TRAVIS CRABTREE landscape + urban design
03 PORTFOLIO
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2
C R A B T R E E
P O R T F O L I O
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006
L.I.D Memphis
016
Houses as Infrastructure
042
Expresscape
080
Growing Up
11 0
ULI Atlanta
11 6
530 N 5th Ave
130
Read
140
Land Art
148
Airborne 48217
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Ditch it
design / build
speculative
framework
grounded
PROJECT
TYPE
4
landscape
B.L.A
tactical
M.U.D
water
practice
typological
competitions
conduit
agarian
PERIOD
URBANISM
5
L.I.D MEMPHIS
In this project, geospatial data was utilized to assess the current condition of the Memphis metropolitan watershed and establish a methodology for design implementation. The process included typological studies, GIS modeling, and a site design. The modeling process established values to map data in order to identify priority areas for a Low Impact Development project. The strategic placement of the project in the urbanized watershed was to encourage municipalities and regional planning agencies to focus resources and incentivize outside funding in a location that has the highest environmental impact. The LID project location is Harrison Creek, one of the heaviest engineered streams in the region. The proposal uses micro and macro stormwater management techniques to re-engineer that waterway to filter pollutants and sediments, slow down velocity, and infiltrate some of the volume being forced downstream.
6
7
exploded layers for the LID model
8
exhibition of modeling process
9
L.I.D. approach
conventional detention approach
10
permeablity breakdown
rural residential lot typology
typical stormwater technologies
11
target area for L.I.D intervention
12
reengineering the hydrological system
13
petrochemical waste riparian species emerging
8’
SALIX NIGRA - Black Willow
2’ wide concrete retaining wall 0 - 5 % purification 0 % infiltration + increased velocity
75’
existing utilitarian performance
14
channel [ wall to wall ]
proposed re-naturalized performance
15
HOUSES
AS
INFRASTRUCTURE In response to the privatization of water utilities and the long-standing water infrastructure crisis, this proposition experiments with alternative water management through activating two of Detroit’s most ubiquitous elements: the abandoned single-family house and the vacant residential lot. By claiming the role of the house as urban infrastructure, the project renders a future that provides residents with a form of water sovereignty through a decentralized water system that is safe, reliable, and interactive.
16
publicly owned parcels 100 yr + infrastructure 50 yr + infrastructure
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19
images of Southeast MI water issues
20
“Water from the Flint River is particularly corrosive and may be leaching lead from some of the city’s oldest pipes and service lines” – nytimes.com
“Before the GLWA lease DSWD was over $16 billion in long-term debt” – dailyclimate.org
“most of the Detroit has infrastructure that is 80 years old”
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100
- loveland.com
“DWSD releases about 2 billion gallons of untreated sewage in the Detroit River each year” - dailyclimate.com
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street erasure sections
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publicly owned parcels publicy owned structures
Poletown neighborhood vacancy
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CSO water system
24
alley water infrastructure
25
historic ecosystems + plant communities
26 Upper Prairieland
Marsh Prairie
Wetland Edge
Aquatic Edge
27 Pine Oak Forest
Oak Hickory Forest
Beech Maple Forest
scalable interventions
28
29
retrofitted single family house
30
318 Charlevoix St.- house of interest
31
utilitarian type
interactive type
passive type
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private parcels occupied structures adapted cistern houses pedestrian circulation
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existing tree location transplant tree location
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+ + grading + tree transplant plan
interior of filter house
35
05 / 12 / 2020
36
hardscape
playscape
grassscape
wetscape
12 / 23 / 2020 waterscape
landscape layers
37
collection rainwater
stormwater
56.4%
prairie / lawn
4%
filtration
evaporation
12%
photosysthesis
(40) 500 gal residential tanks
recycle
3%
transpiration
20%
7,200 galls a day
31.3%
asphalt / concrete
39 % less water
building surface
40 existing households
greywater
7,200 galls a day
2 year event for 17 minutes = 14 in rainfall
8.1%
2,122 gallson per min
4.2%
canopy interception
inďŹ ltration
ecological processes
LID technologies
bioswales inďŹ ltration planters inďŹ ltration basins
storage
conveyance
exterior storage
interior storage 100,800
gallons
3,547,972 gallons
new hydrological process
38
length of area in ft 1000 900 800
700
600
500
400
300
200
90 80 70
60
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paved
bare soil
poor grass surface
avg. grass surface
dense grasss
ground character
pivot line
0.5
1.0
2.0
10
20
% slope
35
30
25
20
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10
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duration in minutes
20
Q=CIA
15 10
the rational method
8 6 4 50 0 10 0 50 25 10 5 2
2
1
fre
qu
en
cy
(Y
R)
0.8
A 500 year event over a 17 minute duration can collect 8� of rainfall per hour
0.6 0.4
0.2
A 2 year event over a 17 minute duration can collect 4� of rainfall per hour
0.1
rainfall intensity in/hr
0.08 0.06
maximum event (500 year event) = 9.54 cfs / 4,282 gpm / 256,900 gph
0.04
0.02
minimum event ( 2 year event) 5
10
15 20 minutes
30 40 50 60
2
39
hours
= 4.78 cfs / 2,145 gpm / 128,700 gph
40
41
EXPRESSCAPE
What is the role of the expressway today in Detroit’s post industrial post modernization setting? The phenomena of infrastructural failure has become prolific while global trade is increasingly using the highway armatures more than ever. This project questions what urbanism the highway can take on to become a more suitable frontier for the city. What will Detroit’s highways will be like in 20 or 30 years? Will we continue to double down on investing in rebuilding the same utilitarian conduits forever? Or could the highway hold multipurpose thresholds for political, economic, environmental gains, and invert their traditional spatial perception? This project uses that approach to reimage two moments within the highway. One section of the expressway spatializes international trade transactions, another portion explores a vision for what an expressway could become after decommission, and the other acts as a splice between two economic centers in the city. Instead of traditional methods of complete removal of the highway artifact, each project uses methods of splicing, hijacking, and hybridizing infrastructure to form a new typology for a future expressway synthesis.
