lunch 6: Systems by UVA Lunch

volume 6

systems

student journal of the university of virginia school of architecture

lunch 6: systems University of Virginia School of Architecture Campbell Hall PO Box 400122 Charlottesville VA 22904-4122 Find us on the web: www.arch.virginia.edu/lunch Copyright ÂŠ 2011 University of Virginia School of Architecture, Charlottesville, VA All rights reserved. Editors: Beth Bailey, Jack Cochran, Joey Hays, Charles Sparkman Cover image by Suzanne Mathew Printed in the United States by Carter Printing, Richmond, VA For future volumes, lunch is accepting submissions from alumni, students, and former and current faculty of the University of Virginia School of Architecture. The editors would like to thank the students, faculty, and alumni who submitted their work for publication, and the seventeen copy editors who helped construct the narrative and layout of the journal. We are grateful to Dean Kim Tanzer, Kimberly Wong, the University of Virginia School of Architecture, and the School of Architecture Foundation for their support and dedication that make lunch possible each year.

Lunch 6 was supported by the University of Virginia Council for the Arts. Special thanks to the UVa School of Architecture Class of 1983 for their generous support of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journal. To support lunch, please contact: School of Architecture Foundation PO Box 400122 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4122 434.924.7149 http://www.arch.virginia.edu/alumni/giving

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number is available. ISBN-13: 978-0-9843671-1-5 ISSN: 1931-7786

LUNCH 6: SYSTEMS

SYSTEMS As designers, planners, theorists, and historians, we are uniquely situatedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and ethically responsibleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to engage systems of all scales: from the global to the detail. We understand that component parts are better understood as participants within a network of relationships and interconnections rather than in static, figural isolation. We celebrate fields, flows, and feedback loops, acknowledging that cause and effect are nonlinear rather than direct. Systems-thinking liberates design from formal exercises and locates our disciplines within a wider range of methodologies and discourse. Consequently, it binds our disciplines to diverse fields, necessitating active and thoughtful collaboration among peers. In this sixth volume of lunch, we explore the range of systems-thinking at the School, the greater University, and our larger community. The projects and transcripts represent the rapid growth of our disciplines as they engage an unprecedented range of issues and dialogue.

Charles Sparkman

April 17, 2011

EDITORS: Beth Bailey, Jack Cochran, Joey Hays, Charles Sparkman

LUNCH TEAM: AJ Artemel

Kelly Hitzing

Katie Orr

Alexa Bush

Heidi Koponen

Andrea Parker

Nate Burgess

Nicole Keroack

Annelise Pitts

Sarah Cancienne

Dasha Lebedeva

Emily Peterson

Jonathan Coble

Jen Lynch

Katherine Treppendahl

Lauren Hackney

Pete Malandra

CONTENTS

REPRESENTATION

9 REFRAMING THE QUESTION William Sherman + Lauren Hackney 14 REPRESENTING TIME AND SPACE IN THE PUBLIC REALM Suzanne Mathew 22 SPECULARE SULLO SPETTACOLARE Jonathan Coble 30 THE FLUIDITY OF WOOD Michael Levy Bajar 36 POINT.LINE.PLANE Lauren Hackney 44 UNCOVERING PROCESS Ben Hartigan

ARCHITECTURE

50 HOW TO BECOME A UTOPIANIZER Eva Franch i Gilabert 56 THE RE-LIGARE INSTITUTE Maria Bninski + Alex Garrison + John Kupstas 64 POTOMAC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER Phoebe Crisman 72 EDUCATION AS CLIMATIC EXPERIENCE David Ericsson 80 HOUSING DUNLOW Marylin Moedinger 88 CHAMELEON Ben Dance + Elizabeth Farrell + DJ Hickman 92 LIVE[ABLE] HOUSE Justin Hershberger + Marylin Moedinger

FABRICATION

98 ON THE WATER: PALISADE BAY Catherine Seavitt 108 EXPERIMENTS IN INTENSITY Jie Huang + Kurt Marsh 116 SHORE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;NUFF Seth Denizen

URBANISM

124 ON CHANGE Julian Raxworthy 132 MESSY TECH Jennifer Jones + Renee Pean + Randall Winston 140 EMERGENT CITY Jie Huang 148 REINVENTING DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES Jennifer Jones

ECOSYSTEM | INFRASTRUCTURE

158 BEAUTIFUL FLOODS IÃ±aki Alday + Margarita Jover 164 FLOODPLAIN EXPEDITIONS Peter Waldman + Lauren Hackney 172 NATIONAL NURSERY Andrea Parker + Ashley Wolff 178 GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY Kate Bird + Ben Chrisinger + Carla Jones 183 REGIME SHIFTS Michael Pace 186 THE BIG FL(EA)UX, THE BIG ORANGE Jen Lynch 194 RE-URBANIZING WITH WATER: A HYRDOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE Maggie Hansen 200 ALCHEMY OF AN URBAN ESTUARY Aja Bulla-Richards + Sarah Shelton 208 THE LEGACY OF DEAN HARRY W. PORTER Warren Byrd + Reuben Rainey + Nancy Takahashi 212 MEMORIUM: MARIO DI VALMARANA Peter Waldman + William Sherman

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There appear to exist general system laws which apply to any system of a particular type, irrespective of the particular properties of the systems and the elements involved. Compared to the analytical procedure of classical science with resolution into component elements and one-way or linear causality as basic category, the investigation of organized wholes of many variables requires new categories of interaction, transaction, organization, teleology . . .â&#x20AC;? Ludwig von Bertalanffy, General System Theory, 1968

REFRAMING THE QUESTION WILLIAM SHERMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE LAUREN HACKNEY, M.ARCH|MLA 2011 In Chapter Six of Thinking in Systems, Donella Meadows offered twelve leverage points for changing the behavior of complex systems. At first, architects may be discouraged to find that changing the physical structure of a system is the often the “slowest and most expensive kind of change to make in a system,” ranking tenth on a scale ranging from changing the numeric parameters to transcending the paradigm, below altering the information flows, feedback loops, delays and rules. If architecture is conceived as a formal proposition, its impotence in changing the behavior of a system can be seen in case after case: the failures of social engineering through architectural form refute claims for architecture’s instrumental capacity. If, on the other hand, architecture is conceived in a more complex formulation, as a manipulator of flows rather than objectified form, it has the potential to operate in a world of systems on many more levels. Jane Jacobs grasped this fundamental truth of cities in asking, “What sort of a problem is the city?” By applying the early theories on the behavior of complex systems to the conception of urban design, she upended years of planning dogma dominated by theories of linear causality and the instrumentality of form. Urban systems, like climates and ecosystems, are inherently complex, a medium in which time will overturn even the most benevolent of dictators, where outcomes are inherently nonlinear, in which networks of local contingencies will develop a resilience that reveal the ultimate brittleness of centralized, universal planning strategies.

