nuith morales
1 ve r p l a n c k q u a r r y Semester: Fall 2014 Instructor: Eelco Hooffman and Bridget Baines
2 e l e c t r og e og r a p hy : d e s a t u r a t i n g t e r r a i n Semester: Fall 2013 Instructor: Rosetta S. Elkin Studio Coordinator: Pierre Belanger Team Members: Nuith Morales, Courtney Goode, Yujun Yin
3 sounding jamaica bay Semester: Spring 2014 Instructor: Leire Asensio Villoria Studio Coordinator: Chris Reed Team Members: Nuith Morales, Stephanie Hsia
4 reframing franklin park Semester: Fall 2013 Instructor: Luis Callejas Studio Coordinator: Anita Berrizbeitia and Jill Desimini
ve r p l a n c k q u a r r y Verplanck Quarry is an abandoned and flooded limestone quarry, testament to the material extraction that has characterized the Hudson River Valley for centuries. It is an alluring, but dangerous site, seen by Verplanck residents as a scar that must be covered for safety and aesthetics. Instead of filling the site, the project proposes two elements that bring people close to the stone to reveal its beauty as well as the processes that shaped, and continue to shape, the ground. The first element is a circular boardwalk that traverses the landscape without touching it, thus allowing visitors to witness the quarry’s evolution. The second element is a series of pools that connects the quarry to the river. The deepest area of each pool is polished to slow down succession and allow swimming. The stone surrounding the pools is textured to encourage soil accumulation and colonization by spontaneous vegetation. As time progresses, lichens colonize, grasses turn to shrubs, and those close to the quarry are reminded that plants, soil, and stone are ever shifting; washed out into the ocean, or mined, dredged, and rebuilt.
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In 1860, the geologist James Hall first wrote about the ‘mobile earth’ theory. He realized mountains aren’t permanent—that they rise and are eroded away through geologic time. He came to this knowledge after discovering that the two sides of the river are dramatically different. For the most part, the east side resulted from the stacking and over-thrusting of rocks caused when the North American continent collided with a volcanic island arc. It is 100 million years older than the west, which is a passive stretch marked by mountain erosion and salt deposits from seawater. The river flows between two disparate geologic events. Verplanck quarry, however, is a small piece of the west side displaced to the east. It is limestone, which formed by the accumulation of organic material on the ocean floor, especially coral reef, and was then pushed to the surface due to tectonic movement. It is a pocket of sedimentary stone amidst igneous rock that connects it to Central Park in Manhattan, which is about one hour away by train.
v e r p l a n ck q u a r r y
t h e i g n e o u s a n d s e d i m e n t a r y b e d o f t h e h u d s o n r ive r
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v e r p l a n ck q u a r r y
m o d e l s h ow i n g t h e r ive r a s a vo l u m e
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The quarry’s limestone base leaches calcium into the water, which makes it a clear blue color, highly alkaline, and potentially harmful to human skin. By contrast, an influx of acid rain and fertilizer runoff increases the acidity of the river. The overflow water from the quarry creates spaces to swim and becomes a built-in acidity stabilizer. As water comes up from the river and down from the quarry, the color of each pool indicates its level of acidity.
v e r p l a n ck q u a r r y
p o o l s. s ke t ch e s, p l a n , a n d s e c t i o n s
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The unusual microclimate of the quarry creates a biological island for uncommon plants. Mosses and lichens very slowly make soil while other parts of the quarry change more rapidly. Milkweed seeds float across the quarry and staghorn sumac crawls on the rubble accumulated from blasting parts of the quarry to stabilize the water level. Eventually water will erode away some of the smooth, polished limestone until puddles begin to form—which will interact with the rest of the space by collecting seeds and reflecting the vegetation in new, unexpected ways.
v e r p l a n ck q u a r r y
experience
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v e r p l a n ck q u a r r y
a n i m a t i o n s h ow i n g p o o l f o r m a t i o n f r o m ove r f l ow. c l i ck h e r e t o wa t ch i t o n l i n e.