42
rivers
expresscape
+ 43
globalization
1951 iron ore movement
1951 iron ore mines
19th c. coal movement
19th c. grain movement
21th c. passenger rail
21th c. freight rail
21th c. highway network
44 822,553
COLUMBUS
297,517
CINCINNATI
287,128
TOLEDO
594,833
INDIANAPOLIS
193,792
GRAND RAPIDS
2.7 M
CHICAGO
205,520
GREEN BAY
594,883
MILWAUKEE
86,233
DULUTH
400,070
MINNEAPOLIS
45
water
258,959
ROCHESTER
1.7 M
PITTSBURGH
258,959
BUFFALO
390,113
CLEVELAND
2.6 M
TORONTO
710,000
DETROIT
highways
Before the 20th century the Great Lakes megaregion used its waterway as the conduit for trade and transportation. Today the amount the water is used for travel has severely reduced. Modernization has replaced water as the means of travel due to the highway network running throughout the Great Lakes landscape.
+ 350 - 375
+ 330 - 350
[ l - 94 ] [ l - 75 ]
[ hwy 10 ]
highways as
rivers
+ 315 - 330
[ l - 96 ]
[ l - 94 ]
[ l - 75 ]
highways as rivers
46
topographic model of Detroit
In Detroit, the highways are the rivers. The highway is now performing the function that the Great Lakes waterway did two centuries ago. They are conduits for moving people, goods, and capital. Since Detroit is a virtually flat terrain the highways are also acting as the deepest points within the city. This is realized during a heavy rain when the highways literally transform into rivers of water.
47
[Interpretations] This set of illustrations documents the complexity of the highway layers. Specific issues include landscape performance, environmental justice, and spatial configurations. Each speculation drawing uses tactile and objective research to better break down the ingredients that make up these armatures in the city.
48
accelerated + fixed perspective
49 76
accelerated
70
perspective
60
50
40
30 20 10
0 mph
the suburban bump
median sucession
grass knoll
double frontage
urban extrusions
the suburban bump ll
crossroads
raised conduits
median flow
free flow
sections of highway transitions
50
documenting megaform infrastructure
51
curve
bend straight
straight interchange
interchange
environmental injustice
52
hijacking advertisement infrastructure
53
40.2
43
42.28° N, 83.74° W
Ann Arbor
42.28° N, 83.74° W
Dixboro
26.3
38.1
42.28° N, 83.22° W
Plymouth
42.19° N, 83.36° W
Frain Lake
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54
42.22° N, 83.19° W
Livonia
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18.3
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ship
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n tow an
urb
sub
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pe
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mi
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[ I - 96 ]
42.51° N, 83.04° W
DTW Detroit
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co
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city proper
limit
int
n ba
0.8
42.43° N, 83.10° W
Detroit Proper
+
ffic
industrial logisti cs int.
11.2
42.43° N, 83.13° W
Dearborn Heignts
or
or rid
al c
tri
us
in d
expresscape
exurban commerical flows
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tra
ur
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o etr
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expresscape impressions
impressions
utilitarian floodscape
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typical extrusion
+ 640.00
city groundtruth
600.00
avg. depth
- 582.00
deepest elevation
- 574.00
- .01 PM - .01 - 1 T/Y PM 1 T/Y PM diesel emission concentration gasoline emission concentration trucking activity
toxic airscape
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1700s
1863
1863
1910
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1923
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1935
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trafficscape
58
frequent traffic jamming trucking clustering
20 th c e n t u r y m o d e s o f t r a n s p o r t
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40,000 - 120,000
8 MI
+ WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
NEW CENTER
This map illustrates the complexity between the expressway and the central part of Detroit. In most situations, the highway is a divisive instrument separating neighborhoods from the central spine of the city. It could be seen as a hierarchical device that concentrates economic prosperity while the outer edges decline. This diagram locates the economic and physical attributes of the city while overlaying traffic volumes and air pollution intensities to locate three viable locations for extensions. The site areas provide opportunities to deal with highway decommissioning, spatializing global logistics, and bridging economic flows.
