PROVING GROUNDS
PROVING
GROUNDS
|
GRADUATE
STUDIO
FALL
2020
AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE OF A NUCLEAR HISTORY
Jeffrey S. Nesbit
PROVING GROUNDS
AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE OF A NUCLEAR HISTORY
Faculty
Jeffrey S. Nesbit
Student Participants Njia Blair Katherine Boles Lisa Demar Samuel Eberle Samuel Fantaye Alexandre Gomes de Abreu Magdalena Kerkmans Martin Luna William Lyons Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro Dillon Romero Tahsin Zaman
Assistant Editors
Alexandre Gomes de Abreu Magdalena Kerkmans Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro William Lyons, Section Text
Dean
Robert Alexander González
Reviewer & Advisors Katya Crawford, University of New Mexico John Davis, The Ohio State University Antonio Furgiuele, Wentworth Institute of Technology Ersela Kripa, Texas Tech University, El Paso Cesar Lopez, University of New Mexico Rosalea Monacella, Harvard GSD Alessandra Ponte, Université de Montreal Chris Taylor, Texas Tech University Nora Wendl, University of New Mexico
Image Credits The editors have attempted to acknowledge all sources of images used and apologize for any error or omissions. Copyright © 2020, University of New Mexico, School of Architecture + Planning All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from its authors and the Architecture Department in the School of Architecture + Planning at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning MSC04 2530 1 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131 https://saap.unm.edu https://architecture.unm.edu
Table of Contents Introduction
08
Environment Defense Justice Artifact
16
Coda
170
References
194
Jeffrey S. Nesbit
56 96 134
INTRODUCTION Jeffrey S Nesbit
In Aircraft, Le Corbusier suggested “machine civilization” in the new technological age; particularly, the airplane produced a new way of seeing (Le Corbusier, 1935). “Seeing” the world and all its premachine civilization composed of a disorganized, economically driven order. Over fifty years later, Paul Virilio illustrates a different perspective of surveillance--”from the original watch-tower through the anchored balloon to the reconnaissance aircraft and remote-sensing satellites, the same function have been indefinitely repeated, the eye’s function being the 8
function of a weapon” (Virilio, 1989). In this sense, the control over others, land, people, and economies, have continually existed, while dimensions and distances transformed through technological progress. Architectural historian Alessandra Ponte described the impact of operationalized grounds, or what she referred to in “Desert Testing”, blending the human artifact in the American landscape (Ponte, 2003). Illuminating her definition in the proving ground landscape described a “double enhancement,” which is
particularly useful when engaging infrastructure and militarization. Pierre Bélanger argues military infrastructure and political landscape are vital to understanding the transitions from industry to urbanization. Not unsurprising, his earlier work on landscape and infrastructure led to Ecologies of Power, focused on the Army Corps of Engineers. The subject of study turned to recognize civil engineering as a discipline from military practices during peacetime at the end of the 19th century (Bélanger, 2016). Military activity forms a distinctive political landscape perspective,
and for Bélanger, infrastructure is the state control in which “super urbanization opens new territories for occupation, renewal, and redistribution.” “Infrastructure” is a physical and spatial technology formed by military operations and an “expression of power.” If the traditional city can be understood as having military history, remote geospatial territoriality be projected as a form of planetary urbanization. This studio uses proving grounds as a critical subject in architectural design to interrogate questions of placedbased science and its role within a contaminated environment. 9
Iterations
ALTERNATIVE FUTURISM Njia Blair
AIR[SPACE]
Samuel Eberle
10
Vegetation Map
TRINITY FARM
ACHIEVEMENT/ANNIHILATION
TRINITY EXTRACTION
OCCUPYING ABSENCE
Katherine Boles
Samuel Fantaye
Lisa DeMar
Alexandre Abreu
REMAINS
Natasha Ribeiro
BEYOND THE BARBED WIRE Rest Area- Second Checkpoint Dillon Romero
THE INSIDE PATIO Tahsin Zaman
Fig. 1- Facilities
3
2
1
1. Pnuematic Elevator Shaft • 2. 4% Ramp • 3. Glass and Steel Dome Structure
Fig. 2- Circulation
HIDING BEHIND THE SHADOW TECHNICAL IMAGEINTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS Magdalena Kerkmans VISUALIZING EXTERIOR SPACIAL CONDITION OF MUSHROOM CLOUD
Fig. 3- Path Access
OVERSIGHT William Lyons
Martin Luna
11
ENVIRON
NMENT
14
The Trinity ATOMIC BOMB detonation instantly created a wastewilderness.
“To abandon the studio and the city for the desert is not equivalent to a romantic return to nature. Nature had no feeling. It was neither good, nor bad; it was just as it was.” Alessandra Ponte (2003) “Desert Testing” 15
16 Aftermath of Extraction Samuel Fantaye
ENVIRONMENT On July 16, 1945, a new beginning in environmental calamity was on a quiet desert morning. In the decades after Trinity, humans have lurched from incident to accident to incident, coating the planet in radiation. The Earth’s environment has tolerated and abided the cost of humankind’s ambition since the first out-of-control campfire burning down a forest, and the first holes dug to extract rocks deemed more valuable than the others. Humans have used the terrestrial surface as grounds for experimentation in the name of “scientific exploration.” They have penetrated the Earth itself, leaving scars across its surface to extract more rocks with that specific quality that makes nuclear ambition possible. These projects explore questions of extraction, reuse, burial, and the role of scientific research above, on, and within these conflicted landscapes.
