This report was created for ADV 9342: Independent Thesis in Satisfaction of the Degree Master in Landscape Architecture
3
Table of Contents Pages 88 - 101:
Project Forward and Introduction
Appendix A:
Pages 10 - 33:
Pages 102 - 109:
Designing With Remediation
Pages 34 - 53:
Site Selection / Industrial Archaeology
Enlarged Scenario Visualizations
Appendix B: MAPS & MODELS:
John Wray IV |
Thesis Dossier
Pages 110 - 117:
Phenomenal Experience Animontage It is one thing to utilize the photomontage in a static image. The following precedent created by Gloria FX creates a complex video that combines two seemingly unrelated video clips to create portray an interesting experience. Application: Frontispiece Trailer Credit: Gloria FX Scales: Territorial / Site / Material /
The Post-Industrial Present |
Thesis Exhibition Photos
Phenomenal
Appendix C:
Project Credit: Gloria FX
Hand Sketching The ability to quickly iterate through design thoughts will be accomplished using hand sketching throughout the entirety of the thesis project. Application: Idea Building Credit: Beta-Design / John Wray IV Scales: Phenomenal / Material Project Credit: Beta-Design
Precedent Project Studies
Project Credit: John Wray IV
Support Graphics: Perspectives One of the final representation tools will be the illustrative perspective. Both Nordic firms, SLA & Effekt, create exemplary perspectives of their projects as seen in the following examples which will serve as precedents to this thesis. Application: Final Perspectives Credit: Effekt Architectural Collaborative / Stig L. Andersson (SLA) Scales: Phenomenal / Material Project Credit: Effekt
Project Credit: SLA
Pages 54 - 61:
Pages 118 - 121:
Pages 62 - 87:
Pages 122 - 123:
Testing Site Introduction
Proposal Scenarios
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Corrective Collective
Pages 05 -09:
5
Project Forward Proposed Design Method
Corrective Collective
Techniques and practices of landscape remediation have most often been conceived as redemptive preparatory work in advance of design. This thesis proposes the exploration of remediation practices as generative and cultural. Corrective Collective imagines the potential for site specific remediation practices as generators of urban figure and form. The current model for addressing the problems inherent in these sites before redevelopment follows a time and labor intensive process to excavate and relocate contaminants to a permanent location off site. The highly engineered remediation operations embedded in this often site-less process have the potential to be re-evaluated based on the types of functional spaces they can create following the in-situ relocation, containment, degradation, or stabilization of contaminants.
Initial Process
Proposed Design Method
This thesis began with looking at an array of technical manuals designed to collect commonly used best-practice methods of remediation. Operations such as cut, fill, phyto, groundwater treatment, etc. were selected based on the types of functional spaces they can create following the in-situ relocation, containment, degradation, or stabilization of contaminants. These manuals and technical guidebooks on remediation can found in the bibliography of this report. On one hand, there is a deficiency on addressing the design of what comes post-reclamation within the highlighted technical resources. On the other hand, there are cannons about the design of degraded land but they seldom touch on the process of getting to a suitable site of work. All of these resources contribute to the same goal, however they are very much disconnected with one another.
7
Corrective Collective
9
Initial Process
Proposed Design Method
Similarly to the way Ian McHarg applied the lessons of nature to design practice, this thesis examines how one might couple design with remediation, ultimately proposing an integrated method of work that pushes design upstream in a remediation process to utilize environmental improvement as a new model for development.
Corrective Collective
To highlight one final book, which is just part of the project’s larger bibliography, I bring Design With Nature to the surface. In this design cannon, McHarg introduced a method of work that provided a new way in which to approach a project.
Operations and Strategies
Corrective Collective
This new method of work is achieved by creating a series of remediation operations (the corrective) and supplementary design strategies (the collective). These are developed to simultaneously confront the subsurface condition of the site while directly setting the stage for other social and economic program to unfold.
11
Designing With Remediation
C3: Remediation Operation
Operations and Strategies
The technical blueprints on the left are designed to reveal the fixed and variable parameters embedded in each operation. Some of the fixed parameters include excavation slope, angles of repose, but most importantly, the class of contaminants each strategy is suitable for managing based on depths, levels of toxicity, etc. For example, the terrace is a commonly used excavation method that has certain dimensional properties that can be changed such as the landing distance or depth of each step. The following series of pages looks at each remediation operation in greater detail where the dimensional variables of each are highlighted.
Corrective Collective
Operation Breakdown
13
Designing With Remediation
C3: Design Strategy
Operations and Strategies
Each of the variable parameters of the remediation operations are set, however, by pre-determining the type of space that is desired directly after removing, containing, or degrading certain contaminants. This gradient seen within the C3 Design Strategy example to the left, highlights a series of ways in which the operation can be occupied. Factors such as FAR, COV, Solar Performance, and Time, are inputs to the slider. In other words, far left is a park, and the right is a dense urban environment. Each of these strategies respond to contextual forces of a project, making the remediation process site-specific. Each operation has unique characteristics and therefore does not perform consistently across the program gradient. It is also important to mention that these are not finalized design typologies, just programmatic benchmarks along the slider.
