor 39
Elevations
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32’
128’
64’
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West Elevation
East Elevation
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Elevations
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Terrace Elevation
Academy Elevation
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Detailed Sections
ALUMINUM LIGHT FINS STEEL BEAM
FINE GRAVEL COARSE GRAVEL INSULATION GUTTER WAFFLE SLAB AIR DUCT
ALUMINUM MULLION GLASS WINDOW
CONCRETE WALL
HYDRONIC HEATING TUBES CONCRETE SLAB INSULATION
CONCRETE PILE CAP GRAVEL PILES
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Terrace Section Perspective
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Detailed Sections
ALUMINUM LIGHT FINS STEEL BEAM SKYLIGHT LIGHT DIFFUSER GUTTER FLASHING INSULATION STEEL DECKING STEEL BEAM AIR DUCT CONCRETE WALL INSULATION
HANDRAIL HYDRONIC HEATING TUBES CONCRETE SLAB STEEL DECKING STEEL BEAM AIR DUCT
ALUMINUM MULLION GLASS WINDOW
HYDRONIC HEATING TUBES CONCRETE SLAB
ALUMINUM GRATING
CONCRETE SLAB INSULATION
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CONCRETE PILE CAP GRAVEL PILES
Gallery Section Perspective
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Detailed Sections
ALUMINUM LIGHT FINS STEEL CANOPY STRUCTURE
GLASS HANDRAIL PERMEABLE PAVERS INSULATION STEEL DECKING STEEL BEAM AIR DUCT ALUMINUM MULLION
GLASS WINDOW
CONCRETE SLAB HYDRONIC HEATING TUBES STEEL DECKING STEEL BEAM AIR DUCT
PERMEABLE PAVERS CONCRETE SLAB HYDRONIC HEATING TUBES STEEL DECKING STEEL BEAM AIR DUCT
CONCRETE WALL
CONCRETE SLAB HYDRONIC HEATING TUBES INSULATION CONCRETE PILE CAP GRAVEL PILES
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8’ 4’
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Academy Section Perspective
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Competition Boards
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Centrum Miejski
Spring 2020 Prof. Krzysztof Bojanowski Semester Abroad: Krakow, Poland
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Urban Concept
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The district undergoing change in the context of this project is an area known as Wesoła. Currently home to several hospitals that are relocating, the area is directly adjacent to Kraków’s world famous stary miasto (old city), and is roughly the same size. Also on the site is Kraków’s botanical gardens, an element that holds great potential towards better incorporation into its immediate context. For the design of the urban masterplan, teams of three students were assembled, and each student focused on a specific sector of the project.
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Site Analysis/Forming
The sector focused on in the context of my project was the already well-developed Kopernika Street. At present, there are a few issues to be remedied on Kopernika Street. Firstly, the street, and by extension the entire site, lacks proper “gateways”. Secondly, there is an overwhelming presence of walls and fences, blocking more fluid movement. Lastly, the presence of cars prevents the site from becoming a more integrated urban experience. Kopernika Street Issues
To remedy the above issues, various buildings will be demolished. More specifically, those that are noticeably additions to older historic structures, those that are more attuned to healthcare work, and those that are in general of a more blighted appearance. Demolition
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With the space alloted from the aforementioned demolition, a new urban grid can be plotted out, balancing site circulation with creating vistas. Spatial Organization
After that, various blocks can be massed out, filling out the grid. Massing
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Urban Layout
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The new Kopernika street becomes a breath of fresh air among the fast pace of Krakówian commerce and traffic surrounding the site. The historic buildings lining the street become the sites of international embassies and consulates, relocating these services from the stare miasto. This allows a larger portion of the old city to remain active to a later hour, and helps bolster the already vibrant tourism of the area. The more formal nature of these programs blends well with the of the botanical gardens and the adjacent university.
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Ground Floor
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Situated at the northeastern corner of the site and the end of Kopernika Street would be the relocated offices and services of the Krakówian city government—the Centrum Miejski (City Center). The Centrum Miejski seeks to tackle three challenges; create a formal gateway to the Wesoła district, create an urban presence of the civic government that is progressive yet not out-of-place, and remedy the circulation problems of Rondo Mogilskie, recognized as one of the worst urban planning mistakes in Krakówian history.
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Typical Tower Floors
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The lower floors of the Centrum Miejski contain more public interfaces of the civic government, as well as some mixed-use spaces to allow the area to remain in-use after typical work hours. The floors of the tower would contain offices from higher ranking city officials. The design of the tower utilizes a double facade, with a series of staircases flowing between the facades. These staircases allow greater movement and occupant interaction within the tower, and express the inner workings of government officials to the public below.
