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Amazon Studio L. Gill, M. Jacobs
Advanced Studio VI - Spring 2010 Critics: Leslie Gill & Mike Jacobs
Studio Framework: Rates of Exchange: Surplus and Deficit in the Amazon Program: Re-Scaling the Amazon Logging Industry The natural resources of the Amazon rainforest are innumerably valuable to the world. Globalization and political frontiersmanship in recent decades have led to exploitation of the rainforest faster than it can regenerate. The challenge of the studio was to think of ways that architecture can promote sustainable growth. One of the primary agents of deforestation in the Amazon are clear-cut loggers. They are the first wave in the ‘Arc of Deforestation,’ clearing land and providing capital for agriculture and cattle ranching. Inherently, they are on the move. Meanwhile, IBAMA, the arm of the Brazilian government charged with enforcing its environmental code, is hopelessly under-staffed to police the 5-million square kilometer Amazon region.
My proposal is to create a permanent, sustainable logging industry in Brazil, by building weigh stations and community centers along the roads through the Amazon. Many parties locals, government officials, and environmentalists - must come together to plan for both the continued economic advancement, as well as environmental preservation, of the region. To this end I designed a truck stop which combines aspects of a weigh station and community center. While utilizing the various services offered to them, each constituent serves as a watchdog of the others. Architecturally, this manifests itself in carefully orchestrated circulation for both vehicles and people, and a variety of screening devices used to organize views between spaces.
IN THE FOREST
THE LOGGING OF THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON Deforestation andLANDSCAPE enforcement of environmental law in the Legal Amazon. IBAMA, the police of the Ministry of the Environment, attempts to patrol 5 million square kilometers of forest from 23 field stations.
ALONG BR-163 SUSTAINABLE FOREST PLAN, TRANSFERENCE OF FOREST, DEFORESTATION
AMAZON RIVER
LOGS ARE GIVEN THEIR ORIGIN STAMP AS THE FIRST PART OF ITS CERTIFICATE AS SUSTAINABLY-PRODUCED LUMBER BR-230
BR-010
63
BR 1
IN NOVO PROGRESSO BR-230 Novo Progresso, PA
DOMESTIC EXPORT
BR-163
LUMBER IS GIVEN ITS CONSUMER STAMP, WHICH WILL MAKE IT MORE VALUABLE ON THE GLOBAL MARKET
PA-150
BR-364
VIA FEDERAL HIGHWAYS
Above: The flow of lumber along BR-163 around Novo Progresso, a logging town in Para state, Brazil. Below: Study model of modular construction system.
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LUMBER IS BROUGHT TO DOMESTIC MARKETS AND PORTS FOR EXPORT
IBAMA Field Station &
Logging Pole
Estuary Zone
Territory Radius
Logging Corridor
Old Frontiers
City
Intermediate Frontiers
Town
New Frontiers
Settlement
Legal Amazon
Material and tectonic studies
WOOD FRAMING WOOD OUTRIGGER
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ER TOW
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TENSION CABLE ENCLOSURE PANEL EDGE BEAM STEEL CONNECTOR WOOD FRAMING WOOD OUTRIGGER
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TENSION CABLE ENCLOSURE PANEL EDGE BEAM STEEL CONNECTOR WOOD FRAMING WOOD OUTRIGGER
Above: The log-wall system is made of locally-milled dimensioned lumber with imported steel connections. Below: The depth and variety of material presence in the log-wall system.
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Above: Plans. Loggers in trucks follow a carefully controlled path, while community members enter at multiple points by car. Below: Study model of the exterior wall system, a modular frame which screens views through log cut-offs.
35’ø
4’-0”
100’
Above-left: Section at Restaurant and workshop. Above-right: Section at public entry and truck entry for scanning. Below: Study model of program arrangement with vehicular flows.
Above: Section at truck scanning. The public can view the scanning process, and while the driver is waiting, he can be interviewed by World Wildlife Fund field agents. Below: Massing study.