1 mi
ext.
ext.
[econ]
[city]
ONTARIO, CA
[log]
ext.
SOUTHWEST DETROIT [ DELRAY]
LAFAYETTE PARK
+
MULTI - FAMILY HOUSING
1 mi
site selections
59
logistics
extension
logistics
extension
The logistic extension is a landscape for machine synchronization and orchestration. The site amplifies transnational trade by making it easier for all modes of transport to intersection one another. The primary modes of transport include rail, ship, truck, and drone. The main artifact in is a mega structure designed for containment. Some containment items include air pollution, shipped materials, and is a post for traveling employees to stay.
tri-modal intersection
international logistics center
loading zone
underground parking
international processing
exporting station
trucking + frieght bridge
water conduit
Ambassdor bridge
international border
high speed passenger rail
ecological performance zone
Logi Ext: plan
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g ro
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ch g + ar
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ki ag e
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ct ur al
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ye rin
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tr an sp
or t
Logi Ext: site location
container rail yard
Ontario port
western freeways
site location
city center
s h i p
i n d u s t r y
r a i l
n e t w o r k
r o a d
g r o u n d
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s t r u c t u r e s
Logi Ext: I -96 transnational trade intersection
63
Amazon headquarter office drone loading area + flight deck
cargo holding + loading dock vertical loading station co2 algae filter
mexicantown connection high speed passenger rail trucker lodging + amenities
vertical loading station AV charging + parking AV cargo fleet geothermal heating
multi-layered containment
64
view from the recycled berm
view of the ecological buffer
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model of the “containment artifact�
67
city extension The city extension takes an area with low traffic volumes to play out the scenario of a decommissioned expressway. Instead of extracting the entire infrastructure and erasing the what was there, the highway is kept to be the central artifact within the landscape. Three rooms are created along the conduit. The spectacle room frames the highway as an object and gives the public opportunity to think about the larger question of the highway conceptually. The playroom uses the Olmsteadian style garden block concept on the residential side of the highway and reappropriates the unfinished prison on the downtown side to be an architectural folly. The development room extends the building density of downtown while leaving the other side to be a successional forest.
development w in do w sc
spectacle
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City Ext: plan
play
68
housing housing
hostel hostel
entertainment
entertainment
playground playground
theater theater
garden
garden
69
City Ext: site location
[ play room ]
[ spectacle room ]
[ development room ]
l - 75
l - 375
70
I-375 decommissioned expressway development
71
spectacle room
development room
72
aerial of 3 rooms
play room
73
economy extension The economy extension is an overlaid urban multi modal transportation development bridging the economic centers in Detroit. The new Red Wings sports complex and the development boom in Midtown has created the opportune moment to connect to downtown investments. The upper platform is designed for civic gatherings and directing flows of people from one side to the other. The intervention acts as a stationing point for the new M1 light rail, city bicycles, BRT, and the metropolitan high-speed rail.
baseball plaza
midtown
downtown
the station hockey plaza the platform the wall
Econ Ext: plan
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lti
mu
m
an
l tr
a od
ter
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c sit
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ev
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p elo
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pla
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tfo
la ap
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tra
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rta
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ium
d me
Econ Ext: site location
Little Caesars Arena [ multi modal center ] [ HWY 75 ]
Comerica Park
76
Ford Field
I-75 transportation platform
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transit center section
79
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81
GROWING UP
In recent years Detroit’s urban agricultural reputation has become arguably the most popular out of any U.S city. Landscape Urbanists like Charles Waldheim see post industrial Detroit as a mecca for the deployment of productive landscapes to be new formative elements within the city. While there is a considerable amount of food production going on in the city, most all of it is purely for community sustenance. This project examines current food systems from local to mega regional levels to understand the relationship that agricultural production has with spatiality, ecology, and human health. The premise of the project is to illustrate the feasibility of Detroit’s participation in the regional food system and the type of agrarian urbanism that could create. This is executed by designing a square mile area in one of the highest vacancy areas in Detroit to become the agricultural icon for the region. The newly designed territory uses architecture and landscape as instruments for making innovative methods of growing food in the urban post industrial setting.
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U.
84 CA
S.
