The Mississippi River Garden

Fall 2020 Professor Rebecca Krinke Kyle Franta Making Space for Emotion Studio

The Mississippi River Garden

Table of Contents 01

Learning From Gardens

04

02

Exploring Earth Emotions

10

03

History of the River Gorge

18

04

Waking Up in the Anthropocene

22

05

River Mile 850

26

06

Process - Site Visits

44

07

Revealing a Garden

82

08

Celebrating the River

108

09

References

116

Learning from Gardens

Frogtown Farm The Community Garden During our Studio’s visit to Frogtown Farm we came to learn about what it took to make this garden successful.

Even though the pandemic had made opening the community garden nearly impossible, the leaders at the farm along with the rest of the community came together to grow food. This act of defiance was so important to the people in that moment in time. The farm felt separate from the outside world, like it was still alive and well, even while everything else within the city was shut down. The garden required the collective energy of the community gardeners and the neighborhood, but it gave back so much in return. What I learned here is that to truly benefit from gardens, they require our attention, our time, and our energy. To benefit from a garden requires one to return often and to give something of themselves to it, and in return it will give something back to them.

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The Joy Garden Within Frogtown Farm another temporary garden space took shape.

The Joy Garden, created on site by two local women, was a bounded space filled with vegetables, pollinator plants, and colorful signs displaying emotions. This garden did not need a large budget or special materials, but instead utilized what was already on site. The plants were largely vegetables, a staple at Frogtown Farms. The paths were made of burlap sacks likely found in a nearby storage shed, and the entrance was made from woven vines. Even with these rather non-traditional garden elements, the Joy garden made me feel peace and comfort.

Learning From Gardens • 7

Father Hennepin Bluffs Park Several of us in the studio came to a new realization while on a trip to Father Hennepin Bluffs Park, an urban park near the core of Minneapolis. While we were admiring the fall colors we became mesmerized by a waterfall created by the infrastructure of the Xcel Energy spillway. How could we find such beauty in something so foreign to nature?

There used to in fact be real waterfalls here, falls that were sacred to the Dakota people.

This was a moment of clarity for me. We had no say in when we were born. We came alive into a world that was already highly manipulated. Ancient and sacred rivers were exploited and commodified to benefit a monopoly of industry. The river became useful for only the purpose of transport, and hundreds of plant and animals species were forced out because of the new changes to the river. Yet here we were, marveling at the ugly beauty of this Mississippi River stream.

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This moment stuck with me throughout the semester. It drove me to ask question about the place of human beings in nature. I began to wonder that if we humans were truly a part of the natural world, than what could be defined as nature, and what could be called artificial? Beavers dam rivers and drastically change their hydrology; are they not of nature?

This awakening sparked momentum for me to start defining a new age of awareness for mankind’s place on this Earth. Where is the line drawn for taking only what we need? And how can we give something back to these shared earth places?

This site visit made me want to focus on showing people their place in this world to force a collective awakening. Hopefully then, we as human beings, can form a renewed reciprocal relationship with this planet, and this river once again.

Learning From Gardens • 9

Exploring Earth Emotions

Places to Feel To begin the Studio, we as a class read parts of Glenn Albrecht’s book called “Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World.” Albrecht wrote this book to form new words that define both positive and negative relationships to the state of the Earth. He found a need to be able to express pain and joy for new emotions surrounding the current state of our planet, and our relationship with the living world.

This studio went a step further by saying that we also need places to help us express our collective earth emotions; our pain and joy. We need places to feel grief and joy. We need places to feel fear and hope. We need places for being alone to grieve, and others to facilitate collective action. We need spaces to care for and cultivate.

I decided to design a garden around “the ghedeist” and “ecoagnosy,” Earth emotions defined by Glenn Albrecht

12 • The Mississippi River Garden

(definitions found on pg. 16-17 of this book). These two Earth emotions were antonyms of each other, one representing the awareness of a spirit or force that holds all life together; while the other represented the common ignorance we have of the past ecological states of the places we live in.