Visualizing Energetic Organizations These diagrams are studies completed in parallel with the restructuring of a core undergraduate and graduate School of Architecture course (Building and Climate) as Systems, Sites, and Building. Through them, we reinterpreted a traditional, non-hierarchical course syllabus spreadsheet as a series of scalar flows and connections based in space and time.

1. Energy Matrix, reconfigured: the manipulation of energy flows bridges scales of space, relative to the ground. While material energy production cycles are increasingly dependent on multiple sources and modes of energy that are linear (for example, coal extraction and processing), natural energy production cycles have a clear interdependence of processing, conveyance, and transformation that involve exchanges mediated by the surface (e.g. photosynthesis).

2. Thick Surface: adding temporal dimensions to the visualization of energy flows generates a thick surface of relationships among forms of energy, processes of transformation, and timescales.

sherman + hackney REFRAMING THE QUESTION

What of buildings then? Resilience starts at home, so buildings that seek to escape the vicissitudes of natural dynamic variation through dependence on a massive, centralized, dependable-until-it-isn’t infrastructure, or fix the passage of time as an eternal work of art, will calcify the joints between humanity and the environment just at the point where suppleness is most needed. Buildings, designed landscapes and cities, when conceived as robust, resilient, overlapping systems of energy, material, social and cultural flows, demand a fundamentally different approach to design than that which has dominated Western and ultimately global architecture since the Renaissance. Leon Battista Alberti’s assertion of the autonomy and privilege of geometry (lineaments, disegno, form) over the other dimensions of design—material, energy, information and time—limited the palette of the designer to the barest scaffold of effective engagement in the world. It is only in the tenth book, which no one ever reads, on the methods by which an architect may correct an imperfect site, that the conception of building as a process in time, inextricably engaged in its site, climate and historical context, is addressed seriously. Unfortunately, these processes are framed as conditions to be fixed, frozen and rendered timeless in the completed work. A hint of an alternative emerges, however, in the understanding of the imperfect site as a series of small, dependent, temporary arrangements composed of many parts, like a genetic code with a capacity to mutate and adapt, allowing the possibility of self-organization, constant innovation, emergent relationships and extreme resilience. This shift from the supremacy of form to the full spectrum of geometry, material, information, energy and time as the media of design suggests a different paradigm for the understanding of the design challenge. The design of the flow of energy,

3. Increasing reasing Complexity: Com mplexity: sections through the thick surface of energy flows reveal complexities and interdependencies of energy generation and transformation

for instance, requires attention to the capture, transformation, storage, distribution, consumption, discharge and reuse of the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s radiant heat in every design decision. But in order to avoid the trap of single variable design that has characterized so many linear design models, one must not define the decisions solely in terms of energy flow. Energy efficient design, for instance, does not reduce overall demand or consumption as a linear causal relationship might predict, but instead reduces a local demand, reducing the price, spurring a new demand for a previously unattainable service, which in turn increases overall demand, a paradox identified by William Jevons in 1865. A change in one dimension of a system triggers often-unexpected changes in other flows; any attempt to freeze the system in a predicted outcome is doomed to failure over time. The goal of design shifts from the search for stability to a desire to live with the dynamics. This requires a different aesthetic and a different measure of design success. The next phase of sustainable design thinking requires this fundamental paradigm shift, though it is actually more profound and expansive than the arbitrary boundaries of the profession and discipline that began to harden in the nineteenth century. The tools of design to accomplish these changes are radically incomplete, though in rapid evolution. As we move from five hundred years of visual representation to multi-sensory simulation, from objectification to inter-subjectivity, from artifacts to ecosystems, formal

sherman + hackney REFRAMING THE QUESTION RE

composition will not disappear but will be grounded on new, but productively unstable, footing. The diagrams we create to model our thinking will be thick rather than reductive, the decisions contingent rather than absolute. The mechanistic paradigm that served the twentieth century both so productively, and at times unfortunately, lives on in the institutions that codified the driving knowledge of the era. A different knowledge of dynamic interactions will require a new set of institutions, whose boundaries refuse to calcify. Beyond universities and professions, the foundations of contemporary economies are shifting from the ownership of things to the management of flows. The concept of real estate will not survive the shift from the understanding of the earth as a matrix of measurable, stable realms to a space of inescapably intertwined flows of water, land, air, energy, information and living matter. Complexity of thought, however, does not correspond to complication of form â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the key to navigating complexity is finding clear and effective paths that account for complex interactions. Sometimes these paths have already emerged through countless iterations over time. History is cumulative, not sequential, and the internal thermal dynamics of ancient materials may be at times more effective than the newest technology. Through this thinking, buildings become citizens of the world, with local ties and global impact, simultaneous producers and consumers, adapting constantly in materiality and form, agents of a dynamic aesthetic, at times visual, but perhaps equally thermal, acoustic or olfactory in a fluid, rather than fixed, hierarchy. It all depends on how one frames the question.

REPRESENTING TIME AND DYNAMIC SPACE IN THE PUBLIC REALM SUZANNE MATHEW MLA|M.ARCH 2010 My research has explored theoretical writings in the topics of representation, landscape process, experiential time, perception of spatial phenomena, and conceptions of public space. As I consider the next steps for my research and drawing methodology, I am interested in engaging how representations of space can push how we mediate our transitions between inside and outside. As concerns surrounding sustainability and climate change begin to push architecture and landscape toward parallel diagrammatic and conceptual models, there is a potential for new practices in representation to create new typologies and ethics within the field of design. REPRESENTING THE VOLUMETRIC QUALITIES OF TEMPORAL SPACE Dynamic space is described by a number of dynamic elements, such as light, temperature, sound, and movement. These elements are ephemeral and are not bound by finite edges. They create spaces that are fluid, animate and thick, and that describe both volume (part) and flow (whole). Current drawing practices often describe these spaces as void or static. Depicting phenomenal figural volumes requires developing a language for spatial gradients, spatial overlap, and sensory edges.

mathew REPRESENTING TIME AND DYNAMIC SPACE IN THE PUBLIC REALM Massings of people along each walk were recorded through photograph and notation. These massings were then analyzed parametrically to calculate the proximity of individuals in the square. These proximities were then projected as vertical lines to create a volumetric relationship between social density and social space.

relationships that describe spatial perception. Architectural space, marked by physical edges, only describes one dimension of how we read space. If we are to expand our graphic conventions for describing dynamic and sensory space, we must first expand the rubric we use to define space. REPRESENTING SPACE PERCEIVED THROUGH EPISODIC OR RHYTHMIC TIME Our perceptions of space are often tied to multiple readings of places that change over time. In this way, dynamic space is a temporal composition: whether it be through the accumulated movements of bodies in space, events that temporarily change the character of a place, or seasonal changes, time and space are articulated by juxtaposing contrasting elements in our memory. In drawing, representing temporal space cannot rely on mathematical projection to depict spatial depth, but instead must draw on elements that depict rhythm, movement, and contrast.

mathew

phenomena, memory and time. These media act together to create a series of

REPRESENTING TIME AND DYNAMIC SPACE IN THE PUBLIC REALM

Landscape is defined by physical armature, movement through space, sensory

A notational system was developed to record the social dynamics of the walks through the square. Conversations that were overheard on each walk were recorded as musical notations; these notations articulated the intimacy of space by marking distance from the observer, their volume, and their duration. These notations were then projected to describe the tempo and shifting dimension of intimate space.

