Un-Natural Generation
Ethan McKnight
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Public gardens and Projective monuments in the Fisk Station
“Is it a fact – or have I dreamt it – that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?” - Nathaniel Hawthorne
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“Instead of causing us to remember the past like the old monuments, the new monuments seem to cause us to forget the future.� - Robert Smithson
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This thesis project seeks a new impetus for the design of postindustrial spaces by revealing the material and time scales embedded in their monumental processes. The aim is to leverage the subliminal awe of these sites into unique and revelatory experiences that shift the manner in which we perceive our own collective actions.
Ethan McKnight University of Minnesota Master of Landscape Architecture Capstone Project Proposal, 2017 Capstone Committee: Matthew Tucker, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Chair Joseph Favour, Head of Department of Landscape Architecture, Senior Associate at Oslund and Assoc. Egle Vanagaite, Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture, Project Designer at Coen + Partners
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08
Conceptual Framework
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Site Context and Introduction
56
Design Proposal
118
Conclusion
121
Appendix
Conceptual Framework: Understanding the Time and Material Scales of Industrial Sites
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Material Scale
Industrial Site
Time Scale
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How can post-industrial site designs communicate and act within the scales of material and time in which they operated, and which they continue to affect long after their death? Industrial sites are indicative of the compression of time and material scales that define our age. They collect vast amounts of materials from distant and vast landscapes and process them briefly before dispersing them again to far flung locations. The materials they transform often have origins millions of years in the past and their by-products can last thousands or millions of years. Their site boundaries reach far beyond any property line and far further in time, both forward and back, then we typically imagine. The ruins of industrial activities disseminate scale and time in a way that ruins of another sort might not, by implying the weight of monumental materiality, visible and invisible networks that transcend time and distance, and a vast population and demand required to make such sites a reasonable venture. Our aesthetic fascination with these sites is driven by an awe of scale and complexity. Post-industrial site designs, however, frequently fail to express and explore these time and material scales. Instead they preserve the form and structure of such sites and ignore the broader realms in which they act.
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How We Sanitize Industrial History (Power Plant Reuse Precedents) Driven by historic preservation guidelines that prioritize form and architecture rather than the ramifications of industrial processes and landscape - not to mention social and cultural realities of industrial sites - these adaptive reuse projects feature mere facades of former conditions, stuffed with incongrous programming. Hard Rock CafÊ’s, condos, and Barnes’ and Nobles are dropped into the empty shells of former industry. These adaptive reuse projects represent a missed opportunity to communicate the realities of these sites and their effects on social, ecological, and cultural communities.
SDG&E Station B San Diego, California 12
Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Power House Chicago, Illinois 13
Pratt Street Power Plant Baltimore, Maryland
“Everything Comes to an End, Except for Pumping” Even the iconic landscapes of post-industrial design fail to acknowledge the hidden impacts of their industrial operations. They succeed admirably in providing unique and intense experiences by glorifying the scale of production and the subliminal awe of infrastructure and equipment. This glorification, however, often has the effect of glossing over the environmental, cultural, and social ramifications of these sites. In the landscape of Zollverein there is no indication that this mineshaft pictured will necessarily be pumping water for as long as humans can manage, simply to prevent nearby populations of millions from flooding caused by the subsidence of centuries of undermining. Likewise in Duisburg Landschaftspark, the serene ‘Alte Emscher’ masks the ‘real’ Emscher river flowing underneath, full of toxicity and pollutants that will persist for centuries. The results of the operations on these sites can span thousands of years. Fossil fuel consumption requires millions of years to form and carbon can persist in the atmosphere for just as long. Ignoring the interpretive opportunities of these primary features (not by-products) of industrial sites is a missed opportunity to engage the public in a broader understanding of our impacts on deep time and global systems.
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Zollverein Coal Mine OMA + Atelier Dreisetl 15
Duisburg Nord Landschaftspark Latz + Partners
[individual] [structure] [neighborhood] [society] Memory. n. The faculty by which the [landscape] stores and remembers information; from which we might discern connections and processes previously Traditional post-industrial design projects have focused on only a small portion of a site’s story. In doing so they ignore the vast time and material scales a site has influenced and interacted with. They tell only a small part of the story. In the Anthropocene, where our geophysical effects on the earth can be measured in decades and years, rather than centuries or millennia, it is crucial to communicate and investigate these sites as monuments of our material interactions. Traditional post-industrial site designs are often driven by an emphasis on memory and they act as monuments to our productive and extractive prowess; false symbols in some of our power and control over natural systems. Can they be converted to monuments of unintentional effects? Places that acknowledge the vast quantities of ash they have dispersed, and lives they have affected. Monuments to extraction and production, but also monuments to uncertain futures and altered global chemistry?
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Preservation-focused scales of memory
Continental + Social Material Volume Distance Justice
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Neighborhood + Site Ritual Symbolic Pollution
Form + Structure Material Operational Vegetation Form
Personal Ritual Seasonal Recurring Open-ended
What is an industrial monument of the Anthropocene? It is incumbent on us, as citizens of the Anthropocene, to consider the other ramifications these sites embody, particularly their roles in our society as monuments that tell particular stories about our relationship to the earth and its resources. These relationships are expressed through continental and social scales, instead of the traditional form and structure. By using these sites to leverage these historic realities, as well as their intrinsic subliminal fascination, we can form a better understanding of the future we are building through our incessant use of fossil fuels.
Deliberate Monument
Intuitive Monument
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Scales of Memory for a new post-industrial dialectic
Continental + Social Material Volume Distance Justice
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Neighborhood + Site Ritual Symbolic Pollution
Form + Structure Material Operational Vegetation Form
Personal Ritual Seasonal Recurring Open-ended
Contextual Analysis: Continents + Neighborhood + Site
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The Fisk Generating Station The Fisk Generating Station is the chosen site for this project. One of many decommissioned coal plants of the past decades, the station played a unique and outsized role in the age of electricity and the modern era. Located in the heart of Chicago, the coal plant is the oldest station decommissioned in the past ten years numerous historically-rated structures. The station is also one of the most urban closed coal plants, with over 300,000 residents living within 3 miles of the station and therefore subject to its long history of toxic output. The station is ideally suited for a design proposal engaged with broader historical engagement and monumental preservation of industrial practices.
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Decommissioned Coal Stations From 2012 Since 2010, almost 50% of the nation’s coal generating capacity (in megawatts) has been decommissioned or converted into other fuels. The Fisk Station is one of 126 to be fully decommissioned, and is in fact the oldest of the stations on this map. These sites represent a legacy of the modern age but also bear a large responsibility for the volume of carbon emissions that have spiked over the past onehundred years.