Corrective Collective
Strategy Breakdown
15
Designing With Remediation
Scrape Strategy 01: 3.5% Slope
Scrape Operations
17
Corrective Collective
Scrape Operations Scrape Strategy 02: 20% Slope
Scrape Strategy 03: 40% Slope
Scrape Operations
19
Corrective Collective
Scrape Operations Scrape Strategy 04: Undulating Excavation
Cut Strategy 01: Slope and Wall
Cut Operations
21
Corrective Collective
Cut Operations Cut Strategy 02: Multi-Leveled Wall
Cut Strategy 03: Terrace
Cut Operations
23
Corrective Collective
Phyto Strategy 01:Pump and Treat
Phyto Operations
25
Corrective Collective
Phyto Operations Phyto Strategy 02: Contain and Treat
Phyto Strategy 03:Interception Row
Phyto Operations
27
Corrective Collective
Fill Strategy 01:Cap and Collect
Fill Operations
29
Corrective Collective
Fill Operations Fill Strategy 02: Built Containment
C2a
C2: MULTI-LEVELED WALL
C2b
F2: BUILT CONTAINMENT
C2c
F2a
F1a
C2d
F2b
F2c
F1b
F2d
F1c
F1d
F1: CAP AND COLLECT P2a
P2: CONTIN AND TREAT
S3: 40 PERCENT SLOPE
P2b
S3a
P2c
P2d
S3b
S3c
C1a
C1: SLOPE AND WALL
C1b
S4a
F2d
C1c
S4b
C1d
S4c
S4d
S4: UNDULATING EXCAVATION
S2a
S2: 20 PERCENT SLOPE
S2b
S2d
C3a
C3: TERRACE
C3b
S1a
S1: 3.5 PERCENT SLOPE
P3: INTERCEPTION ROW
C3c
P3a
S1c
P3b
01
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
02
P1b
03
S1d
P3c
P1a
00
C3d
S1b
P1: PUMP AND TREAT
REMEDIATION OPERATIONS
S2c
04
05
06
07
08
P1c
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
LAND DEVELOPMENT: High Occupation
Operations and Strategies Matrix
Once the process moves to the site, these program benchmarks react to the project's context to make informed decisions. Based on the types of drivers, sources of funding, and ownership behind a project, the method has the capability of changing to accommodate those forces. For example, if a site needed to become a new county park, certain operations reveal themselves as starting points for that remediation design process. On the other extreme, if a city with a large contaminated parcel needed a new central business district to emerge, another set of operations become more suitable. The subdividing lines seen on the matrix reveal these conditions.
Corrective Collective
This table assembles all of the remediation operations and the design strategies to reveal how this method is deployed to an actual project. The Y axis organizes the operations in order of contaminant suitability and as the slider moves from left to right along the X Axis, the low to high occupation emerges again.
31
Designing With Remediation
Search for a Testing Ground
Corrective Collective
After the creation of the matrix seen on the previous spread, I looked to America’s Rust Belt for a city with the necessary subsurface condition for a testing ground in which to apply the method. The following portion of the project was all dedicated to the selection of a site of work where the remediation operations and design strategies shown in the previous section of this report will be applied to.
33
Designing With Remediation
America's Rust-Belt
Corrective Collective
The selection of the Rust-Belt was informed by its wealth of potential contaminated sites, however, the paradigm shift that is happening in across this region led to the selection of the final city. Metropolitan areas once defined by industries such as petroleum in Cleveland, steel in Pittsburgh, and rubber synthetics in Akron, have since seen those industries move away or steadily decline. In the last decade or two, however, these and other urban areas in the Rust-Belt have seen a change from decline to regrowth, absent of heavy industry and manufacturing. Small businesses and startups - companies of the future - are recognizing some potential in areas that have historically suffered economic loss, especially in America’s old industrial centers.
35
Site Selection Process
The American Rust-Belt
Categorized Industries Automotive and Railroad Detroit, Michigan Flint, Michigan Toledo, Ohio Indianapolis, Indiana
Companies Infrastructur Detroit, Michigan
Ford Motor Com
Flint, Michigan
Buick Moter Co. AC Spark Plug C
Toledo, Ohio
Electric AutoLite Owens-Corning
Indianapolis, India
Duesenberg Mo
Steel and Iron Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Johnstown, Pennsylvania Youngstown, Ohio Chicago, Illinois Gary, Indiana
Pittsburgh, Pennsy
Jones & Laughli Carnegie Steel Crucible Steel C
Johnstown, Penn
Cambria Iron Co
Youngstown, Ohio
Pennsylvania an
Oil / Gas and Synthetics Akron, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago Union S
Gary, Indiana
United States Ste
Akron, Ohio
Grains / Storage Buffalo, New York
Goodrich Corpo Goodyear Tire a Firestone Tire an
Cleveland, Ohio
Standard Oil Co
Buffalo, New York Erie Canal
Transportation / Shipbuilding Baltimore, Maryland Altoona, Pennsylvania Chicago, Illinois
Chicago, Illinois
The Chicago Un
Baltimore, Marylan
Baltimore and O
Altoona, Pennsylv
Pennsylvania Ra Altoona Works
Rust-Belt Timeline
“Still, America’s old industrial cities have formidable resources as well as formidable problems.� - The Economist, Mar 15, 2016. This statement from The Economist is, in part, referring to the geophysical condition of the degraded urban landscape that industry left in its wake. Urban America is often classified into two categories: cities that are constantly expanding and gaining international importance, and the generalized Rust-Belt condition where cities are shrinking too quickly to establish a plan for slowing that process. The exception to this classification takes the form of the aforementioned recovering Rust-Belt city that has once touched both ends of this spectrum but now lies somewhere in the middle - searching for a new identity.