Though the course of the day, shifting volumes of space were recorded through photograph, and they began to describe the relationship between a dynamic phenomenal armature and the physical armature created by the park, street and building edges. As volumes of light and shadow would arc through the square through the morning and early afternoon, they would create an event that united the street corridors with the internal corridors of the park.

mathew

armature. Layering and transparency of landscape elements reveal depth of space by creating a visual rhythm that marks our distance from the horizon. The porous framework of landscape spaces allow for phenomenal elements to be projected through, creating a layered reading of space that is both visual and experiential.

REPRESENTING TIME AND DYNAMIC SPACE IN THE PUBLIC REALM

In landscape there is an integral relationship between physical and phenomenal

TEMPORAL SPATIAL FIGURES TRANSGRESS BETWEEN INSIDE AND OUTSIDE At an urban scale, design of figural space often falls in an ambiguous zone between our current definitions of architecture and landscape. Landscape design practices frame constructed interventions within a system of ecological flows, and architectural design practices have begun to consider the implications of embedding these flows within the form of a building. Within the urban realm, human flows begin to suggest that the transitional zone between inside and outside is not defined by the building envelope. This new drawing methodology represents the gradients and ephemeral volumes that create transitions between inside and outside. Phenomenal spaces are volumetric and defined by sensory edges and gradients. As we move through space, we are able to read changes in our atmosphere and begin to register and react to the sensory qualities of space. As phenomenal media move and change through the course of the day, through seasons, and through our own movement, these spatial volumes become animate. PERCEPTIONS OF SPACE RELATE TO CONCEPTIONS OF THE PUBLIC REALM In the public realm, space is often described by cultural, rather than physical, edges. The theoretical discussions of public space explored through this design research have paralleled theoretical discussions of spatial perception. Time, contrast, and the act of

Sound, wind and temperature readings were taken along the inner park corridor and outer side walks. These readings were projected into spatial volumes that transgress these public zones that are separated by physical edges.

seeing and recognizing have been used by theorists such as Richard Sennet, Hannah Arendt, Manuel Castells and Kevin Lynch to describe how we perceive social space. This drawing schema uses these parallels between visual, temporal, phenomenal, and cultural contrast to describe the public realm as a dynamic figure. Our reading of time takes on different dimensions as we consider how we experience a place. As we move through space we project time through spatial sequence. This

projection is linear, and relies on a consecutive ordering of events. As places change themselves, whether it be through the animate movement of figures through space or through seasonal changes, time is marked by rhythm or tempo. As our readings of place begin to accumulate through memory, time becomes a relative comparison of contrast and change, and takes on an order that is based on our own experience. Kevin Lynch marks the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;episodic contrastâ&#x20AC;? to describe how the experience of events in public space create this hierarchical reading of time.

SPECULARE SULLO SPETTACOLARE JONATHAN COBLE M.ARCH | MUEP 2011 CARLO PELLICCIA TRAVELLING FELLOW 2010 A Travelling Fellow? An aged neighbor explains to me that “travelling is just an expensive way to feel uncomfortable.” Perhaps it is simple curmudgeonry, but perhaps his wisdom yields more truth than an adventurous soul is willing to admit. Ever-changing modes of perception have reshaped the way we experience cities from within and afar. GPS, GIS, Google Earth, Photosynth, and Bing among countless other geo-referenced mapping technologies as well as the multi-touch interfaces and devices by which we experience these engines for perceptual data allow people to navigate contemporary and ancient recreations of cities in ways that truly question the benefit of actual tourism. Why brave the heat and the hordes when ancient and contemporary Rome can unfold in the palm of one’s hand—at the touch of one’s finger? Answer the hopeful wanderer: It is not the electrified, spinning globe that reveals the nature of cities, Rome in particular. It is crossing the threshold from public frenzy to a quiet, collective, and ancient hum under the coffers of the Pantheon. It is the fleeting cool of Bernini’s fountain felt on the brow as Piazza Navona slows under the stultifying midday heat. It is also the sound of a crooner careening off giant beatles’ shells under the night sky at Piano’s Parco della Musica. It is zipping around Nervi’s Palazzetto until the sounds of bouncing rubber on stable ground beam you in. It is creeping sneakily into the loading dock at Hadid’s shoestring MAXXI and discovering a finer gallery than any inside. It is not wayfinding, it is the way stumbled through that resonates.

SPECULARE SULLO SPETTACOLARE

coble

SITES OF SPECTACLE AND URBAN FORM Certainly in the vein of the wanderer, ancient Roman perception was highly attuned to the form, operation, and experiential qualities of the city. As Diane Favro articulates: â&#x20AC;Ścommunication through physical form was natural, easy, and necessary for the Romans. Interwoven with histories, narratives, and propaganda, ancient buildings and urban environments provided enduring and highly visible frameworks for conveying information. Following cultural predispositions, the Romans read this data experientially. An implied dichotomy arises from this perceptual reading of the ancient city, and it pits the orthogonal with the curvilinear. The orthogonal fabric of the city chiefly signifies dwelling and basic commerce while curvilinear structures imply grander public use.