Coal Plants decommissioned since 2012:
126
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Project Site - Fisk Generating Station
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Active Coal Stations Despite the reduction of their generating capacity, coal plants are still responsible for 71% of the nation’s C02 emissions from energy, with 1,364 million tons annually released. Every decommissioned coal station is an opportunity to reveal and engage the public in the ongoing repercussions of this fossil fuel consumption. The Fisk Station is particularly suited for such engagement due to its urban nature and cultural and historic significance.
Coal emissions of C02 annually (million tons):
1364
Percentage of national CO2 emissions from coal:
126
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The station is located on the south branch of the Chicago River, just under two miles from downtown Chicago and the lake. Pilsen, located to the north, is the closest neighborhood to the plant and endured coal smog pouring into the air for over 109 years.
Chicago
15 28
Downtown Chicago
South Branch Chicago River
Pilsen Fisk Generating Station Little Village
Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal
Crawford Generating Station 16 29
Bubbly Creek
Lake Michigan
Chicago Population Growth 3,500,000 1883 - World’s first steel frame skyscraper constructed in Chicago
1871 - Great Chicago Fire
2,500,000 1825 - Eerie Canal Opens
1837- Chicago Incorporated 1850- Gas street lights appear in Chicago
1883 - AC Transformer invented 1891 - First AC power plant opens in Ames, Colorado 1893 - Columbia Exposition and three phase AC current success 1897 - Elevated ‘Loop’ completed
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1903 -Fisk Street Station Constructed with 5 MW Generators, a stunning achievement 1911 - Fisk Generators upgraded to 12 MW
1825
1850
1875
1900
1,500,000
1925
1950
1912 - Thomas Edison and the king and queen of England visit Fisk Station 1907 - Commonwealth Edison Merger 1866 - Nation’s First Coal Strip Mining Opens in Illinois
500,000
1848 - Railroad reaches Chicago 1848 - Indiana + Michigan Canal opens
1901 - First AC Power Plant opens in Ehrenfeld, PA 1893 - First Elevated Line completed US Coal Consumption 1892 - Chicago River Permanently Reversed 1888 - Chicago Edison opens first Chicago Power Plant (DC)
1887 - Chicago Edison Formed
L f
197 1961 - Coal Beco 1956 - Last Major Station
1882 - Pearl St. Power Station (Direct Current) opens in New ork 1881 - Edison Company for Isolated Lighting (Arc Lighting) enters Chicago market 1880’s - 90’s - Pilsen populated
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Fisk Generating Station + The Age of Electricity 1986 - Clean Coal Technology Act Passed 1990 - US Coal Production Tops 1 Billion Tons
1971 - Clean Air Act
2002 - Harvard School of Public Health reports 41 premature deaths annually from station pollution 2012 - Fisk Station Closes
1975
2000
Large fire in coal storage area damages south facade of original powerhouse
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2014 - NRG Purchases Station 2002 - Chicago Clean Power Ordinance introduced
70’s - Powder River Coal Mining begins in earnest 2002 - Coal Mining companies reclaim 2 millionth omes Majority Fuel Source for Electricity acre of mined land n Upgrade 2001 - Midwest Energy Labor Strike raises community awareness
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The station was constructed in 1903, shortly after the dawn of the electrical age, and operated until 2012. The 1880’s and 1890’s saw a flurry of advancements in the generation of electricity, most notably the successful implementation of alternating current at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, a technology that allowed electricity to be transmitted far further, and in far greater volumes, than previously possible. Due to its venerable age and the assumption it would close shortly, the station was able to evade many of the environmental regulations promulgated by the 1971 Clean Air Act. The station was decommissioned in 2012 after concerted protests of local community members and a decline in profitability and efficiency. NRG purchased the property from Midwest Energy in 2014 and is seeking to offload it for development.
Record breaking power
First manmade object to break the sound barrier Queen Mary visits Father of centralized electricty
First all steam power plant
Thomas Edison 32
From ‘Cathedral of Power’ to the Devil’s Lair When it was built the station shattered all previous records of generating capacity. It was described as a “great cathedral devoted to the religion of power,” whose gigantic machines inspired a feeling of worship. Its generating capacity set the standard for decades. Through this station’s success, central power generation that processed vast quantities of coal was made viable, and thus the incredible burst of fossil fuel consumption we know as the Great Acceleration. Later in its life, starting in the 1990’s especially, the plant was subject to intense and sustained local protests related to air quality and pollution. Decommissioned in 2012 Q U I T C O A L
Twenty years of sustained protest and action
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Mapping Coal Movement The station, a relatively small plant by the time of its decommissioning, consumed hundreds of millions of tons of coal annually. From the 1970’s onward, the coal arrived from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming at a clip of 74 full trains annually. The coal was barged up to the plant from Romeoville daily and was consumed at the rate of 3000-4000 tons daily. This produced enough power for about 340,000 homes annually.
x 5444
-
340,000 Houses Powered Annually 374 Megawatt/Hours Produced
North Antelope Rochelle Mine Black Thunder Mine Powder River Basin
Forests and other organic material cover the earth over 60 million years ago
1163 Miles
HEAT
PRESSURE
TIME
The vegetation dies and forms peat when compressed in wet anaerobic conditions that prevent it from decomposing
The peat is further compressed between sediment, eventually becoming lignite, a low carbon, low quality coal
Bituminous and sub bituminous coal used for coking and other industrial uses result after more compression and time
Anthracite coal, with the highest and densest carbon content, forms after 300 million years of compression and heat
Powder River Basin
x 74 115 Tons / Car
115 Cars - 1.4 Mile Length 13,225 tons / Train 74 Trains / Year to Fisk Station
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Annual emissions (2003-2006) 230 lbs of mercury 17,765 tons of sulfur 260,000 lbs of soot 1,784,715 tons of Carbon Dioxide 4,924 tons of Sulbur Dioxide 1,178 tons of Nitrous Oxide Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal 374 Megawatt Generator (1959) Chicago 16 Miles to Fisk Des Plaines River
Fisk Station Romeoville 980,000 tons of coal consumed annually 3,000 - 4,000 tons consumed daily
Fisk Power Station
Romeoville, Illinois
NRG Will County Power Station
Coal Storage and Transfer Station - Rail to Barge
x 913 1500 Tons / Barge Trip 2-3 Trips / Day
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41 Premature deaths annually from pollution associated with Fisk Station
Annual Consumption 980,000 tons 2219’
563’
Total Historic Consumption 106,820,000 tons
Daily Consumption 3,500 tons
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Coal Volumes and Carbon Offset
46,252,931
When we place the volume of coal consumed next to the station itself we can begin to appreciate the absurdity of the material amounts the station processed. The carbon sequestration equivalent of these operations would require over a million and a half trees, plus 60 million years of geologic compression.
20� diameter Populus deltoides
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Environmental Injustice + Toxic Uncertainty The station released a staggering amount of pollutants over its long history. In 2006, it released almost 2 million tons of C02, as well as mercury, nitrous oxide, and sulfur dioxide. It was ranked as the third highest environmental justice offender of the country in 2010, and a 2002 Harvard study attributed 2800 asthma attacks, 550 ambulance visits, and 41 premature deaths annually to the station.