17
18 Adandoned Mining Headframe rcgis.com
PROVING GROUNDS
19
Onkalo © Peter Guenzel
ENVIRONMENT
Phillips Uranium Mill nmdigital.unm.edu
Radioactive material from the atomic age require deep SUBTERRANEAN
disposal as storage. 20
“Empires move outward in space as a way of moving forward in time; the ‘prospect’ that opens up is not just a spatial scene but a project future of ‘development’ and exploitation.” Mitchell, W.J.T. Landscape and Power 21
22
PROVING GROUNDS
23
ENVIRONMENT
Site Interventrion Natasha Ribeiro
24
PROVING GROUNDS
25
ENVIRONMENT
Resiliency Katherine Boles
McDonale Ranch Library of Congress
Regulatory framework must provide EQUITABLE retribution. 26
“Dimensions of citizenship begins at the scale of the individual— at the threshold of the self and the collective. Our contemporary moment reminds us that citizenship is not a neutral or assumed mantel. It is an active construction of identity, one that comes with inherent spatial concerns…” Niall Atkinson, Ann Lui, Mimi Zeiger (2018) On Dimensions of Citizenship 27
28
PROVING GROUNDS
29
ENVIRONMENT
Geography Samuel Fantaye
30
PROVING GROUNDS Globular Cluster nasa.gov
31
ENVIRONMENT
Trinity Site atomicarchive.com
Bunker Ruins Library of Congress
32 L: Cosmic Observations R: Atmospheric Observations Natasha Ribeiro
PROVING GROUNDS
33
ENVIRONMENT
Undergeround Laboratory Natasha Ribeiro
PROVING GROUNDS
Trinity Site Library of Congress
Was the site really barren before the Trinity test?
Photo from Lisa Marie DeMar
34
Soil Map
ENVIRONMENT
Vegetation Map
Vegetation Map
35
Soil and Vegetarion Maps Katherine Boles
36
PROVING GROUNDS Adaptability Katherine Boles
37
ENVIRONMENT
McDonald Ranch Library of Congress
38
PROVING GROUNDS
Safety Katherine Boles
39
ENVIRONMENT
Topography Samuel Fantaye
40
PROVING GROUNDS
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant wipp.energy.gov
41
ENVIRONMENT
Typology Redux Natasha Ribeiro
42
PROVING GROUNDS
Adaptability Natasha Ribeiro
43
ENVIRONMENT
Adaptability Natasha Ribeiro
44
PROVING GROUNDS
Tyology Redux Samuel Fantaye
45
ENVIRONMENT
Trinity Tower atomicarchive.com
46
PROVING GROUNDS
Geography Samuel Fantaye
47
ENVIRONMENT
Northeast Churchrock Mine epa.gov
48
PROVING GROUNDS
49
ENVIRONMENT
Indigenous History Center Samuel Fantaye
50
PROVING GROUNDS
Safety Natasha Ribeiro
51
ENVIRONMENT
Safety Samuel Fantaye
52
PROVING GROUNDS
53
ENVIRONMENT
Typology Redux Katherine Boles
DEFE
ENSE
56 “Bida Hi”/ Opposite Views Patric Nagatani
DEFENSE Defense industries in the United States are some of the most well-funded and far-reaching public institutions around the world. As industry leaders, defense operations remain comfortably out of sight and out of mind in the public’s visual reach. Such invisibility is not by chance. Defense systems, we are told, rely on safety and security for public interest, yet veiled by anonymity. Military architecture maintains camouflage through its ubiquity across physical ground and the ability to claim land as “technical.” Such activity blends its surroundings, claiming it remote, distant, and occupied. Locations around the world defined by the defense industries deserve reexamination through critical lenses. These technical landscapes are reviewed through the following projects that seek to rectify conflicting narratives of void in military landscapes, countermapping technological landscapes, and the defense complex’s architectural anonymity.
57
58
PROVING GROUNDS
59
DEFENSE
Topography Aerial Map 1 Tahsin Zaman
ositive
ontrol
Negative
PROVING GROUNDS
egative
rtaking
60
Positive Control
Exploitation
Exploitation
Partaking
Directionality
Directionality
tive
d Partake
ce
Negative + Positive Series Alexandre Abreu
Combined
Negative Controlled Partake
Absence
Exploited Direction
Discontinue
Exploited Direction
Discontinue
DEFENSE
ned
61
BUNKERS are symbolic elements of a hidden nuclear memory.
62
“From the original watch-tower through the anchored balloon to the reconnaissance aircraft and remote-sensing satellites, one and the same function have been indefinitely repeated, the eye’s function being the function of a weapon.” Paul Virilio (1989) War and Cinema 63
PROVING GROUNDS
Signs and Symbols
0
1
Sc
64
No
Danila
DEFENSE
“Sarcophagus over a closed shaft which is 4km deep - was one of the deepest scientific shafts in the world at the time. Russia, Murmansk region, 2013”
A replica of the Fat Man atomic bomb Rene Burri
Detection Magdalena Kerkmans
Sarcophagus over a closed shaft which is 4km deep Danila Tkachenko
“Humans are always trying to own ever more than they is the source of technical progress, which was the mean various commodities, standards, as well as the tools of order to keep the power over others. ”
65
mp
Safety Magdalena Kerkmans
PROVING GROUNDS stair + ramp
66
stair + ramp
ramp + landings
ramp + landings
ramp + landings
elevator
elevator
elevator
Extrude Magdalena Kerkmans
fig. 7 + 8 extrude
DEFENSE
fig. 3 + 4 pixel
fig. 6
67
Extrude Magdalena Kerkmans
ETFE
0
15
µm
ed cl
cy
re
te
re
nc
12’
co
68 320- 380nm
PROVING GROUNDS
8’
5’
2’
2’
2’
3’
2’
3’
3’ 6’
2’
2’ 3’
3’
40
M
Pa
bi
sta
lis ed
ca st e
ar th
DEFENSE
Ground Floor
Sub Level 01
Sub Level 02
69
Egress Diagram Alexandre Abreu
Hydrographic tide forecast Magdalena Kerkmans
COUNTERMAPPING reveal
surveillance in the landscape through artifacts of observation. 70
ls
s “The economy of war, which up to now has always tended to transform the human landscape into a ‘defensive redoubt’ through the congruence of fortifications, tends now to reduce arms disparities by transforming military objects into projectiles.” Paul Virilio (1994) Bunker Archaeology 71
PROVING GROUNDS
Ma Ac
Art Exhibition
72
DEFENSE
Building Section Alexandre Abreu
ain ccess
Memorial
73
74
PROVING GROUNDS
Bunker Typology Study Magdalena Kerkmans
DEFENSE Abandonment
Anti-tank pimples (Dragon’s teeth) Tony Watson
Should places of military purpose be left to degradation after the end of their use?