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v e r p l a n ck q u a r r y
birdseye view
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e l e c t r og e og r a p hy : d e s a t u r a t i n g t e r r a i n The space of the electromagnetic field inhabited by radio waves is actual and physical even though our senses are largely oblivious to it. Today, the spectrum has become a territorialized landscape; divided, auctioned, and sold. Electromagnetic waves—vibrations in space—have become objects that are commodified and owned. There is talk of a ‘spectrum-shortage crisis’ which, whether real or imagined, generates real pressure on the privatization of the resource. Electrogeography is a study in mapping invisible, but very real, electromagnetic waves and therefore enabling their manipulation using the tools of landscape architecture. Water, vegetation, and terrain block and scatter EM waves as they simultaneously saturate other senses with color and scent. At the heart of the radio-dead zone, grasses with golden inflorescences envelop the visitor. The project is sited Joint Base Cape Cod, a site approximately 22,000 acres in size that occupies 10% of the Cape Cod peninsula. “There is nothing more. ...We are overcome with the feeling that in this small corner of the atmosphere there reigns complete and utter silence; that here in the darkness immutable tranquility holds sway.” ― Jun’ichirō Tanizaki In Praise of Shadows │10
e l e c t r og e og r a p hy
m a p p i n g s i g n a l s a n d e x i s t i n g s i g n a l s h a d ow s c a u s e d by t e r r a i n
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Monopole Radiation Volume: Cellular phone transmitters omit directional radiation that create uneven near and far signal fields
Dipole Radiation Volume: TV and AM/FM Radio transmitters emit omni-directional radiation in the form of a dipole
Shadow Zones and Shaping Terrain: Ridges attenuate all high frequency line-of-sight signals, creating a ‘shadow’ in the signal--a zone of desaturated air
Shadow Zones and Shaping Terrain: Low Frequency radiation penetrates through terrain, but is fully blocked by highly conductive materials such as aluminum and copper.
Scattering: Leafy, dense vegetation has the capacity to scatter and reflect radio waves, especially if the leaves have sheen and reflective coating.
Chaff: Metallic fibers were released from bombers in WWII to confuse enemy radars. Birds and aerial debris have similar effects.
Specular Reflection: Highly reflective surfaces such as water bodies reflect and scatter high frequency waves in a multitude of unpredictable directions
Shaping Terrain: Process contours of valley form and Faraday cavern injection
Faraday Cavern Forming: Injection piles of microbial sandstone armature
Cavern Forming: Reinforce with aluminum, pour remaining microbial cement
Cavern Forming: Remove sand from hollow inside of cavern and use soil to form surrounding ridges
Cavern Forming: Create water remediation system
e l e c t r og e og r a p hy
E M wave m a n i p u l a t i o n t h r o u g h t e r r a i n
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e l e c t r og e og r a p hy
E M p r o p e r t i e s a n d s e n s o r y i n d e x o f ve g e t a t i o n
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“...like other ‘natural’ environments, the electromagnetic spectrum is constantly under threat from commercial over-development. Unsurprisingly, industry views hertzian space solely as something to be bought and sold... Unauthorized use is viewed as trespassing.” --Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby The Secret Life of Electronic Objects
e l e c t r og e og r a p hy
t h e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e wo r k h i g h l i g h t e d t h e o n m i - p r e s e n c e, p hy s i c a l i t y, a n d o b j e c t i f i c a t i o n o f e l e c t r o m a g n e t i c wave s
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sounding jamaica bay We truly experience landscape when the elements of a site are no longer considered in isolation; when they, in unity, generate a single, cohesive experience in us. Sounding Jamaica Bay takes inspiration from sound mirrors used in WWII to hear for enemy aircraft and re-appropriates their form to amplify wind and water sounds. Sound mirrors carry the sound of the bay deep into the city and echo to highlight rainfall events, the rise and fall of the ocean, and the rustle of leaves. Each of the three types of occupation of the bay (dry-land, amphibian, and open water) has its own sound profile. Inland building masses create wind tunnels where the sound of rustling leaves dominates. As proximity to the bay increases, storm water generates its own set of sounds. On the water, waves echo across boardwalks. By exploiting the latent potential of the meeting point of air and water, normally marginalized sound spaces of the city become more inhabitable. The sound of the city transforms from something most of us seek to escape, into what draws us into these neighborhoods.
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sounding
i nve s t i g a t i o n o n c r e a t i n g s o u n d u s i n g t u r b u l e n c e a n d wa t e r f l ow
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sounding
p e r f o r m a t ive s e c t i o n s
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sounding
s o u n d a n d w i n d f l ow t h r o u g h s t r u c t u r e
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sounding
n e i g h b o r h o o d p l a n a n d wa t e r e d g e p e r s p e c t ive
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Bridge
Emerson
Rock Morton
E r r a t i c Va l l e y Fork
City Hill
reframing franklin park More than 100 years later after it was built, the rough, inaccessible edge of Olmsted’s “Country Park” has become more alienating than protective. Reframing Franklin Park carves a ring of entrances and paths into the park--seeking and reframing the beauty that Olmsted has already created. Once carved, the entrances can host a number of programs that activate the edge and entice visitors into the center.
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reframing
p l a n , s e c t i o n , p r o g r a m d i a g r a m , a n d p e r s p e c t ive
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reframing
p e r s p e c t ive
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h a n d d r aw i n g
p l a n t i n g s u c c e s s i o n , g r a s s e s, a n d l a n d s c a p e s. ch a r c o a l o n p a p e r.
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thank you. nuith morales nmorales@gsd.harvard.edu 1-915-731-2159