. 4,808 sq. mi
GRAND RAPIDS 450 sq. mi
proper pop. 297,517 metro pop. 2.1 million
CINCINNATI
proper pop. 193,792 metro pop.1.0 million
proper pop. 594,833 metro pop. 1.5 million
INDIANAPOLIS
proper pop. 206,520 metro pop. 312,409
GREEN BAY
proper pop. 594,833 metro pop. 1.5 million
MILWAUKEE
proper pop. 2.7 million metro pop. 9.7 million
CHICAGO
proper pop.400,070 metro pop.3.5 million
MINNEAPOLIS
1,454 sq. mi
2,849 sq. mi
1,454 sq. mi
10,857 sq. mi
8,120 sq. mi
85
PITTSBURGH 5,706 sq. mi
2,930 sq. mi
1,567sq. mi
2,751 sq. mi
CLEVELAND 3,613 sq. mi
proper pop. 258,959 metro pop. 1.1million
ROCHESTER
proper pop. 258,959 metro pop. 1.1million
BUFFALO
proper pop. 2.6 million metro pop. 5.5 million
TORONTO
proper pop. 1.7 million metro pop. 2.3 million
proper pop. 390,113 metro pop. 2.1 million
proper pop. 822,553 metro pop. 1.9 million
COLUMBUS
proper pop. 710,000 metro pop. 5.3 million
DETROIT
proper pop. 287,128 metro pop. 651,426
TOLEDO
3,169 sq. mi
5,814 sq.mi
1,619 sq. mi
Great Lakes megaregion ag. landcover
[MN]
48% 42,031 mi
7%
[WI]
43% 28,189 mi
7% 5,771,337 pop
[IL]
75% 42,187 mi
9% 12,200,000 pop
5,200,000 pop
[MI]
45% 9,687 mi
9% 7,419, 457 pop
[ON]
22% 16,547 mi
11% 12,8510,000 pop
[NY]
20% 10,937 mi
16% 19,378,102 pop
[PA]
27% 12,109 mi
9% 12,700,000 pop
[OH]
60% 21,718 mi
14% 11,590,000 pop
[IN]
65% 23,440 mi
8% 6,597,000 pop
2
2
production desertification crop type national agricultural production
86
[Desertification + Urbanization] The United States agricultural landcover is being contested by a changing climate and a growing population. According to Atlas.org, almost 1.5 million acres are lost each year in North America due to urbanization. They also claim that the current rate of desertification is causing 12 million hectares to be unusable for cultivation every year. The spread of these two factors along with the growing need for agricultural land is jeopardizing ecological performance. It is evident in this critical moment that traditional farming practices must be challenged.
87
37 35’ 29 N 117 43’ 25 W
42 57’ 28 N 123 29’ 55 W
42 23’ 58 N 113 27’ 39 W
36 37’ 53 N 108 34’ 28 W
32 55’ 03 N 102 46’ 13 W
46 53’ 02 N 118 27’ 18 W
33 09’ 51 N 119 37’ 37 W
35 32’ 57 N 119 21’ 14 W
88
44 11’ 54 N
99 49’ 20 W
60 mi eye alt. 41 15’ 53 N
83 56’ 23 W
40 35’ 07 N
86 56’ 41 W
30 18’ 51 N
83 25’ 45 W
28 30’ 31 N 100 22’ 28 W
32 51’ 50 N
91 14’ 38 W
40 34’ 17 N
77 20’ 38 W
37 05’ 56 N
29 47’ 49 N
90 34’ 12 W
28 15’ 53 N
81 46’ 06 W
97 47’ 34 W
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37 35’ 29 N 117 43’ 25 W
42 57’ 28 N 123 29’ 55 W
42 23’ 58 N 113 27’ 39 W
36 37’ 53 N 108 34’ 28 W
32 55’ 03 N 102 46’ 13 W
46 53’ 02 N 118 27’ 18 W
33 09’ 51 N 119 37’ 37 W
35 32’ 57 N 119 21’ 14 W
90
44 11’ 54 N
99 49’ 20 W
10 mi eye alt. 41 15’ 53 N
83 56’ 23 W
40 35’ 07 N
86 56’ 41 W
30 18’ 51 N
83 25’ 45 W
28 30’ 31 N 100 22’ 28 W
32 51’ 50 N
91 14’ 38 W
40 34’ 17 N
77 20’ 38 W
37 05’ 56 N
29 47’ 49 N
90 34’ 12 W
28 15’ 53 N
81 46’ 06 W
97 47’ 34 W
91
1917-19
Agriculture begins to shift from animal and plow methods to combustion tractors
GREAT DEPRESSION
1892
ANIMAL TO MACHINE
VICTORY GARDENS
1892
PINGREE POTATO PATCHES
1929 - 39
Great Depr vacant city and provid
During WW were made Gardens.
2000 1900 1800 1700
92
SUBURBANIZATION
1701 - 1806 When the French colonized in Detroit they sub divided lots perpendicular to the Detroit river. This arrangment allowed farms to be flood irrigated by the river. The linear strips can still be seen today in the city grid system against the river.
1st INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
- 1600 The Fox Native American Tribe were the first to use the Detroit for agriculutral production
RIBBON FARMS
FOX LANDS
1600
1870 The depression of 1892 let off many people out of manufactoring jobs in Detroit. Mayor Pingree established 430 acres of city land for potato growth to create jobs.