Corrective Collective
Territorial Scale
37
Site Selection Process
Companies / Infrastructure Detroit, Michigan Ford Motor Company
Present Condition Recovering Cities
Toledo, Ohio Electric AutoLite Owens-Corning (glass)
Indianapolis, Indiana Duesenberg Motor Co.
Brownfield Use / Significance
Brownfield Condition
Technology Centers
Railroad Operations:
(New Economic Focus)
Flint, Michigan Buick Moter Co. AC Spark Plug Co.
Post-Industrial Identity
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Cleveland, Ohio
Pittsburgh Technology Center Former Jones & Laughlin Steel Co.
- Robotics - Information Technology - Computer Engineering
- National Cyber-Forensics Lab - CMU Entertainment Technology Center - Pitt: Center for Biotech and Bioengineering - Pittsburgh Technology Council
Akron, Ohio Columbus, Ohio
3rd in the US for number of young professionals with advanced or professional degrees
CMU National Robotics Engineering Center Former Crucible Steel Co. Site.
Indianapolis, Indiana Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Uber Advanced Tech Center (UATC) Former Carnegie Steel Co. Site
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Jones & Laughlin Carnegie Steel Crucible Steel Co.
Google Machine Learning
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Parks
Cambria Iron Co.
Youngstown, Ohio
Land Banking
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal Co.
Chicago, Illinois
Historic Preservation
Chicago Union Stock Yards
Gary, Indiana United States Steel Corporation
Akron, Ohio Goodrich Corporation Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.
Cleveland, Ohio Standard Oil Co.
Shrinking Cities (Challenges)
Detroit, Michigan Flint, Michigan Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Buffalo, New York
Notable Brownfields Lower Strip District - 56 Acres - 3,500 Linear Feet of Waterfront - Primary Use: Surface Parking
Youngstown, Ohio
Erie Canal
Chicago, Illinois The Chicago Union Stock Yards
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Altoona, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Rail Road Altoona Works
Vacant Land Land Banking
Diesel fuel Paints Solvents Degreasing agents PCB oils Creosote
Steel & Iron Operations: Arsenic Cadmium Chromium Copper Nickel Zinc Lead
Rust-Belt Timeline
The following timeline represents a series of transformations that have happened to the Rust-Belt at the national, regional, site, and micro scales. The national scale begins to outline the historic identity that defined some major Rust-Belt cities by highlighting the industrial enterprises and infrastructure that were present there during their culmination. When these entities moved elsewhere during the decline of Industrial America, they left monumental and historic, but environmentally degrading landscapes. In the context of the recovering Rust-Belt city, these old industrial platforms, or brownfields, like The Flats in Cleveland and Silo City in Buffalo, are beginning to gain a new relevance. In Pittsburgh, for example, recent conversations regarding development have gravitated around brownfields including the Almono site along the Monongahela River and the Lower Strip District site along the Allegheny River which was selected as the testing site for this project due to its proximity to downtown and its rich manufactured history.
Corrective Collective
City Scale
39
Site Selection Process
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Fueled by the core assets that remained intact during the decades of economic collapse across the American Rust-Belt, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania finds itself in a recovered state that is unique to the region. The selection of the Steel City was informed by recent developments that are putting pressure on contaminated sites that are consistently gaining new relevance around the region. In exemption to the Nation's first robotics institute, the Universities, and the station square development, this map shows projects that have been built, are under constructed, or were designed in the past five years.
Corrective Collective
Recent Developments
41
Site Selection Process
Contamination Potential
Now looking at a map of Pittsburgh during its industrial culmination, we see that many of these recent developments seen on the previous page have occurred in areas of former industrial production and manufacturing. More importantly, the remaining available land too, is primarily located on contaminated sites.
Corrective Collective
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1910
43
Site Selection Process
CONTEXTS
John Wray IV |
The Post-Industrial Present
Industrial Archaeology
Industrial Archaeology
During the time of population flight and economic collapse in the city during the mid to late 20th century, these contaminated sites seen in the previous map were relieved of virtually all industrial infrastructure on their respective sites. As the utility of the brownfield continues to increase in Pittsburgh and other recovering Rust-Belt cities, it is important that the environmental damage inherent with these landscapes is confronted. With hardly any visible industrial motifs, it is difficult to easily identify where and to what degree the site has been affected by the activity that happened over its manufactured lifespan. That said, an industrial archeology project might be the best method to achieve an understanding of the current ground condition in the city and the selected testing site of the Lower Strip District.
Corrective Collective
1910 Pittsburgh Photo Essay
45
Site Selection Process
Hubbard B. Co. Shovel & Tooling Acme Foundry
PGH Crushed Steel Co. United Engineering Foundry
Union Steel Casting Co. M.B. Suydam Co. Paints
General Chem Co. Irwin Works McConway & Torley Car Castings Co.