Environmental Justice Offenders (2010) 1. Crawford Generating Station, Illinois 2. Hudson Generating Station, New Jersey 3. Fisk Generating Station, Illinois
Annual Pollutant Output (Tons)
x 4924 x 1178
1.5 Miles
x 1784715
x 230 1937 - Fatal Burn 1938 - Ladder Fall
1974 - Fatal Accident 1976 - FireďŹ ghter crushed
1945 - Fatal Burn 1954 - Two Fatal Burns
Station Fatalities
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Fisk: 374 Megawatts People Living within 3 Miles: 314,632 Average Income within 3 miles: $15,076 People of color within 3 miles: 83.1%
Annual Health Effects of Fisk and Crawford
x 550 x 41
Crawford: 597 Megawatts People Living within 3 Miles: 373,690 Average Income within 3 miles: S11,097 People of color within 3 miles: 83.9%
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x 2800
Neighborhood Demographics Unsurprisingly, these environmental injustices occured in populations of large minority concentrations. Pilsen itself is almost 80% Latino and has been a port of entry for Mexican immigrants in particular for more than 5 decades. This has lent the neighborhood a unique character, with colorful Oaxacan murals on Bohemian architecture of the 1890’s a common site in the neighborhood.
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Chinatown
Pilsen Industrial Corridor
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Acres of Open Space per 1,000 Residents
Pilsen + Open Space The neighborhood is also severely deprived of open space, coming in at 4 acres fewer per thousand residents than Chicago’s average, and well shortsof the city’s goal of 4 acres per 1000 residents. On the south side of the river there are a number of newer parks sited on post-industrial sites such as Stearns Quarry and there are also increasing recreational opportunities on the river itself, such as boating, fishing, and the Chicago River taxi System. Pilsen’s primary neighborhood park, Dvorak Park, is immediately adjacent to the Fisk Station.
5.0 Chicago
1.1 Pilsen/Little Village
Share of Population within 1/2 Mile of Open Space
92% 99% Chicago
Pilsen/Little Village
Fisk Desired Neighborhood Use Green Space + Public Access
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Dvorak Park -5.63 Acres -Primary Pilsen neighborhood park -Active Recreation (Swimming + Baseball + Soccer + Playground and Picnic - Community Center (Auditorium + Gym + Art Room + Kitchen)
Fisk Station
Fisk Station
Canal Origins Park -4.5 Acres -Interpretation of historic canal construction - Passive recreation + native ha itat ďŹ shing
Palmisano Park (Stearns Quarry Park) Park No. 571
-2016 -3.06 Acres -Boat House + Training Facilities + Passive Recreation
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-2009 500 1000 -27 Acres 0 -Former limestone quarry -Passive recreation + native habitat + water treatment
Fisk Station
Fisk Station
Neighborhood Desired Uses Increase ACCESS TO THE THE CHICAGO RIVER and improve [the river’s] water quality “The Fisk Street Station could be a museum of history and industry... this site is an opportunity to celebrate and explore the benefits and tradeoffs of our industrial history, warts and all.” - Lynne Kessling
Make the RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT A DESTINATION for visitors, such as tourists on architectural boat tours
“In an area whose number of parks and public green spaces is among the lowest in the city, this becomes even more important.” - Kari Lydersen
Build a contiguous natural open space that welcomes pedestrian [and bike] traffic and promotes EXPERIENCES WITH THE ENVIRONMENT.
Connect the Fisk property to the existing but under-utilized RIVERWALK to the East of the site
Incorporate GREEN SPACE not only around the site, but onto and into existing and future buildings “It’s a symbol, but I also will never forget the people who died because of that smokestack...I could have been one of them.” - Leila Mendez
Turn areas of the site into hardscape parks for residents to use for RECREATION AND RELAXATION Design the property to be a KEY LOCATION ALONG THE RIVER. Integrate it into the Chicago River Cultural Festival and other events Add a WATER TAXI stop at the Fisk site
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Historic Watershed and Flow
Mississippi River Basin
Chicago River North Branch
Fisk Station
Des Plaines River
Chicago River South Branch
Chicago and its Rivers The Fisk Generating Station is located on the Chicago River South Branch. The river is located just northeast of Bubbly Creek, where the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was extended in the 19th century to reverse the flow of the river for the purposes of sanitary control and material transportation. The Great Rivers Chicago Plan has stated goals to reclaim the city’s rivers for access and the public benefit in the 21st century.
Calumet River
Great Lakes Basin
Current System
North Shore
Fisk Station
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
Cal-Sag Channel
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Future Potential Development The site is positioned between two city revitalization efforts. The first is the Paseo trail system, a rails-to-trails conversion of the defunct rail tracks that used to serve the Fisk Station. The other is the prospective riverfront redevelopment. Chicago has declared the 21st century the century of their rivers, in efforts to reclaim access, and usability for the riverfront. The eventual vision is to create a linear system of river walks the length of the urban river and the Fisk Station is ideally positioned to anchor this network in Pilsen.
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Existing Open Space Proposed Open Space Connections Ping Tom Public Boathouse Water Taxi Stop Paseo Greenway
Proposed Park Connection from Palmisano Park to the River Public Boathouse
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Dvorak Park
Adjacencies + Property Lines The site has complicated property delineations due to transmission and peaker plant easements. The peaker plant easement is expiring in 2017 and will be wrapped into the proposed project boundaries. Cermak Road is a four-lane thouroughfare that carries steady stream of traffic, as well as bus routes. Mana Contemporary Art is an artist collective in the former administrative offices of the Fisk Station.
W. Cermak Road
Peakers Plant Easement Transmission Easement
Property Line
Mana Contemporary Art Ready Mix Company
Proposed Project Boundary
Chicago River South Branch
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Site Structures The site has a number of historically rated historic structures (as designated by the city of Chicago) in red. These are secondtier historic structures meaning they can be demolished but are considered valuable for their arhictectural style and form. There are also a number of structures that don’t fall into these formal designations that are vital to the site’s interpetation and identity. These include additional structures from station rebuild in the 1950’s (in yellow), as well as the additional pollution treatment structures that have accrued over many years and contribute to the site’s distinctive industrial character.