I wanted to design a garden that helped people better see and understand the state of the world. I thought that if people could see the exploited living systems, for themselves, they would spring into collective action. Helping people understand their place in the world would usher forward a new age of collective awareness. A new era where humans once again would live in reciprocity with the rest of the living world.

Exploring Earth Emotions • 13

Solastalgia The pain or distress caused by the loss or lack of solace and the sense of desolation connected to the present state of one’s home and territory. It is the lived experience of negative environmental change. It is the homesickness you have when you are still at home.

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Eutierria A positive and good feeling of oneness with the Earth and its life forces where the boundaries between self and the rest of nature are obliterated and a deep sense of peace and connectedness pervades consciousness.

Exploring Earth Emotions • 15

Ghedeist Awareness of a spirit or force that holds all life together; a feeling of profound symbiotic interconnectedness in all life between the self and other beings (human and nonhuman) and their gathering together to live within shared Earth places and spaces. It is a secular feeling of intense affinity and sense of mutual empathy for other beings.

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Ecoagnosy Lack of knowledge about, hence ignorance of, past ecological states.

Exploring Earth Emotions • 17

History of the River Gorge

Gorge Formation

Exploitation

The Mississippi Gorge was formed as the Mississippi River cascaded over a massive waterfall cutting away the soft sandstone that supported an upper layer of erosion-resistant limestone and shale. The hard limestone would snap off as it became unsupported and fell into the valley. Over thousands of years this process of erosion caused the migration of the waterfall upstream until it evolved into the falls we see today at St. Anthony. Historically, St. Anthony Falls was the head of a six mile stretch of rapids that was a rich spawning ground for native fish capped by a 50 foot waterfall that served as a natural barrier to northern migrating fish.

The construction of Locks and Dams in Minneapolis first started in 1907.

The dams provided the water depth necessary to maintain a 9 1/2-foot channel from St. Paul to Minneapolis while also supplying the city with renewable hyrdopower. The creation of these dams drastically changed the hydrology of the river and consequently forced dozens of animal and fish species out of the area. Without these Dams, Minneapolis and St. Paul would not have had the economic success that made them the cities they are today.

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Potential Retreat

New Opportunities

There is now a rare opportunity to restore part of the Mississippi River and bring back fish and wildlife that were pushed out a century ago. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently studying Lower Saint Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, and Lock and Dam 1, to determine if it is in the taxpayers’ best interest to continue paying for maintenance and operation of the structures. This study will also determine if other federal, state, local, non-profit and private entities are interested in future ownership of the properties. Upon completion of the study, the Army Corps will submit recommendations to Congress on the fate of the infrastructure. This study provides a rare opportunity to influence the future of the Mississippi River Gorge and residents’ connections with the river.

With the removal of these dams, the Mississippi River Gorge would once again become free flowing. This is an opportunity to form a new relationship between people and the Mississippi River, one that no longer exploits the river as a commodity, but instead forms a reciprocal relationship between people, the river, and the living beings that would be welcomed back after 1oo years. This project seeks to facilitate building this new relationship.

https://www.americanrivers.org/ www.mnhshistory.org/mnhistory

History of the River Gorge • 21

Waking Up in the Anthropocene

Waking Up in the Anthropocene I return once again to Glen Albrecht’s Earth Emotions where he defines ecoagnosy as the “lack of knowledge about, hence ignorance of, past ecological states.” We have been trained to see the world as set. This world we have been born into feels like it was always this way. But in fact, this world and this city have changed dramatically within just the last century.

It may seem that in the twin cities, everything is rather set in place, rigid even. But, under all the steel and concrete are still dynamic systems at play. The Mississippi River is the core of that dynamism. The river has been dramatically altered in order to harness its power. Now that this River no longer needs to be viewed as a commodity, we can free it from its rigid human bonds.