Standard Oil Co.
INDUSTRIAL TYPE: Waverly Oil Works
Frank Kneeland Machine Co.
PGH Spring & Steel Co.
MANUFACTURING FOUNDRY
Hydraulic Machine Co
STEEL & IRON
Carnegie Steel Co. Lucy Furnace
AUTO & RAIL
Crucible Steel Co.
OIL & GAS
H.K. Porter Locomotive Works American Bridge Co. Shiffler Plant Heppenstall Forge & Knife Co. Velte Foundary & Machine Co Wickes Brothers Machinery Co. Epping Carpenter Co. Consolidated Ice Co. C.D. Dubarry & Co. Planing Mill Phoenix Roll Works
Walker Soap Works
Carbon Steel Co. Carnegie Steel Co. PGH Provision & Packing Co.
PGH & Western RR Facilities Crucible Steel Co.
National White Lead Works
Penna RR Freight Yards
Boiler, Tank & Sheet Iron Works Allegheny & Duquesne Tanneries
Carnegie Steel Co.
Allegheny City Water Works PGH Valve Foundry & Construction Works
H.J. Heinz Factory Penna RR Facilities
George A. Hogg Steel
Allegheny Foundry Co.
Armstrong Cork Co.
Oil Well Supply Co. PGH Screw & Bolt Works
Westinghouse Factories
American Steel & Wire Co. Shoenberger Works
PGH Stove & Range Factory
Sable Iron Works Jarvis Adams Foundry & Machine Shop
Hall Steam Pump Co.
American Sheet & Tin Plate Co. Fort Pitt Foundry
Wayne Iron & Steel Co. Union Station
PGH Cincinatti Chicago St. Louis RR
Industrial Archaeology
( Ohio River )
( Allegheny River )
( Monongahela River )
In 1910, Pittsburgh registered eighth on the top ten list of the most populated U.S. cities. A decade after the turn of the 20th century marked a moment in Pittsburgh’s industrial heritage where James Parton’s 1868 Atlantic Monthly portrayal of “hell with the lid taken off” became solidified. Close to all of the machine shops, foundries, tanneries, mills, etc. that were established in the city at this time held their footprint until The Wolf Finally Came, and the decay of industrial America began. Therefor, pressing pause on this moment in time is a logical place to being a survey of exactly where and at what scale the industrial processes were contaminating riparian Pittsburgh.
Corrective Collective
Allegheny River, Pittsburgh
47
Site Selection Process
INDUSTRIAL TYPE: MANUFACTURING PGH Forge & Iron
FOUNDRY STEEL & IRON AUTO & RAIL Pressed Steel Car Co.
OIL & GAS
Standard Manufacturing Co. Riter & Conley Manufacturing The Penna Car Wheel Co. The American Steel & Wire Co.
PGH Stove & Range Factory
PGH Railway Co. Power House
Cruikshank Bros & Co. Manufacturing
Pioneer Paint and Lead Co. American Locomotive Co.
Penna Railroad Facilities
Oil Refining Works
Riter & Conley Manufacturing Rosedale Foundry & Machine Works Fort Pitt Foundry
Phoenix Tannery
American Sheet and Tin Plate Co. Allegheny Foundry Co.
P.G. Brass Co.
Durnamental Iron Works A & S Wilson Lumber Yard The McClure Timber Co. J.A. Beck Salt Co.
Ged A Mclean Scrap Iron Yard Independent Bridge Co.
Westinghouse Factories PGH Stove & Range Factory
Crucible Steel La Belle Works Allegheny Illuminating Co. Carnegie Steel Co McCutcheon Works
Barret Manufacturing Co.
Eagle Transfer and Paint Co. Baltimore and Ohio RR Facilities Wayne Iron & Steel Works Union Station
Carnegie Steel Co Painter Mills
Penna Railroad Freight Yards
Industrial Archaeology
( Ohio River )
( Allegheny River )
( Monongahela River )
Corrective Collective
Ohio River, Pittsburgh
49
Site Selection Process
RUBBER SYNTHETICS PRODUCTION: STEARIC ACID CARBON TETRACHLORIDE PINE TAR
BLAST FURNACE ACTIVITY: FLUE GAS DUST
Ph os ph at e
s
/ e WATER POLLUTION
HEAVY ME T
MATERIAL POLLUTION
S AL
cyanate / Ammonica Thio l Liq u s / o r / ate lph Flu Su or id
AIR POLLUTION
Industrial Archaeology / Sources of Contamination
The intent of these maps is to document the industrial ecology of historic Pittsburgh and the sources of pollution that still affect the city today. Each of these categories explored have their own associated contamination potential. Less intense fabrication processes such as Timber industries, for example, produce far more tolerable by products and pollutants compared to the likes of the Steel and Iron industries. The scales of the categorized circles seen in the maps reflect this difference.
The types of traced industrial activity have been classified into a series of categories including: (1). (2). (3). (4). (5).
Machining and Metal Fabrication Automotive and Rail Oil and Gas Synthetics Timber
The leaders and annotation scattered throughout the maps point out notable characteristics of these industrial sub-activities that occurred inside of the structures shown by their footprint in white. Although these maps reveal a contamination gradient of the riparian areas, the scale in which they are shown hinders the ability to examine the precise ground condition of one specific brownfield.