City-Rated Historic Structures Important Historic Structures not rated Industrial infrastructure 49
Site Scale in Neighborhood
Water Desalination
Upper Le
Switch House No. 1
Water Outfall
450’ Water Clarification
Central Station Structures
Neighborhood Residences
Wa
Water Intake
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Transmission Yards Switch House No. 2
evels = Housing + Amenities
Boiler Housing
Original Generator Building
Fly Ash Disposal Tank
Generator Housing
Coal Processing
ater Treatment
Building Function + Material Flow Upon reaching the site the coal was offloaded from barges and processed through crushers before making its way up the conveyors to the burners of the boiler room. Here steam was made to turn the turbine blades and generate electricity. The boiler and generator structures dominate the site, while the rest of the structures are an assortment of switch houses, administration and maintenance, s well as pollution control such as fly ash disposal and water treatment infrastructure along the river edge. 51
1903 - 1956
Primary Historic Eras There were two primary phases of site operation, roughly 50 years long each. The first is in red here, where the original structures were supplied by rail and placed between these two canals draw water through these small canals for cooling and for steam. Many of those structures are gone though traces remain, especially of the original generator hall. A manufactured gas plant was located on the lower west side of the site between roughly 1850 and 1950 and is the site’s primary source of pollution.
1956 - Present
The second priamry era for the station was a massive expansion of the boiler and generator housing in the 1950’s, as well as the additional switch houses and other outbuildings. These buildings remain largely intact.
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Rail Distribution Network
Historic Canals
Site Canals Manufactured Gas Plant Gas Plant Manufactured
Original Generator Building
N 0
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50
100
Lead PAHs PAHs Fly Ash Bottom Ash Lead VOCs Fuel Remnants Lead
Asbestos Coal Tar PAHs VOCs BTEX
Asbestos PAHs Lead Heavy Metals
N 0
50
100
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Organic
Phytovolatization Good Opportunity for Field Application
MTBE
Inorganic
BTEX
Nutrients
Phytodegradation
Solvents Petroleum
Nickel
Plastics
Selenium
Pesticides Arsenic
Phytoremediation Potential
PAHs
Rhizodegradation
Cadmium Zinc
Iron
Boron
Manganese
Cobalt
Molybdenum
Copper
Phytoaccumulation
Metalloids POPs
Chromium Fluorine Mercury
Less Current Applicability at Field Scale
Salts
Explosives
Radionuclides
Aluminum Lead
Less Time (1-10 years)
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More Time (10 + years)
Potential to take many decades
Pollution + Phyto-potential The manufactured gas plant was the site’s primary source of pollution, which consist primarily of petroleum organic chemicals such as coal tar, PAHS, and VOCs. As the chart on the left shows, those compounds and chemicals are highly suitable for phytoremediation treatment through various processes including rhizodegradtion and phytoaccumulation. A number of structures are also polluted with asbestos, lead paint, and in the case of the original switch house, PAHS and other organics as well.
Fisk Station Today The station was decommissioned in 2012. Subsequently it was sold by Midwest Energy to NRG Energy, who is currently seeking to offload the property for development. The city is actively seeking a buyer for the site and is currently proposing a CTA bus garage for the site. Since 2012, the site has been unmanaged and derelict. It is dominated by brick, concrete, and elevated industrial infrastructure. A large amount of emergent plant growth is already beginning to dominate areas of the site, especially on the south side near the river.
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Design Proposal
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Program Goals There is an opportunity for Fisk Station to repay the nearby residents for its many injustices with river access and open space that they sorely lack. The site will also provide visitors and residents with space for interpretive and revelatory experiences of its historic significance, as well as the material and time scales embedded in its processes. It will be converted into a public garden that utilizes material processes of displacement, transmission, and accumulation to provide a framework for both planned and emergent vegetation native to industrial sites. The site will act as a projective monument by using the historic structures and the requirements of phytoremediation to measure the future accumulation of historic fossil fuel consumption.
Public Garden
Projective Monument
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Displacement Reveal
Reveal the material and time scales embedded in the site’s industrial operations, especially pollution, carbon, and material accumulation.
Process
Use the processes of displacement, transmission, and accumulation with various site materials to provide a new interpretation of the site’s history.
Public
Transmission
Provide access and use for residents and visitors through transportation, gathering spaces, and interactive programming
Accumulation
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Site Experience The Fisk Station is dominated by the 250’ boiler structure and its adjacent generator structure. These structures and the 450’ stack loom over piece of the site. A central monolithic feature in a field of illegible industrial infrastructure, pocketed wtih assorted surfaces, criss-crossing elevated pipes and structures, and spontaneous vegetation.
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Field
Existing Conditions - central structures with overwhelming complexity
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Focus
Frame
Design response - uniform, legible surface interventions that mediate in scale between massive central structures and the human. Utilize central structures as focus of monumental landscape and frame edges to enhance entry experience and sense of enclosure in a monumental landscape.
Field_Impervious Surface Displacement
Site Programming The site programming is driven by three primary actions of material displacement and the opportunities in the resulting spaces they create. These actions are all aimed at presenting the material scales of these various systems explicitly to visitors. The economic driver of the site’s development is a new museum - the museum of Un-Natural History. An update on Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, the museum seeks to engage visitors in both the historical importance of the Fisk Station itself, as well as the broader implications of our industrial practices. Other portions of the site are dedicated to further interpretation activities, designed and emergent gardens, a water taxi stop, wetlands, and public access to the river. These spaces are a result of the aforementioned material manipulations.
Frame_Polluted Soil Displacement
Focus_Carbon Displacement
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Dvorak Park W. Cermak Road 14
3 4 4
8 13 15
13 1
9
11
10 2
5
6
13 12 7
65
1
Generator Arcade
2
Museum of Un-Natural History
3
The Front Lawn
4
Remediation/ Carbon Gardens
5
Museum Plaza
6
Energy Overlook
7
Water Taxi Stop
8
Woodshop + Maintenance
9
Bunker Gardens
10
Gas Plant Wetlands
11
Sunken Garden
12
Elevated River Walk
13
Canal Steps
14
Paseo Trail
15
Carbon Monument
View from South 1
Generator Arcade
2
Museum of Un-Natural History
3
Emergent Forest
4
Remediation/ Carbon Gardens
5
Museum Plaza
6
Energy Overlook
7
Water Taxi Stop
8
Clarifier Gardens
9
Bunker Gardens
10
Gas Plant Wetlands
11
Sunken Garden
12
Elevated River Walk
13
Canal Steps
14
Carbon Monument
13
10 12
66
4 4 14 13
2
13
5
11
1 6
3
7 8
67
View from North 1
Front Lawn
2
Museum of Un-Natural History
3
Emergent Wet Meadow
4
Remediation/ Carbon Gardens
5
Museum Plaza
6
Water Taxi Stop
7
Bunker Gardens
8
Gas Plant Wetlands
9
Sunken Garden
10
Elevated River Walk
11
Conveyor Walk Entrance
12
Carbon Monument and Identity Reclamation
6 7
11
4
68
10
2
8 12 5
9
4
1 3
69
Ex. Structures
Secondary Programming Nodes + New Site Organization
Site Organization Strategy The site is dominated by straight northsouth lines of the structures, reminiscent of the historic grid and canal orientation. A similar organizational framework will be laid over the site at an angle to create a legible system of new interventions among the complexity of the site structures.