1910
Farming left the Detroit proper boundry to take place on large acres of la that could be managed b tractor.
Corn become one of the primary crops grown in Michigan.
DFC LANDSCAPE FRAMEWORK
2015
RECOVERY PARK
In response to the high amount of vacancy in Detroit, people begin to grow their own food. There are food deserts across the city so community gardens and CSAs start to emerge.
2012
EMERGING URBAN FARMING
1980
1990s
CDC AQUAPONICS FISHERY
MONSANTO MONOCULTURE
1970
EPA + BANS DDT
Norman Borlaug “the father of the green revolution” pioneers the genetic modification of agricultural production
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was the first address the pollution crisis that was being done by the agricultural industry. The book got the pesticide DDT banned shortly after Carson’s death in 1964.
1962
1942 - 60
1962
THE URBAN CRISIS
1941
1st GREEN REVOLUTION
1940
GARDENING ANGELS
and by
THRIFT GARDENS + EASTERN MARKET
t
1960s
Wll gardens called Liberty Gardens e for the same reasons as Victory
SILENT SPRING PUBLISHED
ression thrift gardens on y lots to feed the needy de work for the unemployed.
2nd GREEN REVOLUTION
9
Recovery Park is formed from a half square mile of vacant lots. When completed, the farm will be the largest urban farm operation in the United States.
2012 The CDC fishery is a revoultionary urban farm. It is located inside an old liquor store and retrofitted to grow microgreens and tilapia. The program only hires people in the neighborhood.
evolution of agriculture in Southeast Michigan
93
Michigan is known for its diversity in food production. It is full of fruit orchards, dairy farms, and vegetable agriculture. In the past two decades production methods have shifted towards large scale machines, chemical applications, and monocultural practices. Many farmers have switched to American staple crops like corn or soybean due to their lucrative value.
point sourc
Cl
N N
H
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N
ce
non - point source
aldrin dieldrin chlordane
chlordane monoculture ecology
chlordecone
atrazine H N
CH
2
CH
N
CH CH 3 CH 3
95
row crops
pivot irrigation
succession property line
“ ditch �
genetically modified seed
pesticide + herbicide
tilling machine
collection machine conventional farming technologies
96
vertical farming
- 95% less water - no pesticides - controlled climate - increased grow area - wide range of crops - grow 20 hr / 365 dys
900,364,639 SF 20,669 AC 32 SQ. MI
traditional farming
Downtown Ann Arbor City of Ann Arbor
5,167,382 SF 118 AC .2 SQ. MI
- high water use - requires pesticides - unpredictable yields - limited grow area - typically monoculture - seasonal limitations
2.1 B ac.
“Together the world’s 6.8 billion people use land equal in size to South America to grow food and raise livestock—an astounding agricultural footprint. And demographers predict the planet will host 9.5 billion people by 2050. Because each of us requires a minimum of 1,500 calories a day, civilization will have to cultivate another Brazil’s worth of land—2.1 billion acres—if farming continues to be practiced as it is today. That much new, arable earth simply does not exist” - Scientific American farming footprint comparison
97
neighborhood demolitions and vacancy
98
42 22’02 N 83 02’26 W 42 22’38 N 83 02’09 W 42 21’25 N 83 01’22 W 42 11’20 N 83 01’04 W
1
7
12
H
Mg
hydrogen
13
Al
20 14
42 22’27 N 83 01’55 W
Si
11
Na
Ca
aluminum
calcium
30
Zn
sodium
silicon
19
N
nitrogen
magnesium
Zinc
K
6
8
C
25
26
Mn Fe maganese
Iron
O
oxygen
carbon
potassium
15
P
phosphorus
42 44’20 N 83 02’34 W 06 -13 -15
99
neighborhood successional landscape
+
+
garden plots
passive insulation
grounded greenhouse
basement box
the attachment
high production house
farming strategies
100
+
+
forestry buffer
land collection
gravity permaculture
cultural icon + fruit orchards
agro-forestry + grass production
101
[ PHOTONS ]
orchards + vegetable production
nutrient cycling
102
O2
AIR EXHAUST
H2O
distribution + loading dock
N
BELTLINE C.H.P
DISTRICT HEAT
[ CHPDH ]
nutrient FLOW + CYCLING
controlled aquaponics + hydroponic growing mediums
103
land extrusion permaculture
104
105
106
low density production
medium density production
high density production
107
building envelope matrix
108
greenhouse attachment
insulated single family house
109
insulated bubble farm
+ 10,000,000 M lbs / YR 5,000,000 M lbs / YR - 1,000,000 M lbs / YR
MT. CLEMENS pop. 16,399
GROSSE POINTE pop. 5,300
n tio bu
50 m id ist ri
s diu ra
20
m
l rica me om ic
farms
YPSILANTI pop. 19,500
PONTIAC pop. 59,887
BRIGHTON pop. 113,900
ANN ARBOR pop. 113,900
regional distribution
An agricultural epicenter is needed in Southeast Michigan. Detroit’s high vacancy aggolmerations offer the perfect opportunity for giving the city a new core industry. This project imagines an entire city culture around food, just as the automobile once was.