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Section Perspective
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T.O. Roof EL 58.00m
10th Floor EL 51.35m 9th Floor EL 46.35m 8th Floor EL 41.35m 7th Floor EL 36.35m 6th Floor EL 31.35m 5th Floor EL 26.35m 4th Floor EL 21.35m 3rd Floor EL 16.35m 2nd Floor EL 11.35m 1st Floor EL 6.35m
Tram Level EL -5.00m
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Looking down Lubicz Street
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Aerial from Rondo Mogilskie
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Looking up to tower from tram level
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Looking up to tower from ramp
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Plaza view with intended sculpture, Krakówiak
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Immersion
Fall 2020 Prof. Mark Stanley Group Members: Qian Cai & Emily Hundley Audio/visual/augmented reality installation
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“When we came together as a group we expressed a shared interest in a few key ideas: the notion of cultural air, of “bubbles”, “foams”, and “clouds” of various types, and of the pressing risk of climate change (or chemical air).” “We knew that climate change is an integral part of today’s media, and has been for years. Our question was how do we explicate climate change’s media representation in a novel, immersive way?” “We also knew that the idea of “bubbles” played a role, be they social bubbles, media bubbles, etc. How do these bubbles interact with each other, and how do they change and evolve? This network of ever evolving bubbles creates what could be understood as a foam, or a cloud.” “The bubbles are so light and colorful but they burst easily. Just like nature, people will endanger their survival if they are not careful, especially now that science and technology are becoming more and more advanced. Let people experience the beauty of technology and the fragility of people themselves through virtual bubbles.” “With this light, sound, and tactile-based experience, we hope to Immerse you all into the foam of media and climate.”
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A Nation is a Machine for Capital Fall 2020 - Spring 2021 Prof. Jennifer Akerman Self-Directed Project EURēCA Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Gold Award EURēCA Undergraduate Awards First Place College of Architecture + Design Distinguished Design Awards - Honorable Mention
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Position Statement
Collision of Governance and Capital (Nachtrab, 2020)
Following the decision in the contentious Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission—which secured corporations the right to spend their money on political interests—a critical turning point occurred, leading to the rise of Super PACS and a general trend towards increased political corruption1. What this thesis posits is a near-future alternate reality where the nation’s most powerful corporations wield the already large amount of control they have, seizing land and resources that best serve their specific needs. For investigative purposes, ten existing corporations from ten industries are speculated upon.
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The ten corporations selected for inclusion are provocative in the different ways each exerts dominance. Remarkably, in some cases, the corporation is successful because of strategic alliances with other corporations. This thesis would explore the corporations as heads-of-state in geographically and climatically different portions of the present United States. As of now, the United States contains eleven growing “megaregions”, as recognized by the Regional Planning Association2; these megaregions lay the groundwork for the territories explored in this thesis.
The thesis will also posit the massive changes that would be wrought upon these megaregions, through the means of “megaprojects”. Megaprojects are not confined to a strict list of defining qualities— an important distinction is megaprojects do not have to be architectural or “built” things—and as such the possibilities with the corporations’ megaprojects will be just as varied3. The megaprojects will be conceived of as means for each corporate territory to further their agenda/ goals, whatever they may be. This thesis is multidisciplinary; architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, cartography, economic theory, politics, graphic and branding design, all informing architectural speculation for futures both near and far. In general, this thesis is concerned with all things of the “mega-” scale, and seeks to speculate on the effects of megascale architectures and corporate interests on the American urbanscape and landscape. Corporations are not neutral; they have a bias and they mine specific resources that may be territory-specific. The thesis argues that there is a fundamental connection between specific corporations and specific territories/urbanisms where they flourish.
1. “Citizens United v. FEC,” Wikipedia, accessed December 5, 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC 2. Yoav Hagler, “Defining U.S. Megaregions,” America 2050, https://rpa.org/work/reports/defining-u-s-megaregions 3. “Megaproject,” Wikipedia, accessed December 5, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaproject
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Corporate Identity
As previously mentioned, for investigative purposes, ten existing corporations from ten industries are speculated upon; American Airlines (Travel/Transit), Apple (Electronics), AT&T (Telecommunications), Berkshire Hathaway (Financials), CVS Health (Healthcare), ExxonMobil (Oil and Gas), General Motors (Automotive), Microsoft (Computer Software), Walmart (Retail), and the Walt Disney Company (Entertainment/ Media). When speculating each corporation’s potential for dominance and influence on American cities and landscapes, it was helpful to gather some sort of notion of what these corporations symbolize or represent; their “Corporate Identity”. On the following pages, each of the ten selected corporations has a corporate identity collage, as well as some important facts or ideas associated with each corporation. This exercise provided some critical insights that will prove important for the further development of the thesis. Firstly, there is a common theme of history to all of the corporations; some are longer than others, but all corporations examined have a history that shows an evolution of the corporate identity. Secondly, some corporations have a more traditional “architectural presence” than others; for example, Walmart and the Walt Disney Company have more architectural presence than AT&T and Berkshire Hathaway. Lastly, it made more clear the potential routes for influence each corporation could take with their megaprojects in their corresponding megaregions, as was the intention.