But that doesn’t mean we need to abandon it all together.

24 • The Mississippi River Garden

Instead, we can now embrace what the river really has to give us, and we can reciprocaly give back to it. Human beings can live in Reciprocity with this place, creating a relationship in which we, the river, and all its living beneficiaries live together in mutuality.

We have been born into a world that is highly exploited and commodified. And if we don’t begin to work in reciprocity with nature then soon nature will no longer work with us. Anne Whinston Spirn says that “if we are ever going to address issues like climate change, people are going to have to be able to make up their own minds.” Through this project, I want to help people see what their place in the living world is. To make what might be invisible to them now, visible.

Waking Up in the Anthropocene • 25

River Mile 850

Site Context

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River Mile 850 • 29

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Upper St. Anthony Dam Lower St. Anthony Dam

River Mile 850

Ford Dam

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Minneapolis + St. Paul

River Mile 850

River Mile 850 • 31

Site Exploration

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River Mile 850 • 33

Site Inventory

Storm water Culvert

Path @ Limestone Wall

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Submerged Dam

Dam Ruins and Boulders

Storm water Sewage Discharge 34 • The Mississippi River Garden

Storm water Culvert

Dredged Beach

Grove Path

Limestone Wall

Railroad Bridge River Mile 850 • 35

The Wooded Bluffs

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River Mile 850 • 37

The Dredged Beach

winchell trail 38 • The Mississippi River Garden

mississippi river River Mile 850 • 39

The Culverts

white sands beach 40 • The Mississippi River Garden

typical shoreline River Mile 850 • 41

The Submerged Meeker Island Dam

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River Mile 850 • 43

Process - Site Visits

Repeated Visitation as Design This book is largely the story of how I came to know a site through observation, sketching, collecting, and photographing; all while continually pondering questions of humanity’s place within the living world.

I first came to the beach along River Mile 850 in the early summer to watch the sunset over the river with friends.

I was really taken back by the beaches beauty, so I kept returning. I came back several times over the summer and through the early fall as the leaves began to turn yellow and fall to the ground.

Now the forested trail to the beach really began to reveal the ancient limestone cliffs and the abandoned and gratified infrastructure that was hidden from view before. This place was revealing itself to me over time, and it had my attention. Later, when we were tasked with selecting a site for the “Making Space for Emotion: Gardens of Pain and Joy” studio with Rebecca Krinke, it seemed like the perfect candidate.

along this part of the river corridor.

Maybe I could utilize the concept of collection I observed as the storm water culverts along the beach edge collected sand and garbage carried by the river.

All of these concepts seemed to heavy handed, and I really struggled landing on what one thing to reveal to future visitors. But by developing a practice of repeated visitation, note taking, concept sketching and photographing, I found a garden in the gorge, it just needed a little help being seen. Now it seemed that my job was simple. I no longer felt the need to design something overtly new. I only needed to cue people in to what was already there. I needed to reveal the hidden garden along this stretch of the gorge.

It feels like I lucked out by stumbling onto a this place, attracted to it by the beach like many others. I had no idea it would be packed with so much mystery, just barely visible enough to observe, but ready to be revealed to anyone who I kept coming back to the beach, gave the place their time and attention. searching for answers for potential design interventions. I hoped that I could This site is a section of the Mississippi use the forms of on-site infrastructure River Gorge, and it has a lot of stories for seating elements, or that I could re- to tell. brand the idea of graffiti largely found

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Process - Site Visits • 47

Anticipation and Wayfinding

hidden

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defined garden edge

n entrance

pedestrian trail Process - Site Visits • 49

Anticipation and Wayfinding At this moment in the garden I was thinking largely about grounding a visitor in a place.

I wanted to design an entryway that would lead people into the garden by grabbing their attention and curiosity. I also liked the way the edge of the space was defined by the black fence. This fence along with the steep topography helped bound the garden, and I wanted to carry that idea through the end.