Corrective Collective
(Monongahela River)
51
Site Selection Process
Co
AIR POLLUTION
FOUNDRY ACTIVITY: METALLICS FLUXES COKE
S AL STEEL PRODUCTION: DISSOLVED / SUSPENDED SOLIDS FLOURIDE CYANIDE
Antimony / Aluminum / S ele niu m
MATERIAL POLLUTION
BLAST FURNACE ACTIVITY: LEAD BULLION LIMESTONE IRON ORE / SLAG
STEEL PRODUCTION: TARS AND OILS ASBESTOS PCBs
FOUNDRY ACTIVITY: METALLIC DUST ODERS
nc Zi
um adi an / V rcury / Boron / Bi / Me smu th
/ Cadmium denum olyb / M
/
Ni ck el
/
ium on rc Zi
ic / Iron / Sodium Arsen / C alc ium
HEAVY ME T
/
romium / Ch
/
WATER POLLUTION
lt ba
m siu tas Po
FOUNDRY ACTIVITY: CORE & QUENCHING OILS SPILL SANDS RESINS
PIG IRON PRODUCTION: PELLETIZING DUST SULFUR OXIDES HYDROGEN FLUORIDE
Industrial Archaeology / Sources of Contamination
The Allegheny, Monongahela, intertwining to form the Ohio River, collectively formed a fluvial infrastructure system that linked Pittsburgh to many other industrial centers in America and abroad. Since their cultivation, these manufactured highways have collected and distributed goods and materials, but contamination too. This section of the larger contamination potential maps, highlights the Lower Strip District site - the testing ground selected for this project.
Corrective Collective
(Allegheny River)
53
Site Selection Process
The Lower Strip District (2017)
The Lower Strip District is located just northeast of the downtown center and has become one surface parking lot that caters to the people visiting the cultural portion of the neighborhood nearby. The linear site itself is incrementally divided by a series of three bridges: The Fort Wayne Bridge, the Veterans Bridge, and the 16th Street bridge. And only has three buildings that occupy the space. Located at the base of The Hill District, the site is approximately 55 acres and is three quarters of a mile at its longest. Because of its linear nature, the site has over 3,700 linear feet of waterfront space along the Allegheny River which transforms into the Ohio River just one mile downstream. North of the site is Lawrenceville, an up and coming neighborhood of young professionals that work downtown. Presently, this vast heat island today has become an area that interrupts the connection between Downtown Pittsburgh and the surrounding region and is in need of a new image.
Corrective Collective
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
55
Testing Site Introduction
The Lower Strip District (1910)
Applying the method of designing with remediation to the site begins with creating an understanding of the subsurface condition of the Lower Strip District. This has not changed much since there have only been two small scale remediation projects on site since the early 20th century. Informed by a series of Sanborn maps, written documentation and photographs, this recreation of the site in 1910 reveals how the Lower Strip District looked near the turn of the 20th century.
Corrective Collective
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
57
Testing Site Introduction
WASTE METALS METAL PLATING FOUNDRY ACTIVITY STEEL FABRICATION PIG IRON PRODUCTION MACHINE SHOP ACTIVITY
FUELS / SOLVENTS OIL REFINING RAILROAD YARDS FUEL STORAGE TANKS PETROLEUM STORAGE
SEVERE LEVELS:
SEVERE LEVELS:
MODERATE LEVELS:
MODERATE LEVELS:
ACCEPTABLE LEVELS:
ACCEPTABLE LEVELS:
UNCONTAMINATED SOIL:
Pedogenic Map
To transition into more of a materialistic / phenomenal scale, the Lower Strip District site along the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh is depicted in the same time frame as the former industrial archeology maps. One difference to the previous studies, however, is that instead of representing the industrial zones in respect to their scale of operation and classification, this map reveals the ground condition as a result of those activities. A combination of photographs, Sanborn maps, and written documentation, created this pedogenic map of The Lower Strip District that highlights areas of contamination that fall within two umbrella pollutant classes:
- Waste Metals - Fuels / Solvents.
One interesting revelation on the map is the concentration of each pollution class in separate areas within the site. This proves true since The Pennsylvania Railroad Freight Yards to the northeast portion of the site include the Fuel / Solvent hotspots, and the ground near the former site of the Fort Pitt Foundry and American Steel and Wire Co. to the south holds an aggregation of waste metals.
Corrective Collective
Lower Strip District Site
59
Testing Site Introduction
The Lower Strip District (1910)
Here we see that the pedogenic map on the previous page has been taken into 3 dimensions and divided into a number of serial sections that reveal the subsurface condition of the site. Informed by the sites historic uses, a series of six contamination classes have been identified. These sections reveal a projective condition of the ground stationed every 100 feet. This survey of the site is the final step of the larger industrial archeology project seen earlier in this report that has led to the formation of this site characterization of the Strip District. It is this information that is the first step in applying the new method of work to the testing site. Each volume of contamination acts as an attractor point for certain remediation operations.