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Territories
US Megaregions as recognized by RPA (Nachtrab, 2020)
Varying widely in geography, intentions, and actions, the corporations investigated thus far provide a substantial starting point for the speculation of an America run by and for the supremacy of corporate territories. The thesis will get more mileage if these territories can be as distinct from each other as possible, not only in geographic location, but also in their denizens and built spaces/infrastructures. All “sites” are understood to be in relation to existing megaregions, and the analysis of these regions would be of a variety of scales, with emphasis on the “mega” scale.
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Florida Megaregion: American Airlines
Northern California Megaregion: Apple
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Continental United States: AT&T
Northeast Megaregion: Berkshire Hathaway
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Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion: CVS Health
Gulf Coast Megaregion: ExxonMobil
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Great Lakes Megaregion: General Motors
Cascadia Megaregion: Microsoft
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Front Range Megaregion: Walmart
Southern California Megaregion: The Walt Disney Company
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Introduction/Abstract
The 21st century has been fraught with deeply impactful inflection points in the trajectory of our nation. These pivotal moments affect varying and at times overlapping aspects of our lives, whether they be cultural, economic, spatial, or otherwise. The timeline of this thesis kicks off with one of these inflection points; the 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Effectively opening the door for corporate financial involvement (read: meddling and black-mailing) in the political sphere, the paradigm shift this case brought sets the stage for extrapolation and speculation of an alternate reality; a reality where corporations are the “powers that be”. This thesis is a story with two sets of “actors”. On one side there are the corporations, with their present day interests rendered with the implementation of megaprojects, the goals of which vary widely from corporation to corporation. The other side is composed of the dissidents, the Davids of this Goliath-ruled future. What effect do these megastructures have on the physical landscape? On the flora and fauna? On the socioeconomic stratification of its constituent inhabitants? What is architectures role in all of this? What architectures are used to supplement corporate rule, and how do these very same architectures become their own undoing? Can the human spirit overcome the indomitable will of the corporate machine? The Federal Reorganization Effort for the Economic Dominion of the Megaregions, known casually as the “White Collar Coup”, was the enactment of a plan years in the making. A strong sense of hierarchy and purpose was critical for the corporate rule to go unchallenged. Early on, it was agreed that a corporation with an impeccable sense of all aspects of the economic ecosystem needed to act as an executive force in the land; Berkshire Hathaway made a natural choice. After this top-most tier, resides AT&T; having control over all corporate data and communications, as well as their evenly distributed presence across all megaregions solidifies this positioning. After these top two, the hierarchy becomes more fluid. Each corporation will provide their own importance to the entire economic ecosystem, and some corporations will prove more important in specific scenarios or locations. When in a specific megaregion, the corporation who holds jurisprudence for that megaregion is naturally of the most importance, followed by close allies to the corporation. The “Economic Dominion” each corporation holds over their respective megaregion is purposefully vague in definition; it fosters a broad range of use—and misuse—of a megaregion’s resources and inhabitants.
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Federal Reorganization Effort for the Economic Dominion Of the Megaregions As organized by the Coalition of Corporations
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Timeline/Diagrams
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AT&T
Central Intelligence Agency Coast Guard* Computer Emergency Readings Team Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Department of Defense Department of Homeland Security Federal Communications Division National Geospatial Intelligence Agency National Security Agency National Telecommunications and Information Administration U.S. Northern Command Wireless Telecommunications Bureau
One portion of this thesis investigates AT&T, a telecommunications company. The proposed project is one item, replicated systematically. FREEDOM dictates that AT&T also take on responsibilities of defense and territorial security. AT&T does not inhabit a megaregion or territory; it takes on a distributed approach, from the Great Plains to the very extent of the Shelflands (the classification given to the sub-aquatic extent of the North American continental shelf. The name of the game is “control”, and as such AT&T will hold jurisprudence over as much land (and therefore data) as possible. These towers act as a distributed security network for the defense of the megaregions, forming what could be understood as a telecommunications and security hive mind. Each site would have special allowances to compensate for situational variances; a tower site in the context of New York City would require more robust power supply and a greater amount of programmed space than a tower in the middle of Death Valley, or at the edge of the Shelflands. To compensate, certain areas of the concrete and stone base can be built out and expanded, and broadcasting hardware of the steel tower can be built out and expanded. When placed in a truly equal hexagonal grid, what dissonances occur? Does a tower appear in the middle of Central Park? Splitting the faces of Mount Rushmore? In the middle of the desolate Death Valley? How does the quest for electromagnetic dominance reverberate into the physical realm?