Ex. Primary Site Orientation
Proposed Primary Programming Nodes + Entrance
Existing Grid
New Surficial Interventions
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Re-organizing Site Surfaces to Create a New Formal Alignment The Fisk Station site is dominated by impervious surface. These site surfaces (and building debris) are reorganized to explicitly convey the material volumes, and to provide a framework that registers both historic and emergent site conditions. The surfaces are used to create a new ‘front lawn’ for the site that creates legibility. The horizontal plane of the slab surfaces accentuates the scale of 450’ tall smokestack and boiler housing. The resulting spaces of the material displacement provide space for emergent gardens, gathering nodes, and water conveyance.
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Slab Removal and Redistribution Overlaying existing conditions with a new organization of site surfaces and circulation creates a framework communicates the material volumes required for simple site operation and provides a framework for emergent vegetation that registers the site’s historic conditions
Extract hardscape slabs from available location on site
Concrete + Asphalt Surf
Circulation Grid Existing conditions
30’
10’
72
faces
Concrete Surfaces + Grid Structure
Reorganizing Surfaces
Removed Slabs (540)
Placed Slabs (165)
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Placed slabs create spaces within a distinct grid of emergent vegetation.
Un-managed voids foster novel plant communities in legible space
Water collects in untreated voids, fostering distinct emergent vegetation and water retention benefits
For gathering nodes, voids are filled with crushed brick debris from building demolition
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Concrete bench typologies inspired by lifting slabs
The displacement and placement of these impervious surfaces creates a legible grid that registers and functions in unique ways based whether it was cut or fill, in addition to the site’s historic condition, and desired programmatic uses. Seating typologies are also generated out of the grid structure to flow out of the voids and vegetation created by the slab removal.
Benches jut out of vegetated voids
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Soil Remediation and Revelation The most polluted soil of the site is removed from its location adjacent to the river to prevent further leaching and to more ably provide an understanding of its scale to site visitors. The soil is placed in phytoremediation bunkers (petroleum byproducts are some of the most suitable for phyto technologies) that frame the site along the lines of vanished, historic canals. These mounds will provide an understanding of the time required to treat these invisible toxins, and unique urban forest spaces, while also acting as a buffer between the site and adjacent ongoing industrial activity.
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A
B
Historic canal outlines and polluted soil placement
47,627 cu. yds of total polluted soil removed Slow incline into site provides progressive understanding of polluted soil volumes
B 24,444 cu. yds storage and treatment
A 30,294 cu. yds storage and treatment
End of bunkers transition to water access 77
PAHs Coal Tar VOCs BTEX Heavy Metals
Thermally treat soil
Volatization
Existing bulkhead
Property Line
New water barriers and bulkheads
Remove existing bulkheads, tiebacks, and polluted soil
River Channel 78
Poplar/Black Locust Grove
Deposit treated soil
Remediation Process + River Edge
Phytoaccumulation Rhizodegradation Bulkhead planter
Puncture new bulkhead 79
Siltation in shallow channel
The remediation process requires specific shoreline treatments to prevent further leaching from the contaminated soil that remains under the transmission easement. These shoreline treatements will be adapted to create a new wetland to provide badly needed habitat on the Chicago River South Branch, and a unique post-industrial experience.
Organic chemicals such as PAHs and other petroleum by-products are absorbed by the tree stored in the plant tissue itsef, or degraded and released through the leaves
Forest Groves Hybrid poplar groves phytodegrade PAHs and other petroleum byproducts through stimulation of microbial communities in the soil and also uptake and phytovolatize byproducts through their leaves.
Roots stimulate rhizodegradation up to 12’ of soil depth
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Peaker Plant stacks are incorporated into new remediation forests
Dead wood is harvested for carbon sequestration
Simple woodchip path provides silent walking and contrast to industrial infrastructure 81
Mechanical storage
Biomass storage
Carbon Sequestration Potential as Site Interpretation How can an urban site engage with the scale of carbon expenditure embodied by a coal power station? Typical carbon sequestration strategies fail to contextualize this action in human scale or within human experience. Wood harvest sequestration is a developing strategy of cheaply storing harvested wood underground or within structures preserving carbon for thousands of years.
un-minable coal beds
saline formations
Collect and bury dead trees
enhanced recovery
Harvest and bury trees underground
Potential Wood Harvest Sequestration Capture Worldwide is estimated at 10 GtC
depleted oil reservoir
Harvest and bury trees above ground
Annual carbon capture in terrestrial vegetation is 60 GtC
50$ cheaper per ton of Carbon than industrial C02 capture 82
Carbon Sequestration Storage on Site This technique will be used to fill the station’s massive boiler and generator structures with carbon. Through these efforts visitors are confronted with the almost unintelligible temporal and material scales the plant has engaged in. Registering the temporal scales of these processes will create a projective monument to measure both past and future material accumulation. This monument looms over the site and the city itself.
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Carbon + Reme
The 600 year / 45 day garden The remediation groves are used to supply these carbon sequestration volumes. They are managed through time to provide for and prioritize a diverse set of uses. The ongoing management of the forests contribute to the sense of time required to engage the volumes of coal consumed by the station, and provide an evolving set of experiences for residents and visitors.
Hybrid Poplar Saplings
Poplars phytoaccumulate and degrade pollutants
Take station artifacts for museum display and sell interior scrap
0 years 84
ediation
Carbon + Lumber + Experience
Carbon + Lumber
Harvest poplar forests
d
10 years 85
Poplar and Locust Mix Plantings
Harvest poplar and replace with hardwood species
20 years
Managed mixed hardwood forest
Carbon Encounters
Carbon Monument Structures
75,000 cords of wood storage 315,000,000 pounds of carbon stored 0-3% Decomposition over 1000 years
Building incisions around the site provide visitors with a sense of scale involved in these carbon sequestration efforts. They place the human body in relation to both the awesome scale of structures themselves, as well as the carbon volumes involved over more than a century of operation.
Carbon enters through use of existing station hoist cranes in the structures
Generator Arcade
10’
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Wood storage
Time scale markings indicate disparate timescales of carbon harvest and consumption
New holes in boiler station facade that provide indication of carbon volumes are incorporated into the ground plane as indication 87
Site Systems The site systems are largely the result of emergent qualities generated by the surficial interventions. Circulation strategies are derived largely form historic material transportation networks such as rail and water canals and act as an additional strata through which vegetation emerges.
Surface Interventions
Circulation + Entrances
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The vegetation projections are based on assessment of the existing emergent vegetation on site as well as the water conditions that will result from the surficial interventions.
Vegetation
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Water
Poplar Remediation Groves
Populus spp.
Site Plantings
Hybrid Poplar
Emergent Urban Woodlands
Emergent Urban Prairie
Populus deltoides Ailanthus altissima Acer negundo Rhus glabra Salix spp.