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Process - Site Visits • 51

Stepping Down

Transition and Time ascending

change of direction

descending

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Use of on-site materials

Process - Site Visits • 53

Transition and Time Here, I admire the way that the steps forced visitors to change direction. I also found it really potent to enter into a space by descending downward, moving through geological time down into the layers of limestone and sandstone. Similarly when leaving the garden one enters back up into the world they had come from, hopefully with a refreshed perspective.

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Process - Site Visits • 55

Transition and Time

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Process - Site Visits • 57

Highlighting Infrastructure

viewi

seating opportunity

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ing

expanded 0pportunities for graffiti

Process - Site Visits • 59

Expanding Graffiti

Defining Points of Interest

erosion

top soil path

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connection to the formation of the gorge

human layer

Process - Site Visits • 61

Defining Edge

e

borr

top

62 • The Mississippi River Garden

enclosure

rowed view

p soil path

Process - Site Visits • 63

Defining Edge The forested bluffs of the river gorge are truly spectacular places. In the Summer the leaves of the trees form a tight tunnel that conceals much of the space but leads visitors down the trail. I noticed that the path felt strongest when it was defined by a fallen tree pushed to its side.

In the fall and winter the space feels completely different. Now visitors have views down the 150 foot bluffs into the Mississippi River, making one feel small . It felt that in the fall a lot of the mystery was lost, since you could see all of the garden at once. I played with the idea of creating a series of walls

64 • The Mississippi River Garden

that would not allow the visitor to anticipate what was ahead. I thought that these walls could also mark the locations of storm water pipes hidden beneath, or possibly point out some hidden ruins or infrastructure.

Process - Site Visits • 65

Highlighting Collection

expanded 0p for gr

reuse on-site materials

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pportunities raffiti

defining edge

seating

Process - Site Visits • 67

Highlighting Collection There are some great moments along the existing trail where fallen logs define edges or act to change ones body position by forcing one to duck or twist through. I wanted to explore ideas of using on site materials to create these obstacles that defined edges and changed ones perspective. I also liked the idea of these structures containing places for people to leave things behind or place found items.

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Process - Site Visits • 69

Transition, Views, Storytelling

dredge material

gatheri

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utilizing on-site materials

seating

ing place

Process - Site Visits • 71

Transitions, Views, Storytelling There is a lot to unpack at the beach. This is where my project first took hold. I was drawn to this place for so many reasons from seeing the white sand scar across the water, to the easy access the beach provided all the way down to the water. I also loved the way that the light warmed you when transitioning from woods to beach, the canopy opening up to sky.

This place was also great for the people that frequented it. Small groups of friends meet here often during the warm summer evenings; telling stories around fires, admiring the water, enjoying the seclusion from the city. I

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wanted to make a place that invited people in, and made them stay awhile. I played with ideas of comforting seating elements inspired by dredging and piling, along with ideas of transition from dark to light, cold to warm, hard ground to soft sand.

Process - Site Visits • 73

Sediment (and Trash) Collection

seating

opportunity

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y for graffiti

transition point along shoreline

culvert arm extends towards east bank culvert

collects sediment and litter

Process - Site Visits • 75

Sediment and Debris Collection The culverts found along the shoreline are true places of transition. These culverts facilitate transition in a number of ways, but primarily do it due to their rigidity within a flowing water body. The arms that extend outward into the water collect sediment and debris on the up-river side, while protecting the shoreline on the down-river side. They sometimes expel some nasty swirling liquids that smell unpleasant and look off putting.

Here I was inspired by this collection. I wanted to design moments where I could influence the formation of sediment. Maybe I could create patterns, or places of respite

76 • The Mississippi River Garden

for certain aquatic species. I thought about placing nets that would help remove trash, or constructing docks along the culvert arms to allow people to walk out above the water.

I also wondered how piling sand islands strategically would change over time in the erosive water, and play around with the idea of creating a meditative space out on the water using islands and boulders to create rapids.