Photo montage - Image sources (Wikipedia.com) and (ArchDaily.com) 105
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AT&T's Continental Data Propagation + Security Sentinel network (cyan), juxtaposed with the existing telecommunications infrastructure (yellow).
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Diagram of planned resistance/sabotage to AT&T's Continental Data Propagation + Security Sentinel network.
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Above: Visualization of signal jamming/blocking clothing, to be worn by those who act in resistance to the Coalition of Corporations. Right: Series of vignettes, portraying different contexts the towers would be seen in.
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EXXONMOBIL Bureau of Land Management Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Bureau of Prisons Bureau of Reclamation Coast Guard* Council on Environmental Quality Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Mississippi River Commission Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation National Park Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association National Ocean Service Office of Fossil Energy Office of Natural Resources Revenue Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Geological Survey*
Another corporation/megaregion pairing investigated in this thesis is ExxonMobil and the Gulf of Mexico. Underneath the waters of the Gulf lie substantial amounts of fossil fuel reserves, and operations to extract these resources are costly and potentially devastating. The proposed project is truly a wonder to behold; a dam, stretching from present day Wadsworth, TX and Gulf Shores, AL. Around 550 miles long, and stretching up to 800’ tall, the dam would be the largest hydroelectrical plant ever conceived. At the end points of the dam, new transit centers are created, forming connections to the “mainland” and formulating what most of the public can see of the dam. Where there were once beaches, several miles of nature preserve are implemented; this bolsters public opinion of the project, and acts as a barrier to the real, more destructive purpose of the project. High speed rail runs from end to end, and along the top of the dam are high rises with luxury accomodations for stakeholders and investors. The dam also acts as a labor site for those indebted to the Coalition of Corporations. These workers live within the dam, and either perform oil field operations or dam maintenance. The unsightly operations of the oil field are shielded from view of the sensitive upper class with large video screens and trompe l’oeil effects. The aforementioned luxury highrises also serve as observation towers for management and planning in the region. The dam is will also have to be situational in nature; at some points, it will grow as tall as 800 feet, and will have structural methods to compensate for this fact. The precise program of the dam could vary along its length—for instance, there could be stretches up to dozens of miles long with absolutely no purpose but to hold the Gulf of Mexico at bay.
Photo montage - Image sources ArcGIS and US Dept. of the Interior 113
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ExxonMobil's Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Reclamation Project (yellow), in relation to the former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's sub-aquatic topography study (gray).
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Diagram of planned resistance/sabotage to ExxonMobil's Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Reclamation Project.
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Left: Series of vignettes, showing what lies above, within, and below the Dam.
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Above: ExxonMobil's "Grid" structure, constructed outside of the bounds of the Dam. Right: Two vignettes, portraying one small portion of ExxonMobil's vast Grid.
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THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
Federal Emergency Management Agency Government Publishing Office John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Library of Congress National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Humanities National Gallery of Art Smithsonian Institution U.S. Agency for International Development U.S. Commission of Fine Arts U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Voice of America
The final corporation/megaregion pairing is The Walt Disney Company and Southern California. There is a present risk of earthquakes to the Southern California megaregion, and as such many critical assets to the Walt Disney Company are at risk. The proposal is this: what if Disney could find a way to stabilize the San Andreas Fault? What form does the megastructure take? Beyond this, what programs are built to supplement such a monumental task? FREEDOM designates the Walt Disney Company as the arbiters of media, entertainment and identity in the Coalition of Corporations. With this in mind, the megastructure is a series of tectonic plate ties, above which soars a linear culture hub for the entirety of the CC. What happens when museums, theme parks, galleries, performing arts centers, entertainment production facilities, are all combined into a culture wall, a “Disney Divide”? A serious implication of this proposal is the knowledge and realization that it will form a strong division of the Southern California megaregion into two sides. What changes spatially and culturally about these two sides? Does this attempt to bring people together through the propagation of entertainment and media actually do just the opposite? What does the “Disneyfication” of disaster remediation look like? Is the dissonance to strong to bear? Outside of this context, what other ways is the Walt Disney Company working to make the reality of the Coalition of Corporations palatable on a global scale?
Photo montage - Image sources (MapsofWorld.com) Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation and The Walt Disney Company 123
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The Walt Disney Company's Seismological Energy Converter, Vault System & Cultural Renderer, juxtaposed with recent earthquake epicenters and overall earthquake risk.
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Diagram of planned resistance/sabotage to The Walt Disney Company's Seismological Energy Converter, Vault System & Cultural Renderer.
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Left: Series of vignettes, showing exterior, detail, and interior views of the "Seismorama".
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Above: Map of the Los Angeles region, with specific sites of intrigue. Right: Two vignettes, portraying an act of sabotage, and the contents of the Seismorama vault.
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