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PACKARD
CITY SUBSISTENCE FARMING COMMERCIAL / METRO FARMING
CULTURAL AG HIGH YIELD AG MEDIUM YIELD AG HIGHEST YIELD AG COMMUNITY AG / POTENTIAL
DISTRIBUTION CENTER ORGANIC WASTE CENTER
VERTICAL FARMS
RECOVERY PARK
CONSUMPTION CENTER
TRUCKING TRANSPORT RAIL TRANSPORT
B.R.B INTERCHANGE
DTW
EASTERN MARKET
SHIP TRANSPORT
local distribution
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ULI-ATL “The ULI Hines Student Competition, now in its 14th year, offers graduate level students the opportunity to form multidisciplinary teams and engage in a challenging exercise in responsible land use. Teams of five students, comprising at least three different disciplines, have two weeks to devise a comprehensive design and development program for a real, large scale site full of challenges and opportunities.� - 2016 ULI Atlanta Competition Brief After discussing the competition brief and locating the site, our team immediately had a strategy for our project. It was to react to the larger narrative of automobile dominance within the city. Midtown’s urban arrangement demonstrates a reasonable representation of the city center of Atlanta in providing zero environmental quality or public space connectivity. In the project we use two threads to address this. The green thread is meant to inject environmental performance into the hyper-engineered landscape. The pink thread is for public space and pedestrian connectivity, specifically geared towards joining Midtown to Georgia Tech University. We capped the highway that has long divided the two urban spaces by using a multiprogrammed platform enclosed by building massing. The new real estate now uses the ground urbanism as the attractive element to enhance property value and catalyze growth for the neighborhood. Our team was comprised of students in MUD, MLA, MUP, and MBA programs.
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competition site location
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plan of site design
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development breakdown
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typical street section perspective
1,320,000 lbs
of produce can be harvested annually from 4.2 acres of farm area
482,493 gals
of stormwater cistern storage is available for building grey water use and landscape / ag irrigation.
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125,448,180 lbs of 02 is produced on the site annually 1,252 trees were added
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530 N FIFTH AVE
Kerrytown, Ann Arbor, MI. This neighborhood is amongst the oldest in the city and has experienced extraordinary transformation within the past halfcentury. The past several decades investments have made the neighborhood highly desirable and resulted in burgeoning real estate prices. The subject of farming and food has remained present throughout its history. The local farmers market and artisanal shops help form an identity for Kerrytown. This project attempts to augment that food identity using landscape as a medium to do so. 530 N 5th Ave is a project Cyrus Morshini and I have been constantly developing the past year. As both architects and tenants of the property, we share a common vision for developing a highly productive landscape that could educate and encourage interaction with our local community. We now grow food with several of our neighbors, who also contribute nutrients for our compost bin. Stormwater management has been a key component of the project and demonstrates other methods of collecting water using creative and aesthetic solutions. The comprehensive idea of the project is to establish roots in a place experiencing constant flux, trigging a possible impetus for thinking about a cohesive neighborhood vision around community identity and sustainability.
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image before design implementation
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site design plan
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image after design implementation
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bio - swale
composting container
stormwater planter
stormwater planter
michigan prairie
sunflower garden
equisetum
property line
micro programming
123 buried rumble
orchard planted berm
rain garden
walkway
vertical grow area
medium sun garden
food production
main entry path
full sun garden
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compost cover + seat
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CUT
CUT
CUT
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FILL
balancing cut and fill
55 % clay
sandy clay sandy clay loam medium loam clay loam
20 % clay
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the breakdown
microorganisms
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C H O 6
12 6
Ca N N
C
2
H N
NH
2
C
C
P
2
urea
O
K
. 005 mi travled 304 Beakes St. . 0023 mi travled 524 N 5th Ave
. 0018 mi travled
C : N 25-30 :
530 N 5th Ave
1
compost source and breakdown
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seasonal plant material
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READ
“O, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall.� - Roald Dahl
In my final year working on my B.L.A. I recieved a scholarship for a service learning project from the Dawn Brancheau Foundation. The scholarship came with a $1,200 grant. Since the funding was scarce and the project timeline limited, I felt a small installation would be most appropiate. I oftened visited the city library and was interested in seeing how I could help to improve their signage. Instead of a sign, I designed and built a sculpture that would help expose the library and give identity to a corner block in downtown Starkville, MS. The project uses a simple typeface, cyan coloring, and native planting to draw attention to the building. I recieved the community service National ASLA Award for the project.