Corrective Collective
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
61
Testing Site Introduction
Scenario-Based Designs
After the creation of the site characterization for the testing site through the industrial archaeology project, it is now time to determine the way in which the remediation operations will position themselves on site. This of course, is determined by the forces behind the project. For the purpose of this thesis, I will be playing out three scenarios of how the Lower Strip District could take shape by the use of the method. Each scenario, too, is supported by a variety of players and contexts to show the flexibility of designing with the remediation process. During the presentation on May 11th, the scenarios were revealed to the critics and audience by way of projecting animations onto a model of the site. This model, seen to the left, was designed to show the same serial sections depicted earlier to show how different operations are attracted to certain areas with unique contamination properties. That said, the following scenario remediation operation plans will each be showed as they were projected on presentation day.
Corrective Collective
The Lower Strip District, Pittsburgh
63
Testing Site Proposals
Environmentally Driven
Imagine, if you will, that a representative inside the water and sewer authority convinced the City of Pittsburgh to purchase the entire site to restore all 55 impervious acres of the Lower Strip District into its natural riparian state in an effort to drastically improve the city’s poor stormwater management system. This would also contribute to an effort to improve the potable water quality of the city whose primary source is the Allegheny River. The quality has become so poor that just a month ago, all water was shut off to a certain area in the city due to high levels of lead that were detected.
Corrective Collective
Poor Stormwater Management
65
Scenario 01
Environmentally Driven
The remediation operations would then be organized and selected based on their ability to simultaneously manage the existing contaminants, but also re-introduce the former micro topography and gradual edge condition along the Allegheny River. Their organization can be seen on the model projection image to the left. The decaying stormwater infrastructure beneath the site, totaling close to 1000 linear feet of combined sewers, would be removed to prevent further contaminant migration along these leachate highways.
Corrective Collective
Remediation Operations Plan
67
Scenario 01
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
SOUTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE: SITE CHARACTERIZATION
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
High Occupation
Low Occupation
METALS / INORGANICS:
METALS / INORGANICS:
Moderate Levels
Moderate Levels
METALS / INORGANICS:
METALS / INORGANICS:
High Levels
High Levels
FUELS / SOLVENTS:
FUELS / SOLVENTS:
Moderate Levels
Moderate Levels
FUELS / SOLVENTS:
FUELS / SOLVENTS:
High Levels
High Levels
PERSPECTIVE GUIDE
PERSPECTIVE GUIDE
6’ Above Surface
6’ Above Surface
LOWER STRIP DISCTRICT SITE
LOWER STRIP DISCTRICT SITE
55 Acres
55 Acres
CENTRAL PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE: SITE CHARACTERIZATION
LAND DEVELOPMENT: High Occupation
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
Moderate Levels
METALS / INORGANICS: High Levels
Moderate Levels
LAND DEVELOPMENT: High Occupation
Scenario 01
Environmentally Driven Existing Conditions
FUELS / SOLVENTS: High Levels
PERSPECTIVE GUIDE 6’ Above Surface
LOWER STRIP DISCTRICT SITE 55 Acres
Each panel to the left shows a perspective of the Lower Strip District site. the contamination serial sections are shown in each as well as a key indicating where each perspective is located on site. The subsurface condition projected onto the screen reveals the contaminant classes which informed a selection of remediation operations to be placed there. * These perspectives are used in all three scenarios.
Corrective Collective
FUELS / SOLVENTS:
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
69
METALS / INORGANICS:
NORTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
P3
SOUTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE: ENVIRONMETALLY DRIVEN
F1
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
High Occupation
Low Occupation
S4
S1
B’
CENTRAL PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
F1
6’ X 6’ GRID
High Occupation
S4 B’
6’ X 6’ GRID
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
ENVIRONMETALLY DRIVEN
NORTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
High Occupation
P2
P3
Scenario 01
C3
Environmentally Driven
6’ X 6’ GRID
As seen in the serial sections and image of the existing conditions on site from the previous page, the surface condition is consistently flat. The change in ground morphology removes, contains, or improves the degradation of the contaminants. Looking at the remediation operations highlighted atop each panel, it becomes clear that these topographical manipulations simultaneously set the stage for the restored landscape.
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Scenario Visualization
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S2
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
ENVIRONMENTALLY DRIVEN
Site
Economically Driven
To the other extreme, let's say that the 27 million dollar D.O.T. TIGER Grant Pittsburgh won this past year was concentrated on improving the Lower Strip District. This investment into transportation infrastructure would allow the site to transform to a dense urban extension of the city that could relieve the tension on the growing business and cultural centers downtown.
Corrective Collective
Relocating D.O.T. T.I.G.E.R. Award
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Scenario 02
Economically Driven
The changes we would see to the remediation plan, then, would be made to utilize operations that are more suitable for the creation of built form.
Corrective Collective
Remediation Operations Plan
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Scenario 02
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
S1
SOUTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE: DEVELOPMENT DRIVEN
C2
C3
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
High Occupation
Low Occupation
S1
CENTRAL PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
LAND DEVELOPMENT: High Occupation
DEVELOPMENT DRIVEN
F2
C2
6’ X 6’ GRID
6’ X 6’ GRID
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
LAND DEVELOPMENT: High Occupation
DEVELOPMENT DRIVEN
F2
S2
Scenario 02 Economically Driven
6’ X 6’ GRID
As mentioned earlier, the same perspectives from the first scenario can be seen. In this case, contaminant excavation could be conceptualized as foundation digging, contained fill and leachate collection infrastructure could create framework for new landing piers that extrude into the Allegheny River, etc. The selected remediation operations atop each panel are applied to the rendering below.