75
Presence of the Hill (Los Alamos embraces the grand symbolog of ANONYMITY. 76
s)
gy Y.
“In December 1942, Secretary of War Henry Stimson ordered the director of the remote Los Alamos Ranch School in northern New Mexico to shut down the elite school. Stimson wrote in a letter that the land was being acquired by the U.S. government for “military purposes.” But school officials were forbidden from saying why the school closed on Feb. 8, 1943, and all records of the condemnation proceedings were sealed.” The Durango Harold (June 24, 2018) 77
78
PROVING GROUNDS
Scenario 1 Tahsin Zaman
79
DEFENSE
Dorothy McKibbin, Gatekeeper to Los Alamos Atomic Heritage Foundation
Do (D rai Sm in pla ac an en Sc for Am ins Fe in de wo ev the ac for
80
PROVING GROUNDS
81
DEFENSE
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, 1992 Rene Burri
Perimeter Security Magdalena Kerkmans
Heliomorphology Heliomorphology
PROVING GROUNDS
Intagrated solar panel setup
Building-integrated photovltaics
Ind
Intagrated solar panel setup with perforated skin
ire
Intagrated solar panel setup
Scenario 01
82
ct s
un
Combine
nr adi
DEFENSE
ati on Ind ire
83
ct s un ra
Direct sun radiation
Direct sun radiation
Heliomorphology Alexandre Abreu
109 East Palace Atomic Heritage Foundation
PROVING GROUNDS
The offices at 109 Eas Santa Fe were the firs of scientists, engineer Corps, military police heading to the top-sec laboratory.
https://www.atomicheritage.org/tour-stop/109-east-palace
84
85
DEFENSE
Egress Pathway with Fire Escapes Tahsin Zaman
PROVING GROUNDS
Concrete Structure
86
DEFENSE
Wood Beam
87
Structural Diagram Alexandre Abreu
88 NRHP no. 66000493
PROVING GROUNDS
89
14,760 ha
DEFENSE
Counter-mapped Landscape Magdalena Kerkmans
Military View of Pixelated Information TOPOGRAPHY RENDERED VIEW 2
LATITUDE: 33°43’37.97” LONGITUDE: 106°31’46.14”
TOPOGRAPHY RENDERED VIEW 2
LATITUDE: 33°42’57.17” LONGITUDE: 106°32’01.55”
LATITUDE: 33°43’37.97” LONGITUDE: 106°31’46.14”
LATITUDE: 33°42’57.17” LONGITUDE: 106°32’01.55”
LATITUDE: 33°42’57.17” LONGITUDE: 106°32’01.55”
PROVING GROUNDS
LATITUDE: 33°42’04.31” LONGITUDE: 106°30’56.13”
LATITUDE: 33°42’57.17” LONGITUDE: 106°32’01.55”
LATITUDE: 33°42’04.31” LONGITUDE: 106°30’56.13”
Military View of Pixelated Information
Military View of Pixelated Information TOPOGRAPHY RENDERED VIEW 1
TOPOGRAPHY RENDERED VIEW 1
LATITUDE: N 33°42’10.21” LONGITUDE: W 106°33’31.36” LATITUDE: N 33°41’27.87” LONGITUDE: W 106°33’27.68” LATITUDE: N 33°42’10.21” LONGITUDE: W 106°33’31.36” LATITUDE: N 33°41’27.87” LONGITUDE: W 106°33’27.68”
LATITUDE: N 33°41’57.40” LONGITUDE: W 106°32’35.93”
LATITUDE: N 33°41’57.40” LONGITUDE: W 106°32’35.93”
90
Military View of Pixelated Information Tahsin Zaman
Military View of Pixelated Information
Pixelated Color Map Tahsin Zaman
AL MAP 1 110 x 145 PPI 155 x 155 PPI
DEFENSE
145 x 145 PPI
65 x 150 PPI
125 x 125 PPI
91
0 West Instrument Bunker
PROVING GROUNDS
Bullet-proof glass
Wood Door
Interior Walls covered with original wooden form
6� Concrete Slab
92
800 West Instrument Bunker at Trinity Site Alexandre Abreu
Viewing Port 16” in diameter and 8” long concrete pipe
DEFENSE
Viewing Port 16” in diameter and 8” long concrete pipe
The Interior of the bunker measured 6’-0” by 6’-0”
The Interior of theand bunker measured 6’-0”speed Fastax cameras, it was used to6’-0” storebyhigh and it was used to store high speed Fastax cameras, lead-lined steel sleds (4’ wide and 6’ long), and steel lead-lined steel sleds (4’ wide and 6’ long), and steel (1000’ long or more) cables (1000’ longcables or more)
3D Section
3D Section
93
JUST
TICE
96
Adaptabiloty Njia Blair
JUSTICE Justice is portrayed as blind, but the nuclear industry and the military have intentionally deafened her. The nuclear industry, especially that of the military, lacks accountability. Since the Trinity test, populations of people and vast swaths of delicate ecosystems have been ravaged by these industries. From those already disaffected people living where precious Uranium happened to be abundant, to those intentionally used as test subjects to the ravages of nuclear weaponry, to those caught in the path of the accident, Justice has been beyond their reach. These industries’ relentless march has effectually colonized areas and populations well beyond their borders with invisible menace. These projects seek to examine these conflicted histories through alternative Science Fictions, retribution on occupied territory, and exposing historical narratives that grave injustices.