In the case of theaters and stadia, the curvature of the structures allows the crowd to

music performances, have ceased to be a part of our entertainment culture; so, why do the sites of spectacle in Rome remain curiously embedded in its contemporary fabric? Can this be explained by their curvilinear structural origins? Beyond the physical presence of these ancient sites of spectacle, there was great consideration taken in properly orienting these structures to the sun and the wind. Typically following the Vitruvian canon, save the Theater of Marcellus that opened to the West to engage the Tiber River, these sites are adapted to climate as well as the

SPECULARE SULLO SPETTACOLARE

The spectacle ancient Romans witnessed at these venues, apart from theater and

coble

focus on one event and therefore indicates spectacle.

activities taking place within their walls. From a material standpoint, these were large constructions with deep foundations of concrete and masonry construction and quite difficult to move. At the outer edge of the Piazza Navona, for example, one may still witness the underpinnings of Domitianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stadium. In this case and others, reusing foundations was an economical way to avoid restructuring the base of a new building project. As these foundations remained, so too did the ways-in and ways-out of the theaters and stadia. Presently at the Theaters of Pompey and Marcellus or the Piazza Navona, the circulation paths prescribed by their original entrances have eroded over time to define urban thresholds. It is this process, rather than solely their curving forms, that defines these sites of spectacle as urban lynch pins. Around these dynamic paths, streets have grown, around which districts have constantly changed. At this notion, the drawings presented here attempt to dissect this process of urban accretion. By analyzing four historical and contemporary maps (the Allgemeiner Plan, the Ugo Pinard Plan, the Nolli Plan, and Romeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contemporary satellite imagery from Google), the drawings of historical sites intend to trace urban form over time. In most cases, this entails drawings of Rome in 320 CE, 1748 CE (the date of the Nolli Plan), and presently. Drawings of the contemporary sites are analytical, but also propose basic interventions that rely on patterns discovered among the ancient sites. That is, the delineation of patterns of inhabitation, circulation, spatial definition, and climate alleviation from the ancient sites re-emerge to define the intent of the drawings of the contemporary sites, which contain some proposed interventions highlighted in blue.

The method of representation in all these drawings takes additional cues from the joiner photographs. In the piecemeal assembly of each photographic composition, whose blurred edges are products of manual manipulation of the camera itself, the sense of depth, movement, patterns of use, and even climatic conditions (e.g. summer heat) within the urban spaces becomes manifest. As the joiners collapse temporal and environmental processes in a collage, they hint at the many levels of perception that vital urban spaces engage and even begin to echo the accretive nature of Romeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban growth. The cumulative lesson from these exercises is that urban space requires precise definition and calibration over time. The walls of adjacent buildings, the division of the site section or urban transect by large urban monumentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;particularly fountainsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the effects of shade, water, and the thermal qualities of surrounding surfaces all

play a pivotal role in the use of a given space. In addition, diversity of scale in the paths approaching an urban setting can create moments of discovery and revelation,

CHANGES IN PERCEPTION In the same way the Roman Forum became the Campo Vaccino (literally, the Cow Pasture) in the 18th Century, perceptions of urban spaces are subject to substantial change. However, as the Forum and its 19th century excavations returned it to human inhabitation, these perceptions proved temporary and highly contingent upon on visual appearance and representation. In the Forum, as well as the previously mentioned sites of spectacle, the enduring

SPECULARE SULLO SPETTACOLARE

urban room uninteresting.

coble

whereas repetitious or overly expansive thresholds can leave even the most engaging

quality of a sites is not purely visual. Although the eye and the binocular cues that define our visual construct highly affect our perception, there are many layers that contribute to our sensory experience of a place. Imagine that with the blurring of our sight at the edges of our focal range, there is also sound blurring just outside our auditory capacity. Consider the idea that as distant focal points converge to imply an object’s distance and speed, there is an equal convergence of scent—perhaps chestnuts roasting on a passing cart. Think also of the tensing of one’s eyes as something moves rapidly and considerably closer; does the body respond with an equivalent kinesthetic thermal accommodation response? Whether or not there are exact sensory corollaries to our oculomotor cues of perception, there is no doubt that the experience of a lively space is layered and synthetic.

As technology allows us to connect to distant parts of the world and create surreal spatial experiences, perception will still be based on this layered experience processed by the body, the mind, the eye, and dare I add the soul. So as we hopefully wander, we ought to remember that our map’s eye does not yet have immediately accessible and cross-referenced layers for sounds, smells, and haptics in the mode of our brain. This is why we take notes, this is why we draw, and this is why we write postcards to wise old neighbors declaring: “I’m as uncomfortable as hell, broke as a beggar, and loving every minute of my travels.”

SPECULARE SULLO SPETTACOLARE

coble

THE FLUIDITY OF WOOD MICHAEL LEVY BAJAR M. ARCH 2011 In the spring of 2011, Lucia Phinney and Jaquelin T. Robertson Visiting Professor Lionel Devlieger led an option studio entitled “Tools for Conviviality,” which sought to understand the wood industry in Virginia and how its waste products might be reused. One outcome of the studio‘s research was a composition that mapped various flows of wood between initial states, used products, and disposed ends. The research for the body of the diagram was derived from within two industries: material recovery facilities (MRF) that break down construction and demolition debris for reuse, and mills of different wood and paper types that produce not only specific products for human consumption but also create byproducts and waste in many forms. GENERATING A DIAGRAM OF WOOD FLOWS A starting point in developing a language for the diagram was to identify bifurcations within the system. These pertained not only to the rejected and defective pieces, but also to the amount of excessive waste produced as part of the transition from a wood product into a reusable one. We then investigated the potential reuse of waste in order to bring this material back into the system. At first, the data were organized into a linear trajectory, beginning with forest logging and ending at the landfill. However, several visits to different facilities and a thorough investigation into a broad range of wood products uncovered a series of down-cycling processes (as in paper, which can be recycled as many as eleven times), as well as up-cycling processes (as with particle board or engineered decking, which is produced out of ‘end cuts’). Due to this revision, wood cycles and manufacturing processes are understood as a series of multidimensional branches with subdivisions and connecting loops at different stages. By separating the wood flows, processes, and by-products, more specific relationships were found between manufacturing facilities and wood cycles than originally anticipated. Among the discoveries was that MRFs and wood mills in Virginia are not producing large amounts of landfill waste in comparison to other kinds of waste. Not only is it expensive to

levy bajar THE FLUIDITY OF WOOD 1

1 3

5 1: roundwood - Augusta Lumber (Kara Lanahan); 2: wood chips - Ace Recycling (Kelly Reed); 3: plywood veneer sheets - Columbia Forest Products (Michael Levy Bajar); 4: end cuts - Dreaming Creek Timber Frame Homes (Lauren McQuistion); 5: furniture facility - Gaston and Wyatt (Sophia Lee)