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Scenario Visualization
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P1
NORTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
Present Day Drivers & Programs
After pushing the environmental and urbanity extremes, I looked to the condition of the city today to see how the method of work would accommodate the current drivers and programs in Pittsburgh.
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Remediation Operations Plan
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Scenario 03
Present Day Drivers & Programs
Equal forces from the downtown area to the south, the strip district immediately east, and lawrenceville to the north intersect at the site. This confluence of interests created a plan that establishes connections to downtown, the neighborhood, and region, offering the site a new relevance to Pittsburgh.
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Remediation Operations Plan
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Scenario 03
SOUTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
S2
6’ X 6’ GRID
HOLISTICALLY DRIVEN
F2
P2
C3
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
LAND DEVELOPMENT:
High Occupation
Low Occupation
S1
6’ X 6’ GRID
CENTRAL PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
LAND DEVELOPMENT: High Occupation
HOLISTICALLY DRIVEN
F2
C2
C3
LAND DEVELOPMENT: Low Occupation
LAND DEVELOPMENT: High Occupation
HOLISTICALLY DRIVEN
S1
F2
Scenario 03
C2
Present Day Drivers & Programs
6’ X 6’ GRID
The existing perspectives show the rigidity of the edge conditions as the site borders downtown, the neighborhood, and the river. It is through the management of the contaminants we see, that these edge conditions are modified to allow for more seamless connections to the sites context. The perspective furthest north shows a new public space created for the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, that provides an external venue for a building that has become very inward focused. The middle perspective depicts a transformation of the surface parking lots to an extended commercial corridor coming from the nearby Cultural Strip District. The excavation of the pollutants creates an opportunity to relocate the necessary parking beneath the surface enabling the creation of a new collective space. Finally, the Allegheny River, which sits roughly 15 feet below the perspective, is brought closer to the site to allow for more engagement with the resource. This is only made possible through the removal of the moderate solvent contaminants which exist at depths near the water-table.
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Scenario Visualization
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S2
NORTH PRECINCT PERSPECTIVE:
Scenario 01
Scenario 02
Scenario 03
The Lower Strip District
These scenarios that we just saw are a few ways in which the site can be restored to service the city environmentally, economically, culturally. It is all made possible, though, by the correction of the subsurface condition that is negatively impacting the Pittsburgh region.
Corrective Collective
Given the current condition of development in Pittsburgh, The Lower Strip District is ready to be transformed to contribute to the reinvention of this city like it has in the past.
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Scenario Conclusion
Corrective Collective
A proposal to design WITH a process that often turns many realizable projects away, would afford a new possibility of understanding and redesigning a city. Most importantly, moving design upstream in the remediation process is a way that landscape architects can become present and also coordinate this entire process, giving more agency to the discipline in the development of urban environments.
Corrective Collective
For landscape architects and designers, these are the sites of work that we will continually be presented but, more importantly, are our best option at large scale projects that have the capacity to transform urban environments.
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Thesis Conclusion
Appendix A
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The following pages show the visualizations of the scenarios explored in the previous pages. All renderings created by author.
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Enlarged Scenario Visualizations
Pages 90 - 93:
South Precinct Visualizations
Pages 94 - 97:
South Precinct Visualizations
Pages 98 - 101:
South Precinct Visualizations
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Corrective Collective
Thesis Exhibition (May 11th)
Here are some photos of the Correcive Collective Exhibition.
Corrective Collective
On May 11th, the final review day for landscape architecture thesis, Corrective Collective was set up in Room 111 (War Room) of the Graduate School of Design. The temporary exhibition of the work included in this report was open to the public.
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Appendix B
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Project Precedents
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Appendix C
Corrective Collective
Project Credit: Kate Orff / SCAPE
Project Credit: Patrycja Perkiewicz
Project Credit: Andreas Viglakis
Project Credit: MapBox
Territorial Scale
Corrective Collective
The series of maps and timelines created by Kate Orff for the Petrochemical America publication serve as a precedent for the industrial archeology stage of the thesis.
Precedents
Application 01: Economic / Environmental Driver Timelines Application 02: Industrial Archeology Credit: Kate Orff Scales: Temporal / Rust-Belt Project Credit: Kate Orff
Hydro / Reciprocal Landscapes These methods of representation are unique in that they creatively blend multiple scales. The ability to compare an on the ground scenario with something that is occurring at the territorial scale is extremely useful. Application: Rust-Belt / Brownfield Condition Maps Credit: Patrycja Perkiewicz Scales: Site / Rust-Belt / Temporal Project Credit: Patrycja Perkiewicz
Go West / MapBox Atlas Maps by Andreas Viglakis and his employer, MapBox, are valuable in showing relationships and ecologies at a range of scales including territorial. Application: Economic Driver Relationship Diagrams Credit: Andreas Viglakis / MapBox Scales: Rust-Belt / City Project Credit: Andreas Viglakis
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Petrochemical America Atlas
Project Credit: MapBox
Project Credit: Michael Van Valkenburg & Associates
Project Credit: SCAPE
Project Credit: Author
Project Credit: Robert Pietrusko
Project Credit: Unknown Fields
Site / Operational Scale
Corrective Collective
It is one thing to utilize the photomontage in a static image. The following precedent created by Gloria FX creates a complex video that combines two seemingly unrelated video clips to create portray an interesting experience.
