Re: forest

St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, MN

Fall 2022

Instructors: Jessica Garcia Fritz

This project is developing the design of a lumber “academy” at the 1822 sawmill site near St. Anthony Falls.

Re: forest is a place in central Minneapolis, Minnesota, focused on the production of lumber in Minnesota by connecting historical and contemporary architectural and regulatory documents to site and territory, as well as encouraging visitors to experience these features firsthand. The spaces encourages visitors to participate for more information and activity.

Re: forest would be a place to focus on the restoration of nature and human experiences that fit with the surrounding environment, excluding political elements in the building itself. In other words, it will be a place that is completely surrounded by nature in an excessively developed city and can focus only on the programs in the building by its specific lumber structure system.

The specifications shows the record about the abundant natural resources in Minnesota and according the commercial businesses and discusses that how the Minnesota Staes formed and the treaties are agreed with these varied natural resources. As the specifications mentioned, Minnesota was one of the states with a high timber production rate, so the government began to gradually sign treaties from 1805 in areas with a large distribution of trees. In this process, they illegally took away land and resources and created a lot of commercial buildings that changed the natural environment.

However, at the same time, the site has its own natural characteristics besides its political characteristics. The characteristic of the vast river and dense forest created by the time reveal the original value of it without any artificial forces. These beauty surrounds human-made interventions with its own order and rules. In order for the features to be more integrated and applied to the academy, the lumber academy exists closer to tree forests and water. The academy itself avoids and keep a little distance from the active city just with lower elevation than the city and places all spaces on the water.

Lumber academy has spaces for two major programs. First exhibition mainly displays the general aspects of Minnesota’s lumber from the 1800s, trends in land ownership associated with the lumber situation, and commercial and political spatial changes along the lumber and rivers. The second exhibition space focuses on Minnesota’s lumber itself so it displays information about White Pine on this site that is reminiscent of the past sawmill that shows how lumber is delivered and manufactured.

Lumber academy’s structural system have different wood structures depending on the program. The open concrete space for exhibitions and library provide visitors with a large area without structural obstacles and a quiet and safe space for documents. In the dense timber structure space, visitors explore what they learned about the wood in the exhibition space, providing a visual and tactile experience.

Cheese Bridging

Prospect Park, Minneapolis, MN

Fall 2021

Instructors: Hans-Christian | Emilie Kopp

This project is developing an experiential learning center focused on a specific activity, which is cheesemaking, and site, which is prospect park.

Cheese Bridging could become a community hub in Prospect Park. Prospect Park Tower was built nearly 100 years ago and was not only a place to work on supplying water to the local community, but also a place to gather people. However, after it damaged, the community activity of Prospect Park is declined. Also, the surrounding Industrial and residential areas have overshadowed this important site in Minneapolis.

Cheese Bridging can activate the site with the influx of population utilizing the characteristics of the site’s the most historical and highest-elevation of nature. The project could also interact with the human behavior according to the different spatial structures and different temperature environments.

In Minnesota, there are few cheese making places, and they have very close relationships. They work together to help each other and produce better quality cheese to represent the state. Although these cheese makers are spread throughout Minnesota, they could form a network and collaborate. Additionally, Cheese Bridging could serve as a community hub in Prospect Park area, which is the proposed site.

Study models. The natural environment of this site includes dense trees and shadows, which make it easy to control the cool temperature for cheese making. Additionally, the strong winds resulting from the site’s high elevation make it easier to regulate humidity levels during the cheese making process.

The north part of the proposed cheese making center faces the industrial area, with a lot of people and traffic passing through. This feature makes it suitable for accommodating first-time visitors, as it offers exposure to various types of traffic. In contrast, the south part of the building is located closer to the neighborhood by natives rather than newcomers. As a result, programs offered in this area could be for the community, such as cheese restaurants and markets.

The proposed horizontally long shape of the cheese making center is designed to guide visitors forward through each step of the cheese making process, as it progresses linearly. In contrast, the Aging Tower’s tall and majestic form, which contains the oldest cheese, symbolizes the past and present of Prospect Park, with making visual experience to people looking up and down.

The building is designed to serve for three different purposes, each with its own unique structure and programs: Cheese making places for the first visitors, Aging tower for the process of the aging, and Cheese gathering spaces for the neighborhood.