From Grave to Cradle
Transforming the Wasteland into a Living Machine A landfill is the most common and cheapest form of dumping waste with many environmental impacts involving space problems, toxic emissions and toxic leachate may potentially contaminated groundwater. In recent years, the landfill-to-park project is a widespread trend across the world by repurposing conventional landfills into new amenities for nearby residents. With such revitalizations, the wastelands can be the legacy of constant promotion of urbanizations. The site, the Keegan landfill locates in Meadowlands where is known for being the site of significant burials and decades of environmental abuse. The landfill is adjacent to the Kearny Marsh and a wilderness of industrial blocks. Thus, the landfill and industrial areas are both pollution resources for the marsh and neighbourhoods. Instead of changing patterns of waste places by traditional approaches, this thesis redefines the identity of the landfill innovatively to transform the wasteland into a living mechanism by constructing several wetlands as filters to rehabilitate a diverse ecosystem between human activities and wildlife habitats and serve as a valuable teaching model for sustainable townscape transformations.
Hydrology Hackensack River
Upland Plants & Habitats
Wetland Plants & Habitats
Former
Wetland
Former Wetland Kearny ] Freshwater Marsh
Wetland Kearny Marsh Passaic River
Keegan Former
New York Bay
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Restoring Dianchi Inner Lake from Ecological Crisis
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Beyond the Station Gulou square locates in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. It was an open public square in last century. However, with the social reformations, the government turned the original open space into a traffic roundabout to beautify the urban environment. Such consideration caused a great waste of urban space which people cannot enter the such this venue. In my design, I find a way to allow people to enter the square through underground corridors and to connect the upper and lower streamlines to some areas for resting and situating landscape steps.
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Perspective from the Sunken Plaza, Daytime
Perspective from the Sunken Plaza, Nighttime
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Research and Demons-tration Facility The Research and Demonstration Facility is the primary laboratory for design/build, for robotics and rapid prototyping and a myriad of other successful, engaging activities. The staff, students and programs will grow and evolve in here. It’s a significant part to represent Virginia Tech’s future on the way of innovation and creativity. This program encourages multidiscipline field students to work together to explore the opportunities of the indoor and outdoor environment.
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