Precedents
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Alumnae Valley Restoration
Application: Frontispiece Trailer Credit: Michael Van Valkenburg & Associates Scales: Site / Material Project Credit: Michael Van Valkenburg & Associates
Oyster-tecture These methods of representation are unique in that they creatively blend multiple scales. The ability to compare an on the ground scenario with something that is occurring at the territorial scale is extremely useful. Application: Rust-Belt / Brownfield Condition Maps Credit: Patrycja Perkiewicz Scales: Site / Material Project Credit: SCAPE
Dynamic Representation The thesis will test the use of processing to test the effectiveness of experimental types of site remediation. The following precedents are examples of the type of research, application, and visualizations this thesis will seek to create. Application: Remediation Process Credit: MG Robalino & John Wray IV / Robert Pietrusko / Unknown Fields Scales: Material / Temporal Project Credit: Maria Gloria Robalino & John Wray IV
Project Credit: Robert Pietrusko
Projec
Project Credit: Gloria FX
Project Credit: Beta-Design
Project Credit: Author
Project Credit: Effekt
Project Credit: SLA
Phenomenal Scale
Corrective Collective
It is one thing to utilize the photomontage in a static image. The following precedent created by Gloria FX creates a complex video that combines two seemingly unrelated video clips to create portray an interesting experience.
Precedents
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Animontage
Application: Frontispiece Trailer Credit: Gloria FX Scales: Territorial / Site / Material / Phenomenal Project Credit: Gloria FX
Hand Sketching The ability to quickly iterate through design thoughts will be accomplished using hand sketching throughout the entirety of the thesis project. Application: Idea Building Credit: Beta-Design / John Wray IV Scales: Phenomenal / Material Project Credit: Beta-Design
Project Credit: John Wray IV
Support Graphics: Perspectives One of the final representation tools will be the illustrative perspective. Both Nordic firms, SLA & Effekt, create exemplary perspectives of their projects as seen in the following examples which will serve as precedents to this thesis. Application: Final Perspectives Credit: Effekt Architectural Collaborative / Stig L. Andersson (SLA) Scales: Phenomenal / Material Project Credit: Effekt
Project Credit: SLA
Bibliography General Sources
Barrionuevo, Alexei. "Millennial Influx Helps Cleveland Shake Rust Belt Reputation." Curbed. Curbed, 06 Apr. 2016. Web. 19 May 2017. Berger, Alan. Drosscape: wasting land in urban America. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2007. Print. "Brownfield Remediation." Promoting Healthy and High-Performing Places to Live, Work, Play, and Learn. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017. Florida, Richard. "The Boom Towns and Ghost Towns of the New Economy." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 19 May 2017. "Metals & Minerals." Metals and Minerals - Mines and Mills Projects, Plants and Units | Industrial Info Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017. Misrach, Richard, and Kate Orff. Petrochemical America. New York: Aperture, 2014. Print. Patel, Bhavini. "Getting the lead out of communities." Pittsburgh PostGazette. N.p., 26 Aug. 2016. Web. 19 May 2017.
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Piiparinen, Richie. "Visions of the Rust Belt Future (Part 2)." Visions of the Rust Belt Future (Part 2) | Newgeography.com. N.p., 23 May 2013. Web. 19 May 2017. Schumpeter. "A rust-belt revival." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 03 Mar. 2016. Web. 19 May 2017. "Strip District History." Strip District Neighbors. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017. "Treatment Technologies." Brownfields Road Map to Understanding Technology Options for Site Investigation and Cleanup. U.S. E.P.A., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017. Thrush, Glenn. "The Robots That Saved Pittsburgh." POLITICO Magazine. N.p., 04 Feb. 2014. Web. 19 May 2017.
Corrective Collective
Piiparinen, Joel Kotkin Richey. "The Rustbelt Roars Back From the Dead." The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company, 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 May 2017.
Bibliography
Image and Video Sources
Above Pittsburgh: An Aerial Tour. 27 Oct. 2015. Video. Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh. Historic Pittsburgh. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017. <http://images.library.pitt.edu>.
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Corrective Collective
To the GSD Faculty: Niall Kirkwood Thank you for the technical support, advising my independent resesarch, and the connections you have helped foster over my two years at the GSD. Brad Cantrell Thank you for taking the time to help guide my academic pursuits and for trusting me with assisting in teaching a core class. Charles Waldheim Thank you for your patience and guidance, unparalelled knowledge, and willingness to help students achieve their academic goals.
Corrective Collective
To My Advisor: Fionn Byrne Thank you for the multi-meeting weeks, countless emails, hallway encounters, and most of all, the conversations over the past year - In the U.S. and China. This project would not have been possible without your contributions and enthusiasm for design.
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Acknowledgments