Solidago canadensis Daucus carota Panicum virgatum Leucantheum vulgare Cichorium intybus Conyza canadensis
Cottonwood Tree of Heaven Box Elder Smooth sumac Willow
Cana Quee Switc Ox-ey Chico Horse
The site plantings zones are created from augmented forms of already extant site vegetation. Surficial interventions and remediation activities create opportunities for a diverse set of plantings and experiences. Outside of the designed gardens, management is minimal as the wild and emergent character of the site is encouraged to thrive. 90
Emergent Wet Prarie
ada goldenrod en Anne’s Lace chgrass ye Daisy ory eweed
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Chenopodium album L. Asclepias cornuti Phragmites australis Iris pseudacorus Phalaris arundinacea
Wetland
Common lambsquarters Common milkweed Common Reed Yellow Flag Iris Reed canary grass
Phragmites australis Typha latifolia
Common Reed Common cattail
Rail Spines
Canal Walks
Galvanized Steel Walkway
Concrete Chanel Walkway
River Walk
Riverwalk
Allows for material transition
6� Elevation
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Infrastructure + Building Paths
Forest Walks
Site Circulation The site circulation system is largely based on the historic routes of material transportation on site such as the rail network and water canals. The materiality for each reflect their historic character. Additional elevated walks traverse through the historic conveyors and across the new wetlands on elevated walks pinned to the industrial infrastructure. 93
The Front Lawn Primary entrances to the site from the neighborhood involve traversing the monumental front lawn. The front lawn of the site is composed of the displaced hardscape slabs from elsewhere on site. Here, the uniform legibility of the organization and massive scale of these pieces mediate in scale between the human and gargantuan size of the adjacent structures. Spontaneous vegetation is supplemented with hardy urban meadow species. The boiler facade is turned over to local muralists who layer a new identity on the structure that has loomed over their neighborhood for more than one hundred years.
Formerly turfgrass, this emergent urban prarie is dominated by species such as Queen Anne’s Lace and Canada Goldenrod
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Local muralists claim station identity for themselves and their neighbors
Impervious slabs provide new organizational structure, gathering spaces for impromptu use, and an indication of material scale
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The Imposing Structures of the Front Lawn The horizontal plane of the front lawn accentuates the massive vertical structures of the station’s smokestack, and other imposing structures.
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100
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Along the Remediation Gardens Additional entrances to the site hug the remediation groves and the the containers of polluted soil. The constant incline of the bunkers, where the trees rise to meet the scale of the structures around them A former roadway, the removal of impervious surfaces here provides for an emergent community dominated by species such as goldenrod, milkweed, and cottonwood saplings. Interpretive artwork on the bunker walls provides a sense of understanding for visitors.
Hybrid poplar groves
Polluted soil bunkers with graphic interpretation for visitors
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Circulation of the front yard is dominated by the flowing orientation of historic rail systems
Voids of removed slabs 99
Finding the River The Remediation Gardens descend to meet the canal and the space opens up to find the river. The surface organization remains the same but transitions to crushed brick recovered from demolished site structures to indicate a gathering space. Here is the entrance to the museum’s interpretive walk through the coal conveyors and the adjacent structures, as well as the river walk, and river steps built into the canal sides. Further down the way, the former coal loader indicates the new water taxi stop on site.
Remediation gardens transistion down to meet canal and provide seating and gathering space
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Entrance to Conveyor Walk Water Taxi stop
River Walk 101
Bunker Gardens
Carbon Encounter
Under the Carbon Monument One of the main spines entering the site moves under a portion of the looming boiler structure. At night, this passage way is lit from above, revealing the interred carbon wood storage overhead.
Sealed wood storage above is visible through glass as visitors walk under future geologic strata
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Conveyor Walk Through Structures (Museum Guided) The conveyor walk is a guided interpretive tour through the museum structures that follows the path of material movement and their physical transformations through the sites operation. It culinates in an overlook in the structural remnants of the original station before descending to open arrive in the generator arcade.
DUSTY DRY DARK TACTILE
CHEMICAL ENERGY
Barge
DAMP STEAMY STEEL LOUD
Unload 3 m/s
Convey Pulverize
THERMAL ENERGY Water Steam
350 m/s Boiler
Generator Cooling
KINETIC ENERGY Condenser HUMMING VIBRATION INVISIBLE
Current 0 m/s
Transmission
299,292,458 m/s
ELECTRICAL ENERGY Human Rate = 1.4 m/s Conveyor = 3 m/s Steam = 350 m/s Electricity
Overlook in structural remnants
Entrance into Conveyor Transition down to Generator Arcade 103
The Bunker Gardens The old coal bunkers on site present an opportunity to more actively engage in the deliberate gardening of native site materials and emergent vegetation. These rooms are converted into a series of gardens that alternate between active management and feral vegetation to create a register of time visitors, as the spaces alternate between carefully crafted gardens and those left to their own devices. These spaces provide some of the most intimate human scale moments on the whole site, despite the omnipresent structures looming above.
Existing I-beams provide scaffold for vines
Crushed and polished glass room planted with aggressive vines such as Riverbank Grape and Virginia Creeper 20
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Additional sunlight provided for grass garden by removing pieces of bunker walls
Moss gardens form on birck debris in heavily shaded bunker
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The Bunker Gardens The rooms are bookended by two bunkers of feral emergent growth. When a visitor passes these points and reaches some of the more manicured spaces there is a sense of discovery and strangeness in the midst of all of the overgrown vegetation and overwhelming impervious surfaces.
Emergent
Vine Garden
Emergent
Flower Garden
Emergent
Grass garden
No additions
Crushed Glass
Brick Debris
Crushed concrete
No additions
Asphalt Staircase between two levels 106
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Emergent
Emergent
Grass garden
Emergent
Emergent
Metal Garden
Surface cut
Surface Cut
Surface cut
No additions
The River’s Edge The southwest of the site is dominated by the continued growth of the emergent urban forest already in evidence on site. Paths puncture these spaces along with the occassional interjection of the grid’s organizing legibility. A water taxi stop is located under the former coal unloader. The main path that projects from the neighborhood terminates at a small overlook and also provides access to the elevated river walk that continues over the nearby wetlands. Another Carbon Encounter projects over the emergent forest providing a sense of scale from the human to the monumental.
Museum of Un-Natural History
Generator Arcade
Chicago Water Taxi Stops
Fisk Station
Ping Tom Stop recorded >45,000 riders in its first season
River Walk 108
Carbon Encounter Conveyor walk overlook Bunker Gardens
Elevated River walk 109
Water Taxi Stop
The River Walk The River Walk runs the length of the site’s river edge, connecting to an existing spur on the east and leading to Mana Contemporary Art and beyond on the west. The river walk is constructed of bulkheads laid horizontally that are then filled with native site materials to blend into the existing experience. The river walk provides a welcome sense of open space and expanse after passing by and through the looming structures.