Process - Site Visits • 77

Uncovering the Past

submerged ruins

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potential hazard

sediment build-up

boat ties

Process - Site Visits • 79

What is Our Place In Nature?

While continually revisiting this stretch of the Gorge and reminding myself of Glen Albrecht’s definitions of ecoagnosy and (the) ghedeist, I really came to wonder what our place in nature was. I used to be certain that we were the saviors of this world, that we could engineer our way through anything. Then for a time I thought quite the opposite; that this earth is plagued by our presence, and that until we were gone the natural world would be out of balance.

I know one thing for certain is that we cannot continue down our current trajectory. We can not continue to simplify ecological systems to do our bidding. It is time that we form reciprocity with nature. Time that we take only what we need, and give back everything we have to give.

I now know that neither of the above assumptions have to be true. It is not us vs. nature. I do believe that we as a species

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are not separate from the rest of nature, but instead deeply ingrained within it; a part of it. I find myself agreeing with Anne Whinston Spirn in the sentiment that people must make their own conclusions about this world, and it is our job as designers to help them see it more clearly.

Process - Site Visits • 81

Revealing a Garden

Removing the Dams Right now there is increasing excitement around the idea of a free flowing Mississippi River Gorge. Artists are depicting rapids within the river gorge and people have been increasingly interested after the recent drawdown near St. Anthony Falls.

also important to understand that this stretch of the Mississippi River has been significantly altered and this large-scale removal in an urban area would be the first of its kind.

The Friends of the Mississippi River formally stated that “Before committing to such an enormous undertaking we must first commit to a robust and extensive exploration process with plenty of time for community members and other stakeholders to collaboratively raise questions, look at alternatives, examine evidence and seek solutions.

Together, we can best chart a course to protect and restore the health of our river and all the communities and wildlife that depend on it.�

As the Army Corps of Engineers considers the fate of key Twin Cities locks and dams this issue has increasingly come to the forefront. The Corps is studying its options for three locks and dams no longer needed for commercial navigation: Lock & Dam #1 (Ford) in St. Paul, and the Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam and the Upper St. Anthony Lock in downtown Minneapolis.

Options under study for each include continuing to own and maintain the current infrastructure, transferring Although the final fate of the dams has ownership, or total removal. yet to be decided, this project rests on the assumption that these dams are to While many people are excited by the be removed. prospect of a free-running river, it is

84 • The Mississippi River Garden

Summary

would make this impossible.

By 1907, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hastings and other river cities, through their successful lobbying and through the

FIGURE 11. Meeker Island Lock and Da

Corps, had changed the upper Mississippi River dramatical-

distance. The river in the foreground has n

ly. Hundreds of wing dams and closing dams studded the

and Dam No. 1. Minnesota Historical Soc

93

Revealing a Garden • 85

Current Water Level With Dams

l au s P . oli St p a e nn i M

86 • The Mississippi River Garden

Revealing a Garden • 87

Water Level Post Dam Removal

l au s P . oli St p a e nn i M

88 • The Mississippi River Garden

Revealing a Garden • 89

Dry Season Water level Post Dam Removal

l au s P . oli St p a e nn i M

90 • The Mississippi River Garden

Revealing a Garden • 91

More Shore Means Opportunity Better Access for People.

Today, the Mississippi River is at historically high levels in the Gorge. High water levels. coupled with the naturally steep grades of the gorge make accessing the Mississippi River challenging to many. Removing the Ford and St .Anthony Dams would increase the amount of flat shoreline area, allowing greater accessibility for the River’s visitors.

A New Home for Plants and Animals.

The change in water level does not just benefit humans. The drop in water level would also return rapids to the gorge allowing for specialized animals and fish to once again

92 • The Mississippi River Garden

thrive here. Additionally, numerous plant species that thrive off of seasonal water level changes would be given opportunity to return to the area.

l au s .P oli ap e n n Mi

St

Revealing a Garden • 93

What Might Be Found?