8 6: wood floors - Augusta Lumber (Sophia Lee); 7: paper - Georgia Pacific Containerboard (Sydnor Scholer); 8: pellets WoodFuels (Ryan Ives)

discard large quantities to landfills, but most of the waste, if in the form of woodchips or sawdust, is being reused as fuel to power machines in the facilities themselves. Additionally, a substantial portion of wood waste in landfills was coming from human disposal of construction and demolition debris as well as from furniture and other miscellaneous by-products that were chemically treated or somehow contaminated as part of the recycling process. This latter piece of information was difficult to define as a specific percentage; the life span of chemically treated products within a typical household can be of several years before it ends up at a landfill, making it challenging to locate and quantify after leaving the system. The final version of the wood flow diagram provides a visual representation of the approximate volume of wood material currently in the system, the many trajectories that wood makes before it reaches an inactive stage within the system, its by-products that transition downward to become recycled products, and the various forms of waste that are created as part of the process in the state of Virginia.

levy bajar

THE FLUIDITY OF WOOD

levy bajar

POINT. LINE. PLANE. PERCEPTION AND EXPERIENCE OF ROME’S URBAN FORM LAUREN HACKNEY M.ARCH | MLA 2011 CARLO PELLICCIA TRAVELLING FELLOW 2009 What is the difference between drawing, reading, and recording Rome in a condition of stasis and in a dynamic condition of movement and flow, and how is the city best represented through drawing? point: something having position in space, time, succession, degree, order; a moment considered in terms of its position in time; a definite position in a linear scale (actual or notational) line: in a direct course; a direction as traced by marks on a surface; a succession of operations plane: denoting the plane in which a particular figure is situated, or in which some motion or process occurs; flat surfaces parallel or perpendicular to the horizon, forming a hypothetical framework within which objects may be represented [oxford english dictionary]

In Rome, the idea of point/line/plane is a generative tool for exploring the city’s shifting centers, frames, figures, and flows. Its spatial and representational utility, temporal implications, and inherent juxtapositions lead to methods of drawing and representational systems that could record narratives not necessarily visible through conventional drawing. As interest in field research grows, our ability to record the physical conditions of a place mandates discerning the social and cultural narratives that are inscribed on and by that physical form. These drawings record a path [the papal possesso, a ritual route through the city] and points about the path, at multiple scales of experience and temporality—individual and

hackney POINT. LINE. PLANE. composite mapping of walks taken over the course of the 6-week fellowship

collective, repetitive and singular. Their synthesis and exhibition was framed through the ideogramâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a dialectical drawing where scale and temporality are juxtaposed, overlaid, and understood in terms of relationships in addition to a normative reading as pieces. This leads to different conceptions of the public realm and of particular sites; for example, the Campidoglio in isolation from its sequence is merely a place to photograph Marcus Aurelius and to rest/stop/regroup, but in relation, it is a site of power and procession, inextricable from the forum, the Sacred Way, and civic power, and the possesso and papal power.

initial proposal mapping of topographic and transect relationship, based on the Nolli map

METHOD | STUDY AT MANY SCALES scale of the collective [point, line]: situate points within rhythm and cycles of experiencing and understanding Rome scale of the body [line, plane]: read through a walk – record perception within a certain distance of your body and our own movement in relation to others scale of the hand [point, line, plane]: read from surfaces – direct translation of movement (bus/road, pavement) and rest (seating/leaning) scale of geomorphology: read from walking [line] and from pausing [points] – composite of collective + body + hand – to construct and record relationships

hackney POINT. LINE. PLANE. a-scalar cognitive memory mappings record spatial and temporal relationships discovered over the course of a day/walk

RECORDING PHYSICAL FRAMEWORKS From walking [line] and from pausing [points], these drawings record the inscription of routine and ritual to Rome’s physical framework. Together they juxtapose the scales of the collective, the body, and the hand, constructing and recording relationships and choreographing movement. Establishing both a preemptive and post-explorative framework, these maps document the thick physical section of the ground—layered foundations, water conveyance and control, constructed and topographic walls— as well as the charged inhabitation of that ground, recording relationships through movement, memory, and materiality.

In this transect of the possesso, the Campidoglio both acts as the joint between ancient and Renaissance Rome and marks the transition from the monumental to street scale. After this transition, space is carved through the street section, rather than aggregated as perceived layers as in the ancient condition, and perception of scale becomes progressively more compressed between elements.

point: sequence from the colosseo to the campidoglio (top); piazza pasquinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surfaces (bottom) line: aggregated cross-sections reveal the layering and carving of space in a ten-minute walk in three parts of the transect: ancient Rome, Renaissance Rome, and medieval Rome (top-bottom, at right)

POINT. LINE. PLANE.

hackney

surface changes are registered at the scale of the body through textures

PUBLIC SURFACES | SPACE | REALM Rubbings and texture mappings translate rhythms, scales, and assemblies. They register the immediate construction of the surfaces of public space as well as their weathering and occupation over time. These drawings explore multiple dimensions of public space; in these particular studies, graphite rubbings of benches, walls, and occupied ground record the tactility of inhabiting the city.

several continuous line drawings, done while walking 3.0 mph, record sensations, exertion, microtopographic shifts, and spatial compression and expansion relative to the body in motion

hackney

The line and the point frame the individual/collective dialectic in Rome. The point is static, not necessarily relating your own movement to the behavior of those you are observing. The line/motion is perceptually relative: your own position, your own intentions relative

POINT. LINE. PLANE.

LINE | POINT + PLANE, MOVEMENT + FLOW

to the behaviors of others; in Rome, public space operates in dynamic place-based shifts and in movement and flows between points. This research in Rome opened up new ways of thinking, seeing, and representing on site, as well as implications for future work related to conceptions of public space, of physical form relative to social and cultural narratives, of biases of representation, and how they affect what is understood and sustained. Many thanks to Mario and Betty di Valmarana and Alfredo Pelliccia for their support for this research through the Carlo Pelliccia Fellowship, and to Sanda Iliescu, Beth Meyer, and Peter Waldman for their help in framing this proposal.

UNCOVERING PROCESS REPRESENTING AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE AT CHRYSLER’S DODGE CHICAGO PLANT BENJAMIN HARTIGAN M.ARCH 2011 The site of Albert Kahn’s heroic Dodge Chicago Plant is the remnant of a once thriving city for work that has long been underused and overlooked. Built in 1942 and covering over 400 acres, the plant was designed specifically for the fabrication and assembly of Wright Cyclone radial engines. The comprehensive program of this facility contained 33,000 workers who helped to transform raw pig iron into one of the world’s most complex machines. Transition to postwar production began when Preston Tucker began fabricating automobiles within the 4 million square foot Assembly Building. The industrial reuse of the site, though lasting only a few years, set a useful precedent for innovative fabrication. When attempting to understand a site, we often reach into the long-trusted and proven repertoire of aerial photography, mapping, and geospatial data tools. We enjoy the control that large scale representation techniques afford us; miles are confined to inches and buildings become figures joined by the urban sinew of road and rail. The necessary understanding of urban space at the human scale is frequently forgotten through these standard modes of site analysis and representation. The inclusion of a subjective aesthetic experience in the conventional planimetric understanding of specific sites becomes a useful ground for exploration.