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Museum cafe
To wetland walk
Bulkhead based river walk provides sense of path in native site 111
Elevated river walk is attached to existing site infrastructure
Water Tank Plaza The tank plaza provides outdoor seating and overflow space for the adjacent museum cafe. The space is framed also framed by the nearby water tanks and clarifiers, and industrial infrastructure. Here again the gathering space is demarcated by crushed brick from the demolition of the nearby administration building that has been converted into a sunken garden.
Museum Cafe Sunken garden
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Generator Arcade Sunken Garden
Plaza surfaces created from crushed brick inserted into the voids of surface removal
Surfaces cut from former parking lot provide pattern for gathering node 113
Museum Courtyard + Sunken Garden The museum plaza is the central gathering space of the site. It is framed by the museum on the west (lcoated in the historic switch house structure) and the generator arcade on the east. The historic generator arcade and its soaring arches is converted into an exterior museum gallery that houses station artifacts. In the middle of the space, a sunken garden is created in the foundations of the historic administration building that gathers water from the site.
Generator Arcade
150,000 annual visitors
20 million annual revenue
34 full time employees
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Museum of Un-Natural History
Elevated River Walk
Sunken garden collects and drains water to the river 115
Foundation of former administration building
Gas Plant Wetlands
A
A
The river edge treatments resulting from the excavation and remediation activities receive a number of different design solutions to provide a varitety of experiences. The historic canal is lined with planters that provide fish shelter while preserving a distinct outline of the historic canal that the river walk circulates around. The polluted soil bunkers mirror the canal in material quality and provide moments of water access and experiential transition. B
Museum
Historic Canal + Museum
Sunken Garden
Remediation Grove & contained polluted soil 10
20
Historic Canal Outline - pinned planters maintain outline
Museum Courtyard Steel Bulkheads
100
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Peaker Plant Stacks Remediation Grove B
Canal + Remediation Gardens
Cattail Wetlands 117
Canal steps
Polluted Soil Bunkers
Gas Plant Wetlands
C
C
Wetlands + Elevated River Walk
River Walk
Main River Channel
Constructed Wetlands Elevated River Walk
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100
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Main River Channel
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Constructed Wetlands
Polluted Soil
Gas Plant Wetlands
Remediation Groves
All three of the canals on site provide water access. These provide opportunities for fishing and birdwatching, as well as views of the ongoing industrial river activities. The wetlands provide much needed riparian habitat and nutrient-accumulation for the Chicago River. The outline of the former gasometer is traced with bulkheads and stands out as an acknowledgment of its role in the construction of these wetlands.
Riverwalk
River Walk
Polluted soil contained behind bulkheads framing steps
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Museum Elevated River Walk Cattail wetlands accumulate pollutants from the river and provide habitat
Outline of historic gasometer 121
Rock berms buffer wetlands from river wave action
Conclusion As we grapple with the ramifications of the Anthropocene it is imperative for us to engage with the vast material and time scales we manipulate with our actions. This project proposes that these invisible volumes of industrial actions should be revealed and made explicit as a method of engaging and educating the public in these increasingly available post-industrial spaces. Not every space should become a monument to carbon, or to the millions afflicted contaminated air or poisoned water, but every post-industrial landscape should engage with a deeper and broader sense of history and meaning than is currently typical.
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The station will serve as the gathering hub for the annual Fiesta del Sol, which attracts over a million visitors over four days and is normally head on the adjacent Cermak Avenue
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Appendix: Bibliography, Figures, and Precedent Studies
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Many thanks to my advising committee and fellow studio members for their help and guidance throughout the project. Thank you to Nick Jamison for the fantastic site photos, and to Chris Tallman for the drone footage.
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Figures page 1 4-7 8-9 10 12 13 15 20-21 23 24-25 38 40-41 46 48-49 50 53 56-57 60-61 67 88-89 90-91 111 122-123 124 127
Photo by Robert S. Donovon earthjustice.org Photos by Ethan McKnight Photo by Nick Jamison Hourglass photo from kingofwallpapers.com sandiegocityliferealestate.com (1) Homansquare.org (2) Civic Arts Project, civicartsproject.com Photo by Ethan McKnight Photo by Jose M. Osorio for chicagotribune.com Photo by Chris Tallman Base map from worldatlas.com (1) Romeo Banias (2-3) Ethan McKnight (4) frugalfrolicker.com/street-art-pilsen All photos by Ethan McKnight Base Map bing.com/maps Maps from PERRO, Photos courtesy Library of Congress (1) Photo by Midwest Generation (2) Photo courtesy Library of Congress Figure adopted from Phyto Photos by Nick Jamison Photo by Nick Jamison Mural by Hector Duarte (2-4) Photos by Nick Jamison (5) (1,5) Photos by Ethan McKnight (2-4) Photos by Nick Jamison Mural by Tim Alamillo Photo by Nick Jamison Photo by Ethan McKnight
Bibliography
Theory and Concept Adam, Barbara. 1998. Timescapes of Modernity: The Environment and Invisible Hazards. London: Routledge. Carpo, Mario. 2007. “The Post-modern Cult of Monuments.” Future Anterior IV (2): Winter 2007. 51-63 Cronon, William. 1992. “A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative.” The Journal of American History Hemmings, Sarah and Martin Kagel. 2010. “Memory Gardens: Aesthetic Education and Politcal Emancipation in the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord.” German Studies Review 33 (2): 243-61 Jackson, John Brinckerhoff. “The Necessity for Ruins.” The Necessity for Ruins: and Other Topics. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1980. pp. 89-102. Krag, Mo Michelsen Stocholm. 2016. “The Controlled Ruin: Preserving Collective Memories through Building Transformation.” Future Anterior Vol 13 (1). 147-154 Latz, Peter. 2000. “The Idea of Making Time Visible.” Topos 33: 94-99. Latz, Peter. 2016. Rust Red: Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord. (Munich, Germany: Hirmer Publisher) Meyer, Elizabeth. 2007. ‘Uncertain Parks: Disturbed Sites, Citizens, and Risk Society.’ Palmer, A. Laurie. In the Aura of a Hole: Exploring Sites of Material Extraction. Black Dog Publishing, London, UK. Reigl, Alois. 1903. “The Modern Cult of Monuments: Its Essence and Its Development.” Trans. by Karin Bruckner and Karen Williams. Vienna: W. Braumuller. 128
Smithson, Robert. 1967. “The Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey.” Artforum, December, 1967. Szerszynski, Bronislaw. 2017. “The Anthropocene Monument. On relating geological and human time.” European Journal of Social Theory Vol. 20(1): 111-131. Sawyer, Stephen W. 2015. “Time after Time: Narrative of the Longue Duree in the Anthropocene.” Transatlantica [Online], 2015.