It is already known that the river gorge holds a lot of hidden mysteries concealed by its dark waters. Of course, the old meeker island dam ruins lay just under the surface of the water, and historic maps show large limestone boulders also sit at the bottom of the river. But what else might be here?

I was fortunate enough to visit the Mississippi River when it was drawn down for lock and dam inspection in Fall 2020. Below I have shared just a few of the items I photographed on the temporary shoreline. It can only be imagined what else may be waiting to be rediscovered.

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Revealing a Garden • 95

Defining a Garden Dictionary definitions often describe the garden as a bounded outdoor space for the cultivation of plants. To many others this simplistic definition is not nearly enough to describe what a garden truly is.

Many components of a garden are already within this part of the Mississippi River Gorge. I see it as my role to help people see what is already there.

This Mississippi River Garden can be revealed by making simple design moves like defining the edges of the Mara Miller, author of The Garden as an garden, rerouting the paths, creating Art offers her definition, “A garden is more defined entrances, and defining any purposeful arrangement of natural materials. objects (such as sand, water, plants, rocks, etc.) with exposure to the sky or open air, in which the form is not fully accounted for by purely practical considerations such as convenience.”

Sophie Walker, author of The Japanese Garden states, “The garden has the capacity to jolt our understanding, to challenge us to be able to believe that a rock is not simply a rock but a mountain. Thus, the garden empowers us and the ‘beyond rational’ is achievable, the ‘beyond words’, ‘beyond understanding’.“

96 • The Mississippi River Garden

Revealing a Garden • 97

Bounding Space, Defining Edge A garden often (not always) has defined edges, and is bound or enclosed within the greater surrounding context. Places of transition are able to enclose and separate different spaces.

The Mississippi river Garden is defined by topography and infrastructure. The gorge itself bounds the garden with ancient limestone and sandstone walls on the East and West sides. Along the North, the Garden is bound by the railroad bridge, as it is a defining piece of infrastructure and the topography underneath (at least on the North West side) makes it almost impossible to get around along the shoreline. The South West and South East Corners are defined by two culverts on either bank. They make for good stopping points, and from observation

01 Railroad Bridge

98 • The Mississippi River Garden

people rarely cross these culverts along the shoreline.

It seems important to highlight these elements further to unify the garden. I wanted to unify them using color and light.

First they would be painted using a water safe paint mixture, mimicking the graffiti of the railroad bridge. I also proposed that these elements have LED lights installed on them. This would double in function as it would unify the garden corners, while also defining the waters new edges making the river more easily traversable for kayakers and recreation goers. These lights could also be placed atop buoys strung across the river at the four garden corners.

02 West Bank Culvert

03 East Ban

nk Culvert

03 05 02 l au s .P oli eap n n Mi

St

04

04

01

04 Existing Fence

05 Buoys for Events

Revealing a Garden • 99

Creating a Visual Entrance It is also important for this garden to have a proper entrance, a transitional space that signals one’s arrival whether visually or physically. The St. Paul entrance is fairly hidden, and certainly doesn’t call out to you.

It’s been only by riding the bike trails that I ever came to find it in the first place. The entrance already has informative signage about the submerged Meeker Island Dam, but I would also propose a “Mississippi River Garden” sign and map to go along with it.

The Minneapolis Side entrance isn’t as much of an entrance as it is a small opening in the metal fence. It is very inconspicuous and uninviting, which interestingly enough is exactly what intrigued me about it in the first place. There was a sort of mystery to this entrance that made me feel both weary yet

01 Existing West Entrance

100 • The Mississippi River Garden

intrigued. I know this entrance must have the same impression on others because it deters very few who come to the beach.

I would propose a “Mississippi River Garden” sign at this entrance as well. I would then propose taking an old culvert and cutting a thin frame out of it (see pg. 102-103). This would lead people in and define a transition point, while also connecting people to the infrastructure found within the garden.