97
98
PROVING GROUNDS
99
JUSTICE
Typology Redux Njia Blair
The trinity explosion birthed a new trajectory of SCIENCE FICTION. 100
“Winning is keeping the target in constant sight.� Paul Virilio (1989) War and Cinema 101
102 Resiliency unknown
PROVING GROUNDS
103
Bombing of Japan time.com
JUSTICE
Survey Lisa Demar
104
PROVING GROUNDS
Typology Redux Dillon Romero
105
JUSTICE
Adaptability Njia Blair
Experience leads to EMPATHY.
106
“Geographical representations—in the form of maps, texts and pictorial images of various kinds— and the look of landscapes themselves are not merely traces or sources, of greater or lesser value for disinterested investigation by geographical science. They are active, constitutive elements in shaping social and spatial practices and the environments we occupy.” Denis Cosgrove, 2008 107
108
PROVING GROUNDS
Flight Mask gettyimages.com
Survey Lisa Demar
JUSTICE 0.5 mi
1 mi
1.5
Detonation Points
109
110
Proving grounds have UNLAWFULLY EXPANDED its testing area to include the surrounding communities.
“Ecology must stop being associated with the image of a small nature-loving minority or with qualified specialists. Ecology in my sense questions the whole of subjectivity.� Felix Guattari (1989) The Three Ecologies 111
112
PROVING GROUNDS
113
JUSTICE
Safety Lisa Demar
114
PROVING GROUNDS
Hiroshima time.com
JUSTICE
Typology Lisa Demar
Hiroshima Hypocenter Memorial & Trinity Site Obelisk
115
Hir
116
PROVING GROUNDS
Typology Lisa Demar
117
JUSTICE
Trinity Site Obelisk Lisa Demar
118
PROVING GROUNDS
Typology Njia Blair
119
JUSTICE
Typology Redux Njia Blair
120
PROVING GROUNDS
Resiliency Dillon Romero
RANCH
121
JUSTICE
Ranch © Tae-Kwang Song
122
PROVING GROUNDS
Typology Redux Dillon Romero
123
JUSTICE
El Corral Cafe © Jonathan Miller
124
PROVING GROUNDS
125
JUSTICE
Typology Redux Dillon Romero
Trinity Site gettyimages.com
126
PROVING GROUNDS
127
JUSTICE
Geography Njia Blair
128
PROVING GROUNDS
Typology Njia Blair
129
JUSTICE
Laguna Pueblo gettyimages.com
130 L: Moonshot © Hope Nickolson
M:Captain Paiute © Theo Tso
PROVING GROUNDS
R: Super Indian © Aridon Starr
131
JUSTICE
Safety Njia Blair
ARTIF
FACT
134 Scenario at Artifact Threshold Martin Luna
ARTIFACT Military and nuclear industries have allowed nations to expand well beyond their borders, colonizing through forwarding presence and technology. By examining the artifacts, they leave behind, and one can begin to understand these industries in new ways. This research has shown the untold destructive power of nuclear systems, and the lowest bidder builds military forces. Nuclear accidents define atomic progress. Artifacts surrounding the bomb itself showcase the dangerous dichotomy in attitudes around atomic technology. Arbitrarily installed thresholds at the Trinity site do little to highlight this critical history’s conflicted nature. Air traffic control towers colonize space hundreds of miles in three dimensions. These projects seek to highlight the conflicted histories inherent to military landscapes and nuclear technology through the artifacts they have left behind.
135
We must make visible the invisible SCARS of the nuclear age. 136
“Just as weapons and armour developed in unison throughout history, so visibility and invisibility now began to evolve together, eventually producing invisible weapons that make things visible—radar, sonar, and the highdefinition camera of spy satellites.” Paul Virilio (1989) War and Cinema 137
138 T+.003 sec
T+ .00 6S e
PROVING GROUNDS
T+ .12 7S ec on ds -6 00 ft ll M ba ire -F
Crater Site - Final Checkpoint William Lyons
t ten Ex ax
Fig. 3: Ground Zero 0ft 30 snd co
150ft dson
139
ARTIFACT
Bikini Atomic Bomb Test, July 1946 National Security Archive
140
Women painting alarm clock faces, Ingersoll factory, January 1932 Daily Herald Archive/SSPL/Getty Images
PROVING GROUNDS
141
J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves at the ground zero US Department of Energy
ARTIFACT
US personnel watching an H Bomb test Time Life Pictures
While the restricted ground around the Trinity site is open for visitation, the AIRSPACE is not. 142
“With the advent of the airplane and in connection with the development of atomic weapons, the concentrated city becomes obsolete.� Ludwig Hilberseimer (1945) Cities and Defense 143
PROVING GROUNDS
6000m
1000m
144
Stratosphere Troposphere
Scale Samuel Eberle
Middle Cloud Ceiling
ARTIFACT
High Cloud Ceiling
Low Cloud Ceiling
145
146
PROVING GROUNDS
147
ARTIFACT
Trinity Test Atomic Heritage Foundation
Typology Samuel Eberle
Gadget in Elevation as Detonated William Lyons
PROVING GROUNDS
4ft 6in Gadget in Elevation as Detonated
Fig. 2 Gadget in Elevation as Detonated
148
b. (1896) Becquerel discovers radioactivity c. (1898) The Curies discover Radium and Polonium d. (1899) Rutherford discoveres atomic structure, alpha and beta rays e. (1900) Villard discovers gamma rays
5
2
1
g. (1926) Radium Girls take legal action against U.S. government
3
8
h. (1946) First atomic bomb tested is gets tested at Trinity Site, NM
9
i. (1946) Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki j. (1947) U.S. Radium ceases operations
12
k. (1954) USSR produces world’s very first nuclear power plant for electricity
1880
2000
l. (1958) U.S. detonates 35 nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands
N
USED NUCLEAR FUEL IN STORAGE AT THE END OF 2010 (in metric tons) 10,000
A Diagrammatic Visualization of Nuclear Martin Luna
GLOBAL CONTEXT A CHRONOLOGICAL VISUALIZATION OF RADIOACTIVE HISTORY
ARTIFACT
10 6 7
f. (1917) “Undark” used by U.S. military
11
4
A Chronological Visualization of Radioactive History Martin Luna
a. (1885) Wilhelm Roentgen discovers x-rays
N
5,000 1,000 100
NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE Shutdown sites Government site Commercial site
REGIONAL CONTEXT A DIAGRAMMATIC VISUALIZATION OF RADIOACTIVITY
149
150
PROVING GROUNDS
Erasure of the threshold Martin Luna
151
ARTIFACT
X-ray of Albert von Kölliker’s hand Wilhelm Röntgen
152
PROVING GROUNDS
Trailer Variations 3
Screening
Pool
Trailer Variations 4
Trailer Variations 5
Ranch
Quonset Hut
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
ARTIFACT
Jumbo arrives at the site US Department of Energy
Adaptability Studies William Lyons
Trailer Variations 2
153
Circulation William Lyons
PROVING GROUNDS
3
2
1
1. Pnuematic Elevator Shaft • 2. 4% Ramp • 3. Glass and Steel Dome Structure
Fig. 1: Circulation
154
ARTIFACT
Vice Admiral William Blandy celebrating the atomic tests on the Bikini Atoll Stock Montage/Getty Images
Vice Admiral William Blandy, his wife and Rear Admiral Frank Lowry in Washington D.C., celebrating the atomic tests on the Bikini Atoll in 1946. Blandy was in command of the testing.
