PHRAGRICULTURE

Comprehensive Design Studio

Collaborators: Jean-Piero Arguello and Jamaica

Reese-Julien

Instructors: Scott Bishop and Michelle Laboy Spring 2016

This project challenges cultural notions surrounding invasive species by utilizing their productive potential. The Neponset River Estuary, south of Boston, is dominated by the invasive reed Phragmites Australis, which continues to grow beyond control. The infestation is the result of human disturbance, which began in the1960’s, when the Army Corps of Engineers constructed diked basins in the native marsh flats to dispose of dredged sediments from the upper reaches of the river. This project adapts the

Phragmites-infested basins as living infrastructure, which collect and bioremediate sediments during flood events. Through cycles of growth, sedimentation, harvest, and excavation, the basins also generate biomass for energy production and fill material to construct multi-purpose flood control infrastructures, which service and protect communities. A new mixed-use greenhouse building typology also utilizes constructed Phragmites wetland trays to filter and treat wastewater.

The plan deploys these multi-purpose landscapes and buildings across the Estuary to link existing parklands and greenways into a continuous open space and infrastructural corridor.

EXISTING RIVERWALK/GREENWAY CORRIDOR BERM NETWORK BUILDING INTERVENTIONS BUILDING WASTE WATERSHED

Landscape And Building Infrastructure

The site processes of bioremediation and production extend into a multi-purpose building. The building volumes straddle the main circulation system atop the berm and frame pedestrian connections from the neighborhood to the River beyond. Phragmites wetland trays within the building filter and treat wastewater from the surrounding neighborhoods. Operations for processing harvested Phragmites into biomass, producing bioengery, and conveyance for clean water and energy back to the neighborhood are integrated into the core of the berm and basement of the building.

Landscape Matrix

Though the land for the site was created for the South Boston Naval Annex, it has been in a perpetual state of change ever since. Today there is a mix of industrial and commercial uses operating there. In the site’s vacant parcels, emergent ecologies of vernal pools and suspended wetlands demonstrate a compelling co-existence of industry and ecology.

Public Access And Gathering

A variety of paths lead from a central spine of bicycle and pedestrian circulation to a continuous waterfront promenade. Clearings, docks, and a main plaza provide areas for gathering.

Drainage

New and adapted stormwater infrastructure allow future development to be tied to a comprehensive network for directing and retaining surface flows.

Beyond Fish Processing and Freight Shipping

Future for the Maritime Industry in South Boston

Advanced Urban Design Studio

Instructors: James Royce and Lynne Geisecke Fall 2015

The Marine Industrial Park is one of South Boston’s last dedicated industrial districts. The Massachusetts Port Authority owns and operates this peninsula of made land, which carries a special zoning designation as a reserve for the maritime industry. Despite this designation, a variety of commercial tenants have come to the site in recent years. Furthermore, the city and Massport are facing enormous pressure from private developers looking to expand the mixed-use development of the growing Seaport District eastward. The city seeks to to preserve the

Coastal Flooding

A series of plinths, softened shorelines, and breakwaters make room for water on the site to accommodate coastal flooding and sealevel rise.

maritime industry, however the site is mostly occupied by vacant land, freight shipping terminals, and fish processing operations. These uses represent a narrow interpretation of what the maritime industry can encompass.

This project outlines a framework to expand the current stifling designation of the maritime industry to balance new uses and development with thoughtful planning for imminent sea-level rise and coastal flooding. By prioritizing the public realm and using landscape as a resilient growth medium, the project explores new ways to create a valuable and vibrant waterfront today that is also equipped to meet the needs of an uncertain future.

SIMULTANEOUS SUCCESSION OF LANDSCAPE AND MARITIME USES

YEAR 10

PLANTINGS AND EARTHWORK INITIATE RENEWED COASTAL ECOLOGY

YEAR 20

ADAPTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE ACCOMMODATES NEW INDUSTRIAL USES

SWALES

NURSERY PLINTH BREAKWATERS

BIKE LANE

PEDESTRIAN PROMENADE ELEVATED WATERFRONT BOARDWALK INTERTIDAL ZONE

EXISTING GRADE

SHAPING A RESILIENT AND ACCESSIBLE WATERFRONT

Breakwater Atolls

Urban Landscape Seminar

Instructor: Pablo Perez-Ramos Spring 2015

There is something bewildering about atolls. Their existence seems improbable amidst the vast reaches of surrounding ocean. Despite this perplexing appearance, atolls are shaped by defined, yet dynamic sets of geologic, coastal, and ecological processes. Patterns in morphology and vegetation reveal the ways which an atoll develops into a self-contained ecosystem.

The project draws on the morphology and ecology of atolls to envision a new constructed breakwater typology. Breakwater Atolls offer coastal protection for communities while bolstering habitats for fish, birds, and aquatic species and improving recreational and economic opportunities for people.

SEA-GRASS BED OR MARSHY INTERIOR DUNE EDGE (PEOPLE AND BIRD SPECIES)

DUNE CREST

POROUS GABION ARMATURE

KELP BED INTERIOR (FISH HABITAT)

INTERTIDAL REEF

RIP RAP ARMATURE

SHELLFISH REEF (BIRDS, FISH, SHELLFISH, REEF DWELLERS)

BREAKWATER ATOLLS AS HABITAT STEPPING STONES

MODULAR REEF (FISH AND REEF DWELLERS)

SUBMERGED REEF

PRE-CAST CONCRETE MODULAR REEF UNITS

BREAKWATER ATOLLS / ACADEMIC

Maverick Mills Tributary Urbanism Studio

Instructor: Ian Scherling Fall 2015

Nestled in a low-lying area amongst oil terminals, parking lots, and a stone’s throw away from Logan Airport, the neighborhood surrounding the former Maverick Mills building in East Boston is starved for open space and highly vulnerable to coastal flooding. The Mill’s site occupies the lowest topographic point within the surrounding watershed.

The project capitalizes on this topography by calibrating the land for drainage, inundation, and public access. The new landscape is a series of interlocking landforms, which step down in elevation to meet the

Chelsea River. This sculpted tributary directs and slows down stormwater in order to improve infiltration and water quality before out letting into the Chelsea River. The project also raises the edges of the site by to mitigate sea-level rise and coastal flooding impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

The Mill building is re-purposed as a community destination for recreation, and mixed-use development. Critical program is re-allocated to the upper floors, allowing flexibility at the ground floor to connect the neighborhood with the tributary’s open spaces.