Finally, I thought it would be important to move the entrance (from 01 t0 02 on the pg.

101 key map) so that the path would pass under the railroad bridge garden wall.

02 Proposed West Entrance

03 l au s .P oli ap e nn i M

St

01 02

03 Existing (and proposed) East Entrance

04 Proposed Entrance Frame Typology

Revealing a Garden • 101

Creating a Visual Entrance This section cut of a culvert could be used as the gardens entrance. Creating an overhead entrance structure like this would better define the garden, and help visitors visually begin their journey down to the river. The structure would also cue people to see the types of infrastructure that are found within the bounds of the garden and beyond.

102 • The Mississippi River Garden

Revealing a Garden • 103

Rerouting the Garden Path The St. Paul entrance is beautiful already, if not by material but by the way it slowly descends downward, always hugging the primordial limestone walls. The path material itself is a checkered concrete and it fits the aesthetic of the dam ruins quite nicely.

The path along the shoreline needs some adjustment however, and can be lost very easily. I would propose extending the path to the North to eventually join up with an existing paved trail just north of the railroad bridge.

On the Minneapolis side, I would propose more meander to the path so that it can bring people closer to the limestone walls and to the edge of the ridge. I also propose that the path would weave in between a series of existing berms to provide interest and create some opportunities to conceal and reveal whats ahead.

Proposed Trail Through Berms on West Bank

Existing Descent along East Bank Limestone Wall

Proposed Trail Under Railroad Bridge

Proposed Trail Through Ruins Along East Bank

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Existing Path

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Proposed Path

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Revealing a Garden • 105

Material Adaptation I found it important to utilize on site materials to directly help people see what was within the garden. By using concrete, plastic, metal, and bright paint finishes, I thought I could reveal how heavily this place is influenced by humans beings. These materials juxtaposed against the soils, sands and stones would aim to unify the space and question what it meant to be human or non-human, and to showcase the artificiality of this stretch of the Mississippi River.

Concrete

Corrugated Metal

Bright Paint

Plastic

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Packed Soil and Leaf Litter Path

Fallen Logs to Define Path Edges and Limit Erosion

Dredged Sand

Water

Limestone

Oak and Maple Forest + Riparian Succession Plants Revealing a Garden • 107

Celebrating the River

Rare Mississippi River Drawdown In early October of 2020 thousands of people gathered at the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis during a rare drawdown of the pool just below St. Anthony Falls.

For those who were able to check it out, a glimpse of a less-engineered Mississippi River was available in Minneapolis, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lowered water levels below St. Anthony Falls by 12 feet.

People explored the river floor, temporarily visible under the Stone Arch Bridge, and enjoyed a much closer experience to river wildlife and other hidden mysteries.

Thousands of visitors were climbing down the river bank to see the exposed bridge footings, the exposed foot of St. Anthony Falls and historic remains of old river structures

110 • The Mississippi River Garden

normally covered by the Mississippi River waters. In addition to the resurfaced historic infrastructure, visitors also came to see the debris that had been dropped in the river over the years.

Access to the river is steep and hazardous, but this poor access didn’t stop people from visiting this rare glimpse into what a free flowing River Gorge would look like. If the dams were to be removed completely, this would become the norm, and the water would actually drop even further in the late summer months, potentially drawing visitors annually to see the spectacle of the river.

Celebrating the River • 111

Seasonal Drawdown Event In the late summer months, the river historically would drop to extremely shallow depths, and if dams were to be removed this would again happen annually. I propose a yearly event where people come to learn about and enjoy the river, taking advantage of the extended shorelines and exposed ruins.

experienced guides could lead people across shallow stretches of the river like many did historically. People from Saint Paul and Minneapols will drag LED lit buoys across the river, bounding the space to admire the Mississippi River Garden.