“In recent decades, several researchers have documented how Project 4.1 scientists intentionally exposed Ma -LA Times 155
The Trinity Site must RESPOND to accessibility in as many ways as possible; environmentally, maneuverability, economically, etc. 156
“Conflict of forms: territories, constructions and naval, aerial and land equipment were all designed—into shapes that combined criteria that were universally valid for anything mechanical, ballistic, aerodynamic or optical, into particular concepts and interpretations that also resulted from firmly held aesthetic positions. It would be too simplistic to immediately define national ‘styles’ in this manner…” Jean Louis Cohen (2011) Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War 157
Environmental Systems Martin Luna
PROVING GROUNDS
POROUS MESH
TEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS CONDENSATION FIBER NETTING UALIZING INTERIOR SPACIAL CONDITION
INTEGRATED RUN-OFF DRAINAGE
90º 85º
80º
RESILIENCY RESERVOIR 75º
80º 75º
70º
65º
RATED ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS VEL TEMPERATURE MITIGATION | INTEGRATED RESERVOIR | POROUS CONCRETE 158
159
ARTIFACT
Marshall Islands atomic test Lawrence Livermore National Lab
PROVING GROUNDS
160 Egress + Path - Vertical Circulation Core Martin Luna
3
4
2
1
161
ARTIFACT
Egress Diagram Samuel Eberle
Trinity Bomb Assembly William Lyons
ded View of the Gadget
PROVING GROUNDS
9
3
4
8 7
6 5 3
2 1
1. Wire Harness • 2. Ignition Points • 3. High Explosives • 4. Uranium 238 Tamper • 5. Aluminum 6. Uranium 238 • 7. Plutonium 239 • 8. Polonium & Beryllium Nuetron Emitter • 9. Iginition Timing Devices
162
163
ARTIFACT
Trinity Site - July 16, 1946 US Department of Energy
Structural Assemblies
2 3
3
9 8
7 PROVING GROUNDS
8
2
9
7
7
164
1. Concrete Retaining Wall • 2. Rigid Insulation 6. Frame Footing • 7. Rough Hewn Granite Panel Facade
Crater Site Structural Assembly William Lyons
ARTIFACT
10
5
3
2 1
4
n • 3. Interior Finish • 4. Slab • 5. Steel Frame • 8. Air Gap • 9. Moisture Barrier • 10. “Green” Roof
165
166
PROVING GROUNDS
167
ARTIFACT
Scenario at Artifact Threshold Martin Luna
CO
ODA
PROVING GROUNDS
GEOGRAPHY
60M
Martin Luna
Katherine Boles
Chelyabinsk-40 Fallout Events William Lyons 1957 Explosion Fallout
History of the Trinity Site is contingent.
170
Conceptualization of Jornada del Muerto as barren facilitated military exploitation.
The nuclear age is defined by Village or Community oversight and accident 1960s Lake Karachay Radioactive Dust Cloud
N
CODA
GEOGRAPHY OF THE IMAGE: DRAWING PHOTO SIGNAL
Signs and Symbols
CENTER LINE OF CONTAMINATION ZONE EXPANDING N. EAST TO CORONA FROM EPICENTER OF FALLOUT. HIGHLIGHTED AREAS OF DATA & COMMUNICATION LINES TO SIGNAL HUMAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND OCCUPATION.
CONTAMINATION DISTRIBUTION & DATA TRINITY TO VAUGHN, NEW MEXICO
0
1
3
Scale sign
Lisa DeMar
Dillon Romero
Magdalena Kerkmans
N North Sign
Magdalena Kerkmans, UNM SA+P M Arch Candidate, Studio 603, Jeffrey Nesbit
The Trinity Site lacks connection to histories and peoples affected by the creation and utilization of the atomic bomb; the site should connect these histories through visual and experiential means since experience leads to empathy.
Proving grounds have unlawfully expanded it’s testing area to include the surrounding communities.
Technical imaging is expansion and control over landscape.
11"
Dimension
171
5
PROVING GROUNDS Samuel Fantaye
Samuel Eberle
Njia Blair
Trinity is tied to questions of sovereignty, identity, and labor exploitation.
Trinity is tied to questions of sovereignty, identity, and labor exploitation.
The trinity explosion birthed a new trajectory of science fiction.