hartigan UNCOVERING PROCESS generative collage and assembly at a monumental scale

uncovering a process of painting based on site observations

hartigan UNCOVERING PROCESS

An aesthetic experience involves the multi-sensory perception of a specific place and the non-visual, personal reaction to these stimuli. I frequently work at this intersection between visual perception and visceral site experience through the relationship of drawing to painting. Testing the limits of these techniques begins to raise questions. What qualities can perspective drawing communicate that painting cannot? Can painting technique reflect site specific phenomena of the aesthetic experience? How can I develop a process of representation that is applicable to any site while encapsulating the peculiarities of personal experience? How does this lay the groundwork for architectural design? These works represent two distinct methods of conceptual design research which attempt to bring site-specific three dimensional space to process-specific two dimensional painting.

this is a caption. you should write cool stuff about your work here.

hartigan UNCOVERING PROCESS process series two: ground, anchor, and machine

The first research method focuses on paintings created through a process of site exploration, visual perception, photography, editing, and painting. Each step involves a moment of visual processing which gives the resulting painting a texture and abstraction useful for providing multiple readings of the site. The use of black, white, and ultramarine blue allow for a multitude of cool grays which represent the dense and cool concrete. Dry-brushing with paper resulted in a technique useful for dematerializing the dense, cool grays. The second method of research involves defining a method of composition and production using three figures: the ground, the anchor, and the machine. The ground, as raw canvas, is the base condition of the site ready for work. The anchor represents found conditions, a simple and bold field of white that defines space with its presence. The machine is the mark of the artist, conveying a specific technique of work, and always separated from the anchor by a strip of ground. This method of production and composition produces paintings capable of being translated to architectural drawings and architectonic form.

HOW TO BECOME A UTOPIANIZER EVA FRANCH I GILABERT MICHAEL OWEN JONES MEMORIAL LECTURE During the last several years, the discipline of architecture, and in many ways society, has been atomized in different categories. We talk about the technological realm, the cultural realm, about the ecological, the political, or the social; these different spheres have been isolated as elements to be thought of independently. The figure of the architect has always been the person who has been able to look into those things in a transversal manner, but through specialization atomizing the discipline we have limited the experience of our own realms. Somehow we lost that our responsibility, ultimately, is to think about how architecture influences all of those different spheres. Something that one always needs to look into is these moments of possibility.

Yes, we are in moments of crisis: ecological, political,

economical crisis. But I would say that within those moments of crisis is the possibility of redefinition, and a possibility of shaping the world anew. I believe that art and architecture have the possibility to envision this future where all these divisions actually look much more like a knot—a very creative knot. Within this desire of trying to bring it back again—all these different things together— is where my practice resides. Within this situation, and throughout the last several years, architects have actually worked to the service of society in a way that has produced, academically and in the world of practice, a space of consumption of thoughts and production of products.

franch i gilabert HOW TO BECOME A UTOPIANIZER image courtesy Sophia Lee

FOUR CHARACTERS|A LENS FOR CONTEMPORARY CONDITIONS I sense that there are three types of architects in the society that we inhabit. One of them is the enabler, another is the iconographer, and the other is the agitator. Who are these three guys? The enablers are very easy. Those are the ones who say, “yes,” to everything. They allow everything that surrounds them to happen. “Do you want this? Sure. Do you want it pink? Yes, pink. Whatever color you want it.” The problem of the enablers is that they are not that different than the dictators, mainly because at the end, they just produce what are apparent ideologies, in a very direct manner. Enablers and dictators are very dangerous species because they don’t produce newness, nor futures. They produce, in a certain way, pasts. Then we have the iconographers. Their title already speaks for itself—they are the ones interested in a space of signification. They want to signify and represent moments

of history, moments of society, moments of time present, in a way that goes through a moment of semantic pedantisms. And that’s something very dangerous because one starts to work through symbols, and symbols, again, are a construction of the past. One understands systems of communication as something that resides in a time already walked. The iconographers, in that sense, do not allow for invention either; they construct symbols, and in this realm of signification and of sublime action, most of the time they end up in a moment of pure banality. Then, of course, we have the agitators who are against everything and all. They at once are against the enablers, against the iconographers, and almost have an oedipal attitude towards their genealogical fathers. They just do revolutions. They say, “This is not good, this is also not good... We should throw bombs!” But in the end, the agitators are the ones who are always cranky, but don’t produce any new vector of desire either. What are we left are the enablers who produce spaces that are consumable, the iconographers who produce spaces of easy signification, and the agitators who produce these moments that are, yes, memorable, but are forgotten after they are finished. How are we to look into the future in a way that actually takes serious all the different spheres of social, political, ecological, cultural, technological questions and brings them into a new light? No surprise; it is a utopianizer. The utopianizer is not that different from the agitator, or the iconographer, or the enabler. He actually has similarities with all of them, but what distinguishes the utopianizer from the others is his or her ability to put things in doubt a very precise manner, and to offer a path, a way of moving from that existing condition into that desired condition. The utopianizer is not an agitator because he actually shows a way, and he walks that way, and he tries it. He is not an iconographer because he is not interested in signifying moments of the past, and he is definitely not an enabler because he is really not interested in perpetuating the systems that are already there. So why become utopianizers? It is simply because the discourse of architecture, even the practice of architecture, has not produced spaces where we, the subject, can interact in a much more intense manner. We are challenged with a lot of different contemporary issues: networks, different notions of mobility, different political questions, and we really need an architecture that is able to offer a space as dynamic, inventive, and provocative as the new technologies and situations that the world is proposing to us.

destination, where should we go? What should we do? I don’t know. I just know that by very small incisions, very small projects, there is a way that one can actually go there (utopia) and avoid the consumer culture of architectural production. With this process, this path, this vector of desire, this will to establish a new paradigm, the utopianizer will be able to think an architecture. And this architecture exists through different spaces: notions of sensation instead of logic, notions of temporality that work with the present, the future, and the past—although not trying to perpetuate a past, but trying to reinvent it. With this in mind, I am going to provide a series of ways with which to navigate these steps.