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the hidden library
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typical letter construction drawing
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LAND ART
This collection of land sculptures were weekend projects that several ASLA students completed throughout three semesters to bring awareness and education about the often asked question, “What is Landscape Architecture�? In the rural south, landscape architecture is a mysterious profession that is often confused with plant design or maintenance of plants. Although sculpture is just a small faction within the larger scope of land design, the main idea was to expose the public to the significance of an object within the landscape. The sculptures were influenced by two nature artists Andy Goldsworthy and Robert Smithson. We choose not to spend any funds on the projects and instead used materials available to us on campus.
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01 - palette arch
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02 - bamboo star
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03 - drawer wheel
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04 - palette sphere
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r = 2.4 ft
r=
6.
7
ft
most load
90 . 135
load
+
r = 2.8 ft
construction system
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symmetry
bracing
frame
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AIRBORNE 48217 Southwest Detroit will make you sick. Literally. It is Michigan’s most polluted zip code. Each year, about 1.6 million pounds of chemicals are released in the area.The Delray neighborhood is the most prone to the air pollution exposure. It is located at the intersection between the regional wastewater plant, the industrial portion of I-75, the marathon gas refinery, and Zug Island. The area is also known for having the highest pediatric asthma rates in the state. This speculation responds to the toxic environment through the construction of a massive living machine that acts as an air filter and a dividing mechanism for a small enclave in Delray. The machine collects sulfur dioxide from the wastewater plant and carbon, nitrous oxide, and particulate matter from the freeways. The collection of those byproducts is then used for feeding organisms like algae and other bacteria in return for fresh oxygen. Inside of the wall is full of high oxygen yielding vegetation. Residents that were once exploited through air, now have the most abundant supply in Detroit.
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square mile of high air pollution zone
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NO x
placement of the living machine
SO2 152
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testing carbon filtering skins
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DITCH IT
Responding to the failure of concrete material as the common choice of a swale liner for Texas erosion problems, Calvin Bishop developed a new idea. He designed a plastic liner that would be flexible with ground contraction and expansion. Fixed liners are often buried by sedimentation during large rain events, which only makes them viable for one to two years. Bishop’s design challenges the conventional engineering market by creating a product that is flexible, durable, and lightweight for readjustment. My role in Bishop’s vision was to create technical drawings for the product so that he could patent and place it on the market specifically for high erosion regions of the United States.
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10 - 2” 1”
HOLES DRILLED THROUGH BOTH LAYERS OF LINER
TOP HOLE .5 DIA. BOTTOM HOLE .75 DIA. FOR EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION
1.1
LINER PLAN
1.0 STAKE INLET
STAKE INLET
CENTERLINE SECTION
FLOW
1.2
1.2
STAKE DETAIL
1.1
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[R U H R] A P P R O P R I A T I O N
[Ruhr] appropriation is a collection of documenting territories in the Ruhr Region that have formerly been landscapes of utility but have undergone transformations that engage the civic through new forms of urban intervention while innovating in landscape performance. Each project has an element that celebrates the former utility of the place through materiality, scale, and program. The projects find methods of joining in a cohesive narrative through networks of adapted public space using the Emscher River as a conduit. The purpose of the guide is to understand how to better approach designing a linear territory made for utility with similar attributes in the Rust Belt region. The dimension and cover aesthetic of the booklet emulates graphic designer Aaron Draplin’s “field notes�, which is what I used while taking notes on site in the Ruhr.
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: BOCHUM 51.4818° N, 7.2162° E
51.4556° N, 7.0116° E
51.5291° N, 6.9447° E
: GELSENKIRCHENEN 51.517° N, 7.0857° E
: ESSEN
: BOTTROP
: OBERHAUSEN 51.5291° N, 6.9447° E
: DUISBURG 51.4344° N, 6.7623° E sites visited sites documented
Tiger & Turtle Duisburg- Angerhausen 51.2234° N, 6.44° E
gasometer Oberhausen 51.2938° N, 6.5214° E
Rhinepark
51.2440° N, 6.4458° E
Bottrop bernepark 51.3017° N, 6.5638° E
Landshaftspark Duisburg-Nord 51.2850° N, 6.4702° E
WATER CONDUIT :
Similar to Detroit the Ruhr region is fragmented and development is sprawled. It is complicated to find what or where the true urban core is. Essen to Duisburg growth spreads horizontal and has force planners in the region to think critically about how the region can connect. Water has been the agent for doing that. The Emscher River was known as the most polluted river in Germany during the 20th century carrying effluent and industrial waste to the Rhine. The Emscher IBA has helped to give the river an alternative and has created a conversation about renaturalization. Today the
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: LUNEN : MENDEN
: SCHWERTE 51.48° N, 7.5668° E
: ARNSBERG 51.4073° N, 8.0528° E
51.4377° N, 7.7953° E
: DORTMUND 51.5136° N, 7.463° E
51.6105° N, 7.5285° E
Tetraeder
51.314° N, 6.57° E
Himmelsstreppe
51.2914° N, 7.216° E
Phoenix Lake
51.298° N, 7.3046° E
Schurenbachhalde 51.3045° N, 7.0109° E
river is complimented with series of landscape urbanism type interventions. Most projects involve a formerly industrial object as an art element with natural landscape placing it. The Rhine-Herne canal runs parallel with the Emscher to share the projects. Programs along the waterways vary from profit generating solutions to projects solely for identity making. The corridor can be traveled by bike or foot with little disruption of vehicular traffic making for a sublime urban experience.