Systems and Technical Support Chicago Wilderness. 2001. “From Stockyards to Spawning Beds: A Handbook of Bank Restoration Designs for the Chicago River and Other Urban Streams.” Chicago Botanic Garden. “Shoreline Erosion Control.” https://www.chicagobotanic.org/research/conservation_and_restoration/shoreline_erosion_control. Accessed March 1, 2017. Del Tredici, Peter. 2010. Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: a field guide. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press). Wetland Stuff Environmental Protection Agency. 2017. “Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.” www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator. Accessed February 21, 2017. Environmental Protection Agency. “Coal Plant Decommissioning: Plant Decomissioning, Remediation, and Redevelopment.” EPA Publication #560-F-16-003. Head, Lesley et al. 2015. “Living with Invasive Plants in the Anthropocene: The Importance of Understanding Practice and Experience.” Conservation and Society 13(3): 311-318. Isebrands, J.G. 2007. “Best Management Practices: Poplar Manual for Agroforestry Applications in Minnesota.” Environmental Forestry Consultants, LLC. Kennen, Kate and Niall Kirkwood. 2015. Phyto: Principles and resources for site remediation and landscape design. (New York, NY: Routledge). Zeng, Ning et al. 2012. “Carbon Sequestration via wood harvest and storage: an assessment of its harvest potential.” Climactic Change. Zeng, Ning. 2008. “Carbon Sequestration via wood burial.” Carbon Balance and Management, 2008, 3:1. 129
Site Information and Research Delta Institute. “Beyond Closure: The Fisk and Crawford Coal Plants.” 2014. Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. Delta Institute. 2014. “Transforming Coal Plants into Productive Community Assets.” Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. 2010. “GO TO 2040 Comprehensive Regional Plan.” Environmental Protection Agency. 2016. “Midwest Generation - Crawford Station and Fisk Station Sites.” www3.epa.gov/region5/cleanup/ crawfordfisk. Accessed November 5, 2016. Friends of the Chicago River. “Action Plan for the Chicago River: Strategies for a Cleaner, Healthier, More Vibrant River.” Great Rivers Chicago. 2017. http://greatriverschicago.com/index.html. Accessed December 5, 2016. Great Lakes Environmental Assessment and Mapping Project (GLEAM). greatlakesmapping.org. Accessed Noember 18, 2016. Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record. “Commonwealth ELectric Company, Fisk Street Electrical Generating Station, 1111 West Cermak Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, IL.” HAER No. IL-105. Hogan, John. 1986. A Spirit Capable: The Story of Commonwealth Edison. (Crawfordsville, IN: Commonwealth Edison) John T. Boyd Company, Mining and Geological Consultants. 2011. “Powder River Basin Coal Resource and Cost Study.” Koester, Frank. 1908 Steam Electric Power Plants: A Practical Treatise on the Design of Central Light and Power Stations and Their Economical Construction and Operation. (New York, NY: D. Van Nostrand Company). pgs. 370-384 Kramer, Sarah. “Pilsen: Green Dreams, Industrial Roots.” http://www.medillnews847.com/madeinchicago/pilsen/ National Park Service. 2006. “National Register of Historic Places: Pilsen Historic District.” National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 2010. “Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People.” http://www. naacp.org/climate-justice-resources/coal-blooded/
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Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (P.E.R.R.O.). 2012. “Fisk Power Plant: Remediation and Redevelopment.” Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization. (P.E.R.R.O.). “Coal-Fired Power Plants in Chicago.” pilsenperro.org/coalpower.htm Preservation Chicago. “Crawford and Fisk Power Stations.” preservationchicago.org/Chicago7_2014_powerhouses.pdf Salmon, Bethany. 2012. “The Adaptive Reuse of Fisk Generating Station: A Preliminary Analysis for Recycling Chicago’s Historic Coal-Fired Power Plant.” University of Illinois at Chicago, College of URban Planning and Public Affairs. Sourcewatch. 2017. “Fisk Generating Station.” www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fisk_Generating_Station Accessed December 1, 2016. U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2017. www.eia.gov. Accessed January 17, 2017.
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Precedent Studies Landschaftspark Duisburg Nord Latz + Partners There is much to critique and much to celebrate in the Landschaftspark. Criticism should revolve primarily around its deification of productive infrastructure at the expense of consumptive and extractive practices, and especially an underappreciation of the site’s importance in the role of it’s social setting, whether it be its role as Nazi support system in World War 2 or its relationship to its immediate surroundings in the city of Duisburg. What is worth celebrating, however, is the site’s capacity to reveal experiential signals and moment-specificity. By inserting wholly designed garden sites in the midst of feral ecologies, the design accentuates both, thereby drawing attention to the permanence and processes of management and unmanagement. Duisburg’s design strategy - the development of multiple systems that create a framework for emergent systems is also of particular note. The designer’s wished to avoid drawing a master plan because the static nature of the medium would detract from the systems-based approach.
Photos: Ethan McKnight 132
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Zollverein Agence Ter + OMA Zollverein Coal Mine is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site in Essen, Germany. The landscape design draws heavily on industrial elements and patterns for formular structure in the center of the park while the edges are more unmanaged. Conveyors have been converted to iconic escalator entryways and a social and natural history museum has been beauitfully integrated into the visitor center, located in the original administration building. The museum begins to point to the complicated history of the site, with references to its role as a key piece of Nazism in Germany, as well as the notion that the material it mined is derived from organic beings. More massive than Duisburg even, the site conveys scale and the extractive side of the process more completely than the Landschaftspark. There are missed opportunities and connections, however. Most notably, is a lack of acknowledgement for the groundwater pumping that will be required to continue in perpetuity because much of the surrounding cities have sunk so much from over mining they would be flooded by up to 30’ of water. A museum of natural history and human history at the main visitor does a good job of conveying the complexity of social, cultural, geologic, economic, and other factors that generated the site’s history.
Photos: Ethan McKnight 134
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Westergasfabriek Cultuurpark Gustafson-Porter Westergasfabriek is located in the heart of Amsterdam. The site is organzized into three main sections. Active programming such as cafes, art spaces, bars, etc... are located in the beautiful brick buildings. Beyond that, the former gasometers have been converted into wetland boardwalks and an amphitheatre. The The entry to the park is discordant with its industrial past - a picturesque swan pond and tulips planted through the lawn. A water treatment system is required to treat all water on the park before leaving as pollution is still a concern. The waterway is beautifully designed to create a variety of experiences and textures. Immediately adjacent is a large public lawn and an active bike and pedestrian path.
Photos: Ethan McKnight 136
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Cemetery + Memorial Precedents
Assorted Memorial and Monumental Landscapes A number of memorial landscapes were engaged to understand if there are certain typological interventions that are suggestive of monumentality and remembrance. Some of these, such as the Berlin Holocaust Memorial played a direct role in design inspiration for various site interventions. Other inspirations were the long linear site line and processional walks, as well as a central object of veneration as seen in the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and the Washington Monument.
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Un-Natural Generation
Ethan McKnight Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis, 2017 Department of Landscape Architecture University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
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