HOW TO BECOME A UTOPIANIZER

a way to walk this path. And because this is a path where there is no such thing as a

franch i gilabert

Within this framework of how you become a utopianizer, I want to be able to give you

HOW TO BECOME A UTOPIANIZER One: Go towards Cosmopolitan Ethics. Run away from solipsistic form-shapes. Question how we spend our time, energy, and thoughts. Question how we can make learning more sensible to the issues of our time. We need to think about not only where we spend our time, but where we do not spend it. That said, there is a tendency within our discipline to attach ourselves to certain beliefs, to certain words and terms that erase our ability to think critically; that is, to think ethically. Solipsistic conversations occur, and while productive, I would say that right now they are not enough. As an example, we talk about LEED regulations; those are spaces that do not let us think further about the opportunities at all times. Thinking about ecology, we can take those elements regarding sustainability and rethink architecture, not just by checking some boxes but by actually taking the challenge and thinking of architecture as something that can be reinvented—and in doing so, reinvent the way we think about it. How do architects actually go towards cosmopolitan ethics? How do we think of our position in the world? It is something that is very easy: we just need to make maps. Maps are spaces that allow us to draw territories—territories that still do not exist. We will be able to shape them anew. The only way to be able to find a new thought is by actually contextualizing it through a document that makes evidence of the condition of that situation. The first thing is to construct new territories, and then I will show you examples for everything. Two: Be a World Citizen and Learn to Disagree. Go beyond linguistic, political, and social boundaries. Think big and small; construct relations. Sometimes we forget, being in Charlottesville, being in New York, being in Barcelona, that we are actually standing on the same globe, in the same planet; every single decision counts. How is that actually taken into account in every single project that we do?

Three: Democratize Action. The current models of societal structure follow a pyramidal form based on hierarchical structures of class society, or what I like to call “archaic thought”. This is the social construct that fantasizes the potentiality of every human subject, devoid of the preexisting privileges or acquired social status, performing an equally valuable role within a given society. How we as architects start to think and try to democratize action is very easy: we need to invent new programs. We need to envision new subjects. We can be all handicaps; we can all be the subject that is able to produce a world anew. Four: Free Speech. Go towards expression. Break the icon and the easy metaphor. Onomatopoetic thought: create words. Onomatopoetic thought is something that has nothing to do with the words that already carry a certain inherited meaning and it has nothing to do with pure expression or feelings. It is something that is able to bring things together. How do we express things that do not go into an acquired meaning, but come from what I call the guts, that come from the inner stomach? Can we imagine architecture that is able to talk about things in that way? I hope so. How we think about those things is something that comes from notions of inconsistency or notions of the “decorated shed” or notions of the billboard building. Five:

Unveil Power Structures. For hundreds of years ocular language has not

only constructed the dominant discourse of architectural representation, it has also constructed- through the picture, drawings and maps or social interactions— institutions, cities and territories. To rethink representation, to create a new way to think about architecture—in my case to construct a new sensorium—is a very important tool to unveil power structures and to make fun of “-isms”. Six: Remember the Future in order to Construct the Past. History is not the history of ideas, unfortunately. There are ages in history. First is the age of the powerful person. Only those, who have the power of the news, who have the power of the lobbies, are those who make the first side of history. But then there is the real history that takes in what I call inrapid historians. Those people who spend their times in their departments, in their archives, searching not for the history only of the powerful ones, but the history of those who put forward ideas that can bring new understanding, that can bring the past alive in the present. In order to construct the future we actually need to look to the past, to recover those ideas that were somehow left in those moments. Seven: The most important point is to laugh and to produce goose-bumps, which is in many ways is the most difficult thing. We need to be able to laugh at our own seriousness.

franch i gilabert

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

GO TOWARDS COSMOPOLITAN ETHICS BE A WORLD CITIZEN DEMOCRATIZE ACTION FREE SPEECH UNVEIL POWER STRUCTURES (DENOUNCE -ISMS) REMEMBER THE FUTURE LAUGH (AND PRODUCE GOOSE-BUMPS)

HOW TO BECOME A UTOPIANIZER

THE SEVEN POINTS | HOW TO BE A UTOPIANIZER

The glass is not half full or half empty; there is water to play with.

THE RE-LIGARE INSTITUTE RE-CONNECTS MIND + BODY BY EXPLORING THE 5 SENSES AT 3 SCALES: STREET, BUILDING, BODY MARIA BNINSKI, M. ARCH 2010 ALEX GARRISON, M. ARCH 2010 JOHN KUPSTAS, M. ARCH 2010 SUBMISSION TO THE 2010 AISC NATIONAL STEEL DESIGN COMPETITION Exposing and knitting into urban flows, the Institute reveals the city’s ecology and infrastructure to urban dwellers while making space for the self and the community to rejuvenate and flourish. STEEL STRATEGY | STRUCTURAL EXPERIENCES The Re-Ligare Institute achieves a high level of environmental performance and a rich spatial sequence tuned to reinvigorate the mind-body connection through its use of steel at many scales. Urban scale: The Coop Restaurant and Social Garden revitalize a neglected pedestrian street between the Institute and the city’s major public gathering space. Steel street furniture marks the path to the Institute’s Atrium, creating an urban hinge. Building scale: steel is used as structure, enclosure, environmental mediator, and acoustic element. Body scale: selective contrasts between steel and other materials focus and rejuvenate the body’s five senses.

Exploring the Senses (next page): Smell - Body Garden: The body garden is an oasis defined spatially and conceptually by the smell of living plants and the clean air around them. See - Steam Benches: Subterranean water flows emerge to cool steel benches in the summer time. Touch - Steel Benches: Warm to the touch in the winter and cool in the summer, heated and chilled steel benches make steel a desirable tactile surface. Taste - Work garden: Food grown in the work garden is used in the co-op restaurant or can be picked by the public.

smell

see

touch

taste

ATR I

DEN

DY G

RE-LIGARE INSTITUTE

RES TAU

PED

bninski + garrison + kupstas

ATRIUM

BODY GARDEN

RESTAURANT

PED MALL

North-south site section: The proposal includes new construction to the south, the renovation of an existing building to the north, and the streetscape between them.

URBAN STRATEGY | CHOREOGRAPH + CONNECT “…perception develops from a series of overlapping urban perspectives” - S. Holl, “Phenomenology of Architecture”

Drawing on the heritage of the public bath as a space of community and reflection, as well as individual health and refreshment, the Re-Ligare Institute focuses on integrating its spaces into the existing urban choreography of downtown Charlottesville. Retrofitting unused and under used parts of Charlottesville’s urban center, the Re-Ligare Institute gives back to the city and reduces the use of new materials. This strategy helps to knit together new and existing patterns of movement and use.

bninski + garrison + kupstas

cistern

music + class

bridge connector (beyond)

3_buildingscale

weights + spinning

yoga

stair (behind)

dance

library

lobby

wintergarden

atrium

juice bar

public lecture

sauna

hydrotherapy

clinic + staff

message

building services

hot plunge

RE-LIGARE INSTITUTE

music

cold plunge

showers(w)

showers(m)

geothermal service

Building section: The interplay of suspended steel floor plates and expressive structural forms allows for a logical stratification of program from the subterranean spa levels to the lofted exercise and music rooms.

co-op + body garden section-perspective: view down 5th street and into the restaurant/co-op

BUILDING STRATEGY | SEQUENCE + SENSITIZE “. . . pressing a door handle and entering into a light-washed room can become profound when experienced through sensitized consciousness. To see, to feel these physicalities is to become a subject of the senses.” - S. Holl, “Chapel of St. Ignatius.”