With seasonal low water levels people could explore even more of the hidden infrastructure and dam ruins. Kayakers could take advantage of the ephemeral rapids, and

Exploring Ruins

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Learning About Storm water Infrastructure + Hydrology

Site Axonometric

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Kayak and Recreation Relays

Buoys at Night

Celebrating the River • 113

Concluding Thoughts The Fall 2020 semester has been one for the books. It is truly a time of culminating crisis. An ongoing pandemic and increasing civil unrest paired with virtual design school was certainly a challenge for all of us. With that said, I couldn’t have asked for a better studio to be a part of.

We learned so much about what it means to be a human in this world, and I believe gardens are a place of total human expression. They are places for seeing the world in new an unconventional ways, and places that can make people truly feel pain, joy, and everything in between.

I really appreciated a studio that allowed me to feel and to ponder big questions that often arn’t talked about openly in the world of Landscape Architecture. I never felt like I had to do one specific thing, as long as I wrote, sketched, or ruminated. I always felt safe to just keep digging, keep asking questions, and to learn from my peers about what it means to make gardens of emotion.

That doesn’t mean that this studio was easy; in fact, it was a real challenge. It is not easy to design around emotions, but it is so rewarding and eye opening to try.

I will take what I’ve learned in this studio with me as I move forward into my final semester in the UMN MLA program and We need these places to feel, and it is into my career. I know there is always a our job as designers to bring them into place for emotion in design, and now I the world or reveal them. Emotion drives find it important to advocate for it. It is change, and if we can empower people our role as designers to help people to to feel, then we empower change. feel and to see the world in new ways.

Peace out fellow studio explorers, and keep slogging!

114 • The Mississippi River Garden

Process - Site Visits • 115

References America’s Most Endangered Rivers 2018 [Brochure]. (2018). Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Anfinson, J. O., Madigan, T., Forsberg, D. M., & Nunally, P. (n.d.). River History: A Historic Resources Study of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (Rep.).

Anna Winston | 25 August 2018 Leave a comment. (2018, August 24). Ellie Birkhead uses human hair and manure to make region-specific bricks. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.dezeen. com/2018/08/25/building-the-local-bricks-ellie-birkhead-design-academy-eindhoven-design-graduates/ Contributor, T. (2020, November 30). Video: Anne Whiston Spirn, 2020 ASLA Medal Winner. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://dirt.asla.org/2020/11/24/video-anne-whiston-spirn-2020-aslamedal-winner/ Gustavo, S., M., Solomon Gustavo, Lee, J., , Schneider, G., Orenstein, W. (2020, October 12). People flocked to see the recent drawdown of the Mississippi River. Why can’t the river be like that all the time?

Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://www.minnpost.com/environment/2020/10/people-flockedto-see-the-recent-drawdown-of-the-mississippi-river-why-cant-the-river-be-like-that-all-the-time/ Mazack, J. (2015). Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) Final Report: Assessing Ecological Impact of St. Anthony Falls Lock Closure (Rep.). Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Mississippi River Gorge Restoration Feasibility: Background Report (Rep.). (n.d.). Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota.

Nunally, P., Messenger, P. M., Moberg, L., & Richardson, J. (n.d.). Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place & Community. Open Rivers, (7), summer 2017. doi:10.24926/2471190x Sahcadmin. (2019, August 06). Box culvert. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://appalachian.org/ wilkins-creek-187-acres-protected/box-culvert/ Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https:// www.umesc.usgs.gov/reports_publications/psrs/psr_2000_01.html Weller, L., & Russell, T. A. (n.d.). State of the River Report 2016 (pp. 1-50, Rep.).

What’s our stance on lock and dam removal? (2019, July 19). Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://fmr.org/whats-our-stance-lock-and-dam-removal Bierbrauer, Anna. 2017. “Lost to Progress: Upper Mississippi River and Minneapolis Parks Development.”

Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place & Community, no. 7. http://editions.lib.umn.edu/ openrivers/article/lost-to-progress/.

116 • The Mississippi River Garden

References • 117

The Mississippi River Garden

Kyle Franta