BINARY ZHANG & TIDWELL | SPELLMAN The country dweller, better than any other, knows that purity is in danger, because he also knows enough to drink clear, fresh water at the right moment, in those rare moments when the insipid has flavor, when our whole being desires pure water. -Gaston Bachelard
This Water Issue Studio is not an attempt to solve the “water issue” that Arizona and the global community face. Instead the approach was to design along the Arizona Canal in a way that would uplift, educate, and enlighten the local community. We didn’t design a solution, we designed for impact, with an aim to increase community discussion. As we approached the idea of bringing the program of a water temple to the Granite Reef Dam site, we were entranced by the idea of Temples being the place where man and Deity “touch”. We considered what this would mean in terms of water. When a finger touches the water there is inherently a ripple. How would this ripple look as we touched the water at Granite Reef Dam.
Site Plan - Granite Reef Dam (Left) Temple Abstraction - Ripple Collage (Right Bottom) Abstraction Process - Ripple Modeling (Right Top)
PLAN & PROCESS
interaction + interp
The reservoir behind the Granite Reef Dam posed an opportunity to emphasize the playful and invigorating nature of water. We interpreted this as a wooden dock, anchored to the river’s bottom, but appearing to float atop the water’s surface. The abundant supply of water meant that visitors could splash and swim, boats could embark from our “dock” for exploration, and others could bask in the warm sunlight. The structure would become a temple for the irreverent needs of man.
Floor Plan - Floating (Right) Structural Diagram - Floating (Left) Section - Floating (Below)
WHIMSY IRREVERENCE
TEMPLE A: IRREVERENCE
1
The opposite side of Granite Reef Dam was characterized by the primarily dry, abandondoned river bed with only a small trickle of residual overflow water. This we interpreted as a solemn space where visitors would descend below the ground plane into a quiet, permanent space, where water is scarce but revered. A constructed wetland process “elevates” water to a purere state as course rock, and aquatic plants filter out pollutants gathered along the river’s course.
INLET ZONE Inlet Zone
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This structure has become a temple for the reverent needs of man.
Macrophyte MACROPHYTE ZONE Zone
Floor Plan - Temple B (Left) Constructed Wetland - Temple B (Right) Section - Temple B (Below)
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SOLEMN CATCHMENT & RECHARGE Catchment & Recharge
REVERENCE
TEMPLE B: REVERENCE REVERENCE - CONSTRUCTED WETLAND
While we may often think it so, human nature, as well as the nature of water are NOT binary. The two temples were at first designed as binary dualites, reverence or irreverence; but it became obvious they were missing connection. There was a tension between the two, and we exploited this with the connection of a water bridge. The water was supplied by a beautifully vernacular spiral pump inspired by the technology of irrigation streams in Zambia. As the wheel is turned (manually cranked by participating visitors on the floating dock), the water is brought up towards the center of the weel, which then continues to exert a pressure on the ever compressing water, so much so that it spurts out 5’ above the top of the wheel, spraying playfully on those who cranked and then supplying a stream of water.
SPIRAL WATER PUMP ROTATIONAL WATER WHEEL
MANUAL CRANK
LINEAR PISTON AIR PUMP
The water then cascades just along the bridge path, before it drops to fantastical water wheel which produces rather whimsically a rotational motion that turns a crank shaft that powers a series of air pumps that enhance the filtration effect of the aquatic plants.
BRIDGE: TENSION
ADE 422: Spring 2016 Architectural Studio IV
Students: Christian Tidwell, Manlin Zhang Instructor: Catherine Spellman