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moments along the Ruhr River
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POST INDUSTRIALIZATION POST MODERNIZATION :
Big infrastructure. That best describes the Great Lakes Rust Belt region and Rhur region in the 20th century. While their industrialization and modernization eras were simultaneous the Rhur operated longer than the Rust. In fact industry just abandoned the region over the last three decades. Although both have fallen victim to the holes within the urban fabric made by massive infrastructures, the Rhur has been rapid in responding. The IBA Emscher Park in 1989 was the catalyst for this impetus. In some ways the Rhur is the exemplar for the “shrinking cities� phenomenon and other industrial associated problems. Revitalization is mainly executed through the transformation of industrial territories into civic and performance landscapes. Unlike development in the traditional sense, the Rhur uses passive strategies to form a collective web of urban development. Acknowledging themselves as a regional collaborative has been the most powerful attribute of the project. It has formed a narrative that augments the identity of this unique territory in East Germany.
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LESS IS MORE, GREEN IS MORE
:
Landschaftpark is arguably the best example of industrial and landscape synthesis. The minimalist design approach is what makes it so dynamic. The site is a former coke plant with about every big infrastructure that one could fit into an industrial site. The abandoned railways, blast furnaces, coal bunkers, and waste water turbines were ideal qualities to landscape architect Peter Latz. He used the abandon infrastructure and successional vegetation as an instrument for making space in the park. In plan it is noticeable that he uses all the same geometries created for the plant’s original purpose. In aggregate, the urban void created by the site has been replaced with a location for gathering, recreating, passage, lounging, and reflecting. Landschaftpark being design as an industrial reflection space is a thesis that helped set the tone and identity for regional direction.
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RECYCLED LAND :
Space for waste is a common urban issue cities in the Rust Belt are encountering. High demolition rates in post-industrial cities like Detroit or Essen generate large quantities of deconstruction material. A landfill outside of the Ruhr region known as Metabolon, or “Black Mountain� as it is known to the local community, has found a way to refigure the traditional landfill to have performative and interactive attributes. It is an active recycling center and public landform that people can climb. Most significantly Metabolon allows people to connect with their trashscape. A closer connection might have positive implications on community consumption patterns. Deploying interactive programs completely shatters a traditional perspective of a landfill and would be an applicable idea for some of Detroit’s trash.
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RIVER HIGHWAYS :
Rivers have been conduits for transport since cities have emerged. The settlement logic for the Great Lakes and Ruhr region was based on the geography of the water system for that reason. As highway and rail infrastructures become extraneous to manage, movement by water seems to be a viable mode of travel again. The Rhine River at the Cologne harbor uses water for mass transport of goods, but also activates the edge of the river to form two types of civic space. The east grasslands are managing flooding while making a destination nature park and the other side is a culmination of historical and contemporary development demonstrating with a new public promenade. The promenade operates in peculiar way. In Cologne, the cargo ships are docked adjacent to a concentration of high end real estate. It is an interesting juxtaposition since these two items traditionally would be overtly partitioned, however; this current layout makes for an interesting product by allowing the public to engage with industrial logistics.
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CITY TO THE RIVER
:
Formerly industrial cities for the most part have a buffer that disconnects the city from the river. In Duisburg, the new Rhinepark is a reaction to collect that missing piece. Its industrial character, size, dilapidated condition, and context match a similar narrative to harbors along the Great Lakes. The park exemplifies what creative landform and recycling material can do in delineating civic spatialites. Landforms make elevated views and forms series of rooms against the river. Overall the main objective of this project is to connect the river with the city. The fragmented relationship industry forced hid the Rhine River from the public which caused lack of care of the river quality. Renewed access to it has initiated a conversation based on the river’s future care.
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BACK TO EARTH :
The experience of climbing the Bramme for the Ruhr is unparalleled. The project is a spoil tip over 100 meters high. The rumble mountain isn’t noticeable because of the forest growing on the perimeter of it. The top is what tells the story. The peak is black rumble with a steel slab wedged in the middle of it. Richard Serra, the artist for the project, made a sculpture representative of the region by emulating the silhouette form of a smokestack. The materiality is the other symbolic feature. It is a steel slab wedged into the mountain. The top material connects by displaying the materials mined for the products made. The Bramme for the Rhur sits on the skyline with other smoke stacks to forever commemorate the Rhur narrative.
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T R A V I S
C R A B T R E E
trcrab@gmail.com
T R A V I S
C R A B T R E E
[601] 750 - 6904 trcrab@gmail.com [601] 750 - 6904
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