172
MANIFESTED NM FEDERAL LANDS TAHSIN ZAMAN
New Mexico Historical Forts + Military Bases Fort Burgwin
Fort Marcy Santa Fe, NM
near Taos, NM
Los Alamos Demolition Army Base (1943) North Central, NM
Fort Union (1851)
1852
Watrous, NM
Kirtland Air Force Base (1941)
1861
Bernalillo, NM
1854
Fort Wingate
Fort Bascom
1861
near Tucumcari, NM 1851
1944
CODA
near Gallup, NM
1846 1864
1873
White Sands Missile Range (1948)
1868
1863
Otero, NM
Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner (village), NM
Cannon Air Force (1942)
Fort Craig Socorro, NM
1862
Curry, NM
Fort Stanton 1872
Fort Tularosa Aragon, NM
Trinity Site
near Lincoln, NM
1939 1878
1863
Holloman Air Force (1942)
near Alamagordo, NM
1861 1861 1854 1855 1943
Fort Bayard Socorro, NM
Fort Selden
Radium Springs, NM
1867 1866
1865
Fort Fillmore near Mesilla, NM
Fort Cummings
1863
near Cooke’s Springs, NM
1861 1851
Military Uses Land protection Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848) Civil War (1861 - 1865) Indian Wars Lincoln County War (1878 - 1881) German Internment Camp WWII Prison Supplied explosives to the Manhattan Project
Alexandre Abreu
Tahsin Zaman
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
NM FEDERAL OWNED LAND GOVT. COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Post occupancy of military landscapes are key to express historical identity.
Precautionary measures were taken to keep Trinity under wraps.
ROAD JUNCTIONS
WHITE SANDS MILITARY BASE AREA
Paths of nuclear production are enabled by national highway and rail infrastructure
173
TOPOGRAPHY
PROVING GROUNDS
Accident vs. Consequence
TOPOGRAPHY TOP VIEW 1
1:10,0000 N
1
Samuel Fantaye
Dillon Romero
TOPOGRAPHY OF FALLOUT - RURAL TOWN
CORONA, NEW MEXICO
155 x 155 PPI
N
William Lyons “With the invention of the ship came the shipwreck” — Paul Virilio
145 x 145 PPI
Martin Luna
174
Katherine Boles
plan view, illustrating superimpostion of thresholds
125 x 125 PPI
Tahsin Zaman
ned
CODA
Topographic Exploration
Alexandre Abreu
Site Plan
Lisa DeMar
Njia Blair
Manipulation of ground at the trinity site (marked by the + symbol) using civilian flight paths
Trinity Site
Samuel Eberle
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
Magdalena Kerkmans 0
1,000’
3,000’
N
Interventions Created By Map of Distant Stars
175
TYPOLOGY I
Holloman AFB ATC Tower
PROVING GROUNDS
Range Class C airspace
40 nmi cylinder
Horizon (from ground)
3 mi
Horizon (from tower)
12.3 mi
Tower radar
120 nmi radius
1 nmi (nautical mile) = 1.15 miles
umbo’s Trailer
Hiroshima Hypocenter Memorial & Trinity Site Obelisk
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
Samuel Fantaye 35ft
Samuel Eberle
Fig. 2
64 Wheels Towed by Multiple Tractors
Fig. 1
eing Towed to Detonation Site
ft
15
military view, outer trinity site security
Martin Luna
176
Fig. 3
William Lyons
Lisa DeMar
800 West Instrument Bunker
12” Concrete Roof
4” in diameter capped metal pipe
Protective timber wing wall
Defined views
Protective timber wing wall Viewing port
CODA
Timber retaining wall
Wood Door
Controlled boundaries
The bunker was half buried
Structural Landscape
Magdalena Kerkmans
Military Projection
Katherine Boles
Alexandre Abreu
NE, Santa Fe, NM 87501 ries Office
Entrance + 2'-0"
+ 6"
LOUNGE & STEAKHOUSE SPECIALIZING IN NEW MEXICAN CUISINE EST. 2005. PREVIOUSLY DON RICHMOND'S GENERAL STORE. PREVIOUSLY ELBERT OWNEN'S MERCANTILE. CMU W/ STUCCO CONSTRUCTION, TYPE III. 3000 SF
EL CORRAL CAFE CORONA, NEW MEXICO 0 4
Tahsin Zaman
Dillon Romero
32
Njia Blair
177
PROVING GROUNDS
ADAPTABILITY
14,760 ha
NRHP no. 66000493
Site Adaptation S Addition
Samuel Fantaye
Martin Luna
Njia Blair Trinity Site
04:00 MWT
a Castle Fig. 2: Screening
Fig. 3: Pool
ry School
Parking Lot
Fig. 1: Hay Rack
a Dome
McDonald Ranch + 2'-6"
+ 6" -1'-0"
HOUSEHOLD WITH ADJACENT HISTORICAL CENTER. M.O.U. AGREEMENT BETWEEN HOME OWNERS, STATE PARKS DEPT., AND DoD. TO MAINTAIN AND OPERATE BOTH CENTER AND HOUSEHOLD.
RANCH RESIDENCE & HISTORICAL CENTER BINGHAM, NEW MEXICO 0 4
Dillon Romero
178
32
Lisa DeMar
Fig. 4: Ranch
Fig. 5: Quonset Hut
Fig. 6: Crawler
William Lyons
Existing Roads
Free Fall
CODA
Balloon Ride
Iterations
Samuel Fantaye
Lift Ride
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
Njia Blair
109 East Palace Ave. Office
Dominant species: Sporobolus nealleyi and Tiquilia hispidissima
Trinity Site Crater
2 miles
N
0’
500’
1000’ 2000’
McDonald Ranch
Procession Key Plan
Tahsin Zaman
Alexandre Abreu
Katherine Boles
179
RESILIENCY
PROVING GROUNDS
Water circulation
Warm Air
Evaporative Pads
Humid Air
Water Extraction
Cool Air
Samuel Eberle
Water Storage
The public should be allowed to access and occupy this restricted airspace.
