ICELAND
LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION -
WATER
CALIFORNIA DROUGHT California has been in severe drought for four years. Our way of life has changed to be more aware of our environment. Our vision of conservation, and our sustainability concepts has been ever more innovative to be “green”. Every time we water our lawn, wash our cars, taking a shower, or order a glass of water in a restaurant, we start to think how much of our usage is necessary. Our once luscious green scenic areas has transformed into a golden color landscape. Our hiking trail to a what-used-to-be waterfalls, now is a small stream of water running down rocky mountains. Reservior, lakes, and dams are evidence of the drought.
Brown is the New Green
California’s relatively small amount of water usage goes into landscape (9%), yet cities across the state are now offering rebates to residents willing to pull out their plants and lawns. We have forgotten how lawns and landscape plants enhance the quality of Californians’ lives and make urban areas more livable. Our landscape has been completely transformed by the drought. My nostalgia for water and all that it supports, e.g. life, is growing stronger and stronger. The longing of seeing magnificent waterfall, the white noise of running water in nature, and to see all forms of water brings me the hope to travel to ………….. ICELAND. My journey takes me to Iceland to study the transformation of landscape with the abundance of water in different forms: liquid, solid, and gas.
WATER
Imagine the Roaring Sound
Iceland owns one of the most pristine water in the world. Water is the country’s greatest commodity. With immense reserve of pristine spring water, the wealth of fresh water rivers that stream down from the mountains and glaciers, filtered through porous volcanic rocks, this water is naturally free of contaminants and bacteria. With ph of 8.4, the highly alkaline water is considered to be… the purest drinking water. It’s perfectly safe and highly recommended to drink this water straight from the source. Icelandic Glacial is the world’s first bottled water certified as carbon neutral for product and operation. WATERFALL The island’s landscape is alive with waterfall. Powerful rivers form as the ice melt. The majestic beauty of waterfalls, and a journey to get there is worth a visit to see what we are missing in California. When will California waterfall regain its gracefulness? How do we feel when a waterfall is in sight? In a hike to a waterfall in local trail, when we hear the sound of waterfall, we would pick up our hiking pace to get to the waterfall. Water has this impact on people. How does the roaring sound of water make us feel? I want to record this sound and study how to re-create this sensation in our golden landscape.
Peaceful Relaxing Sound
ICE
Melted Away Within 500 Years
Water in solid form. About 11% of the land area of Iceland is covered by glaciers. Global warming causes rapid retreats of glaciers. The estimated coverage loss per year is about 0.2% overall. If the present trend continues, most glaciers on Iceland will have melted away within 500 years. The glacial retreat often exposes beautiful suites of glacial sediments and landscapes, including glacial flutes, drumlins, eskers, hummocky moraine grounds and moraine ridge systems. The Icelandic glacial systems are a natural classroom for students of glacial geology and geomorphology. How will Iceland’s landscape transform at the end of glacial retreat? In California, will we see snow covered mountains and ski resorts with fresh powdery snow again? Iceland’s glacial landscape definitely cannot be created in California. My study here is the sensation of the scenery. How does the visual impact of landscape in California affect our mind?
STEAM Water in gaseous state. During the course of the 20th century, Iceland went from what was one of Europe’s poorest countries, dependent upon peat and imported coal for its energy, to a country with a high standard of living where practically all stationary energy is derived from renewable resources. This island has more extreme geothermal activity than any country on earth. Geothermal is a renewable energy, making this country ever more sustainable. It has no harmful polluting effect of oil and other fossil fuels. Warm water from low temperature area are for space heating. High temperature areas produce geothermally generated electricity. How sustainable is California in comparison to Iceland? These high-temperature geothermal activities causes geysers. This phenomenon is distinctly visible in Iceland’s landscape. Geyser is a true exploration in this mysterious land. I would join the Renewable Energy Tour, which is an eight-hour tour departing from Reykjavik. This all day tour involves ten stops at different power plants and visiting volcanos. The Hellisheidi Heat and Power Plant is the second largest geothermal power station in the world. It´s Visitors Center displays a geothermal energy exhibition. It explains how geothermal energy is used in a sustainable manner in Iceland. Would California be able to turn around our situation with principles of ingenuity applied to water usage or storage? Maybe more ocean desalination plant? How about rain capture methods?
Renewable Resource
VOLCANO The land of fire and ice. An island made by volcano….An island that is still being created. The island is split in half by the Mid-Atlantic ridge, separated into two techtonic plates. Iceland has the largest concentration of volcanoes in the world. Many lakes are created by volcano eruptions, formed by the crater. The country’s ground surface continue to grow due to its volcanic activities. Lava forms more land and is evident by the shape of the island. Iceland landscape is stunning in its volcanic black lava landscape, with deserts of volcanic ash, and towering mountains. Would California be stunning in its golden landscape? I want to explore ideas on how California can transform its golden landscape into a unique scenery in its natural state.
Stunning in Black
ARCHITECTURE Iceland’s landscape’s is characterized by thundering waterfalls, raging glacial rivers, geysers, volcanoes, vast sand deserts, black sand beaches and other worldly steaming lava fields. What is the impact on Architecture? Part of my study is the transformation of landscape into architecture. How is this island’s architecture different from California’s architectural response to the golden landscape? Californian is willing to pull together to save water, what is the impact on our daily life? Homes have no lawn and children have no grassy area to play sports. More importantly, with the removal of tress, we loss many elements to life: 1. Oxygen production. 2. Carbon sequestration to help mitigate global warming. 3. Dust and erosion control. 4. Shade and energy savings in heating and cooling. 5. Wildlife habitat. With my studies of water in different forms in Iceland, I want to analyze and present 2 ideas upon returning: 1. How we can bring water elements back into our landscape sensitive to our drought situation? 2. Without water elements, how to integrate the golden landscape into our design to create that sensation as if water is present in our surrounding. I would focus on the unique tranformation of our landscape and integrating with Architecture to better Serve, Design, and Enrich all of our lives.
Landscape Transformation in Architecture