180
Martin Luna
Njia Blair
The Trinity Site must respond to accessibility in as many ways as possible; environmentally, maneuverability, economically, etc.
Design intervention should decolonize and demystify the trinity site.
INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS VISUALIZING BICYCLE + FOOT-PATH CONDITION
CODA
West
East
South
Solar Chimney
Samuel Fantaye
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
William Lyons
Upstream mining operations has left a toxic legacy.
Radioactive materials from the atomic age require deep subterranean disposal as storage
Carelessness and fatal intention continue to define the nuclear industry.
181
PROVING GROUNDS
RESILIENCY : PROTOTYPES
site coordinates Latitude: 33° 40’ 38.28” N Longitude: -106° 28’ 31.44” W
species: bouteloua gracilis
koppen climate classification Bsk: (cold semi-arid) BWk: (cold desert)
Lisa DeMar
environmental system of priority arroyo flooding
Katherine Boles
site recommendations 1. Staging conditions in response to the Western transmission of water over the Trinity Site from the Oscura Mountains to the Rio Grande Valley.
Humans have difficulty Chihuahuan Desert ecology comprehending vast and ranch production systems 2. Restoring endangered ground species as method of magnitudes (in the case werecover dismissed. mitigating the movement, storage, and use of shallow flood of the atomic bomb:waters. the size of the blast radius and 3. Each prototype allows for a microenvironments and biodiversity understanding the scale of of plantings. Annual shallow flooding of the site will allow for a gradual passive earth-moving strategy. tens of thousands of deaths). Comprehension of numbers and space best occurs at a scale relative to the human body.
182
ground condition: sloped compacted fields
Magdalena Kerkmans
benefit: perenial blooms grazing seeds-granivorous birds attracts butterflies
The instantaneous view has led to an increased simultaneity of landscape and image.
Heliomorphology
Adaptative solar panel setup
CODA
Adaptative solar panel setup
Adaptative sola
Tahsin Zaman
Dillon Romero
Alexandre Abreu
Presence of “The Hill” (Los Alamos)embraces the grand symbology of anonymity.
The surrounding communities of the proving grounds have: A right to exist A responsibility to exist
Trinity Site is absent of nuclear conflict. WATER MACHINE TRINITY SITE, WSMR, NM
183
PROVING GROUNDS
PERFORMATIVITY
t ten Ex ax
T+ .00 6S e
T+ .12 7S ec on ds -6 00 ft
ll M ba ire -F
0ft 30 snd co
T+.003 sec
150ft dson
Fig. 3: Ground Zero
Samuel Eberle
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
William Lyons
The architecture facilitates this occupation and also gives a commentary about restriction and the military landscape.
Descension into the Earth opens up cosmic archeology.
We must make visible the invisible scars of the nuclear age.
184
600m 600m
600m
500m 500m
500m
400m 400m
400m
300m 300m
300m
200m 200m
200m
100m 100m
1
2
0
100m
3
1
2
3
4
0
4 5
1 5 r / hr
2
0
3
4 5
r / hr
CODA
r / hr
Magdalena Kerkmans
Slow Sand Filter TahsinScenario: Zaman
Lisa DeMar
Introducing new artifacts of observation allows for a counter-mapped landscape.
In order to draw no attention, cloaks were utilized in order for locals to be oblivious.
In order for humans to occupy and traverse the desert, strategies to mitigate sun and gather water must be implemented
oscura mountain canyon
chupadera plateau
185
Heliomorphology “REWILDING” LANDSCAPING Building-integrated photovltaics
PROVING GROUNDS
Perforated skin
Indi
rect
sun
radi
n ra
n
t su
ec Dir
POROUS CONCRETE
Scenario 03
Martin Luna PERFORMATIVITY SCENARIO AT SITE THRESHOLD
Experience of the Trinity Site should not be exclusive to July 16th, 1945.
186
Katherine Boles
Alexandre Abreu
The Trinity detonation instantly created a wastewilderness.
Bunkers are symbolic elements of hidden nuclear memory.
n
tio
dia
atio
CODA Samuel Fantaye
Dillon Romero
Njia Blair
Regulatory framework must provide equitable retribution.
Highlighting the reciprocal histories of these actors and landscapes is critical to the foundation of a post-nuclear future.
Tourism has replaced Indigenous Futurism.
187
SAFETY
PROVING GROUNDS
Paths of Egress
Njia Blair
William Lyons
Samuel Eberle
NOTES: 1. STAIRS 2. ELEVATOR 3. INFORMAL SITTING AREA 4. WATER FOUNTAIN
Safety / Egress
3
xterior access) Space
4
2
Information Space
istrative
1
Prototype for one iteration of programming at the Trinity Site This iteration is intended to be the first stop for the visitor as they walk along the Hiroshima pathways etched into the landscape. This introductory space includes visitor information, administrative offices, exhibit area, and restrooms.
Lisa DeMar
Martin Luna
VERTICIAL CIRCULATION CORE
188
Tahsin Zaman
ress Diagram
CODA
Ground Floor
Sub Level 01
Sub Level 02
Alexandre Abreu
Samuel Fantaye
Katherine Boles
Magdalena Kerkmans
Dillon Romero
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
189
12’
TYPOLOGY II
PROVING GROUNDS
40
M Pa
sta
bi
lis
ed
ca
st
ea
rth
8’
5
3’
Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro
ral Assemblies 10
Ground
-15’
2
exterior cladding air gap wood fiber insulation board clt panel mineral board interior plaster
12 mm/0.47 inch CFRP
xhibition SpaceNjia Prototype Blair
Typology Redux
Magdalena Kerkmans
-30’
3
co nc re te
9 8
le d
2’
9
µm
8
2’ 2
re cy c
3
7
15
0
7
8’ 5
7
3
2 1
8’
4 1. Concrete Retaining Wall • 2. Rigid Insulation • 3. Interior Finish • 4. Slab • 5. Steel Frame 6. Frame Footing • 7. Rough Hewn Granite Panel Facade • 8. Air Gap • 9. Moisture Barrier • 10. “Green” Roof
William Lyons
lique
s
5’
190
Fig. 1: Crater Site Structural Assembly
Lisa DeMar
Tahsin Zaman
Southwest View
Art Gallery
CODA
Memorial
Visitor Center
Martin Luna
Alexandre Abreu
Katherine Boles
Samuel Eberle
Dillon Romero
Samuel Fantaye
191
Samuel Eberle
Ladder Ladder to Ladder theto“Clouds” theto“Clouds” the “Clouds”
Crane Crane Ride Crane Ride Ride
Free Free Fall Free Fall Fall
GiantGiant Swing Giant SwingSwing
GiantGiant Drop Giant DropDrop
Balloon Balloon Ride Balloon Ride Ride
Samuel Fantaye
Martin Luna
satellite view, outer trinity site threshold
BOUNDARY 192 HYSICAL BOUNDARY THRESHOLDS
military view, civilian property threshold
satellite view, trinity site threshold
TYPOLOGY OF BOUNDARY VISUALIZING PHYSICAL BOUNDARY THRESHOLDS
military view, outer trinity site threshold
military view, trinity site threshold
Ladder to the “Clouds”
Crane Ride
Free Fall
Giant Swing LadderLadder to the to “Clouds” the “Clouds”
Giant Drop CraneCrane Ride Ride
Balloon Ride Free Fall Free Fall
Aqualoop Slide Giant Giant SwingSwing
Cantilever Rack Giant Giant Drop Drop
Lift RideRide Balloon Balloon Ride
Aqualoop Aqualoop Slide Slide
Cantilever Cantilever Rack Rack
Lift Ride Lift Ride
satellite view, outer trinity site threshold
satellitesignage view, trinity site threshold military view, atomic veterans highway
military view, white sands signage
military view, trinity site signage
193
REFERENCES Alessandra Ponte, “Desert Testing,” in Architecture and the Sciences: Exchanging Metaphors, Antoine Picon and Alessandra Ponte, eds. (Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003). Bruno Latour, Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2018). Ersela Kripa and Stephen Mueller, Fronts: Military Urbanisms and the Developing World (New York: Applied Research and Design Publishing, ORO Editions, 2020), 6-39. Jean Louis Cohen, Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War (New Haven and London: Yale University and Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2011). Jeffrey S. Nesbit and Guy Trangoš, eds., New Geographies 11: Extraterrestrial (Harvard Graduate School of Design and Actar Publishers: Cambridge and Barcelona, 2019). Kate Orff and Richard Misrach, Petrochemical America (New York: Aperture, 2014). Le Corbusier, Aircraft (New vision. [1]) (London, New York: The Studio; The Studio publications, 1935). Neeraj Bhatia, New Investigations in Collective Form (Barcelona: Actar, 2019). Niall Atkinson, Ann Lui, Mimi Zeiger, On Dimensions of Citizenship (Venice Biennale, Inventory Press, 2018). Paul Virilio, Bunker Archaeology (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1975). Paul Virilio, War and Cinema. (London: Verso, 1989). Paul Ozorak, Underground Structures of the Cold War: The World Below (South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2012). Peter Galison and Julie Kruse, “Waste-Wilderness: A Conversation with Peter L. Galison.” (Friends of the Pleistocene, 2011). Peter Galison, “War Against the Center,” in Architecture and the Sciences: Exchanging Metaphors, Picon, A. and Ponte, A., eds (Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003). Peter Galison and Robb Moss, dir., Containment (Redacted Pictures, 2015). Peter Galison, and Pamela Hogan, dir., Ultimate Weapon: The H-Bomb Dilemma (national Science Foundation, documentary feature, 2000). Pierre Belanger and Alexander Arroyo, Ecologies of Power: Countermapping the Logistical Landscapes and Military Geographies of the U.S. Department of Defense (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2016), 12-47. Rachel Woodward, “Looking at Military Landscapes: Definitions and Approaches,” in Renaud Bellais (ed.) The Evolving Boundaries of Defence: An Assessment of Recent Shifts in Defence Activities (Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Volume 23) Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2014, pp.139 – 153. Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy / DESIGN EARTH, Geostories: Another Architecture for the Environment (Barcelona: Actar, 2018). Reyner Banham, “The Great Gizmo,” in Industrial Design, vol. 12, September 1965, 48-59. Reprinted in Penny Sparkle (ed.), Design by Choice (London: Academy Editions, 1981), 112-113.
194
195
Jeffrey S. Nesbit Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Harvard GSD Office for Urbanization Visiting Associate Professor / University of New Mexico Editor / New Geographies Journal Director / Haecceitas Studio Host / Nature of Enclosure
Student Participants Njia Blair Katherine Boles Lisa Demar Samuel Eberle Samuel Fantaye Alexandre Gomes de Abreu Magdalena Kerkmans Martin Luna William Lyons Natasha Carneiro Ribeiro Dillon Romero Tahsin Zaman
Dean
Robert Alexander Gonzรกlez
GRADUATE STUDIO ARCH 603 | FALL 2020
Faculty
Jeffrey S. Nesbit
Student Participants
Njia Blair Katherine Boles Lisa Demar Samuel Eberle Samuel Fantaye Alexandre Gomes de Abreu Magdalena Kerkmans Martin Luna William Lyons Natasha Carneiro Dillon Romero Tahsin Zaman
In this graduate architecture design studio, students from the School of Architecture + Planning at the University of New Mexico reflect on the impact of the nation’s first nuclear testing “Trinity Site” in New Mexico. As a site of both rich American history and conflicted forms of military strategy and politics, this remote, Cold War site demonstrates how architecture in the background enables an active role in the environment-including territory, culture, and ecologies of power.