One enters the Institute through the Wind Atrium, the urban hinge connecting outside to inside. The Atrium awakens the visitor’s spatial sense and helps transition focus away from daily concerns through its dramatic, emphatically vertical space cooled and activated by the movement of air and light. The Wind Atrium is a dynamic, adaptive structure with rotating panels and suspended wind chimes that connect the inhabitant to the climatic conditions of the outside environment. From here, the visitor may choose one of three trajectories—into the day lit lecture hall; through the Silent Garden to the Activity Tower; or downward into the grotto-like spaces of the Spa.

interior atrium panel system

building armature

bninski + garrison + kupstas RE-LIGARE INSTITUTE

Atrium Skin: The thickened space between inside and outside provides space for circulation, contemplation, and conversation. (1) Building Armature: A combination of two steel portal frames and two circulation cores provides the basic structure for the entire building, eliminating the need for most internal columns. (2) Suspended Floor Panels: Extruded steel floor cartridges are hung from the portal frames; the open cavities of each panel act as an air delivery network in tandem with an imbedded chilled beam system eliminating the need for a traditional air conditioning system.(3) Kinetic Skin: The performative exterior panel system shields the building from unwanted rain while allowing for light and air to enter during comfortable days and keeping the wind out during the winter.

steel floor cartridge

exterior printed stainless steel panels

cast steel wind chimes

suspended floor panels

kinetic skin

BODY SCALE STRATEGY | FOCUS + EXPERIENCE “The echo of steps on a paved street has an emotional charge because the sound bouncing off the surrounding walls puts us in direct interaction with space . . . We stroke the edges of the space with our ears.” - J. Pallasmaa, “Architecture of the Seven Senses”

The spaces of the Institute are designed to speak strongly to a limited number of senses at a given time. By editing out stimuli and focusing on very specific acoustic, thermal, visual, tactile, smell or taste experiences in a given space, the design provides refuge from the sensory overload of everyday life while providing intense sensory experiences that help focus the mind and body on the moment and space at hand.

SPLIT SECTION-PERSPECTIVE: steel structures the sensory experience

hear

smell

touch

hear

MUSICAL STEEL Drops of water on steel sheets in the spa produce ambient noise that define the spa spatially and experientially.

MIND GARDEN The smell of plants growing on structural cables in the Mind Garden lift the mind above the noise and congestion of the city, isolating and planting the individual in a place of profound calmness.

HOT PLUNGE Steel, warm to the touch, challenges the information one expects to receive from his senses, thereby heightening the experience.

WET WALL Water running down the western wall in the atrium works to cool and dehumidify the air. It creates a calm ambient sound as it trickles down the wall past the stair.

bninski + garrison + kupstas

4-5|music,

classrooms, exercise, + yoga

RE-LIGARE INSTITUTE

3| library + dance

2|mind garden + religare lobby

G| worship + auditorium

hear

touch -1|spa,

therapy, + auditorium

-2| spa

ATRIUM As the center of the urban hinge and the entrance to the building, the sound of the Atriumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wind chimes define the great volume of this room as the defining threshold in the Re-Ligare experience.

BREATHING WALL The shoulder space between the atrium and the outside breathes, resulting in passively controlled air.

BUILDING PLANS N

Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (Michael Levy Bajar)

POTOMAC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER PHOEBE CRISMAN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE Architecture should be conceived as part of a complex series of relationships within the context of a rich and heterogeneous world. One might argue the primary skill of the designer is the ability to intertwine space, form, and material into a legible whole within an ever-changing and highly fluid context. Each system, be it a building, a garden, or an urban strategy, must also be understood as part of many other systems in which it exists as an essential part. Social, ecological, economic, ideological, aesthetic and cultural systems of value are all inextricably linked through a network of relationships. As John Muir noted, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”1 This brief essay examines the theoretical and pedagogical intentions of the Fall 2010 PEREC on the Potomac Studio at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Analytical reductionism was rejected in favor of an integrated design methodology that works across scales—from region to watershed, to district, to building to detail. Thinking systemically necessitated shifts in perception as well as representation. A focus on contextual knowledge and a holistic understanding of complex interactions formed the theoretical underpinning of the studio. The studio is part of my intertwined investigations into unusual or unlikely sites, sustainable strategies for the co-existence

crisman

perec laboratory

POTOMAC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER

field station

newington

woodbridge

washington, d.c.

site

alexandria

newington woodbridge

site

occoquan bay national wildlife refuge figure 1: site map (Kurt Marsh)

figure 2: fixed and floating conditions (Joel Trantham)

of cultural and environmental ecologies at the water’s edge, and designing didactic buildings and landscapes. Recently I pursued this research agenda in three projects along the Elizabeth River and in the design and fabrication of the Learning Barge with U.Va. students.2 In those earlier projects, and in this one as well, working with real world community partners was an essential aspect of a systems approach. Too often academic learning is disengaged and even disdainful of future inhabitants, the client, or the public and their needs and lived experiences. The studio collaborated with Professors Chris Jones and Dann Sklarew, environmental scientists and directors of George Mason University’s Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC), to create green designs for an innovative public educational venue and research outpost at the confluence of the Potomac and Occoquan Rivers. PEREC’s mission is “to utilize the tools of scientific research, restoration, education, and policy analysis to help society understand and sustain natural processes in ecosystems, watersheds, and landscapes.”3 Students considered how their designs could physically support PEREC’s three research foci: restoration of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, sustainability of natural ecosystems in suburban areas, and the impact of global climate change on the management of aquatic ecosystems. Located twenty miles south of Washington, D.C. along the Interstate 95/Amtrak corridor, the complex and contradictory site is situated in the new town development of Belmont Bay between the sprawling Woodbridge suburbs and the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge (fig. 1). The program contains three

crisman POTOMAC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER figure 3: highlighting the Center’s educational role (top: Tina Cheng, bottom: Sophia Lee)

distinct components: a Geospatial Research and Training Facility, PEREC, and a Public Science Center, which require research and teaching labs, indoor and outdoor classrooms, public exhibition space, K-12 discovery lab, library, computer and virtual reality labs, offices, retail, and boat and equipment storage. Students designed two separate architectural elements to house these activities—a fixed structure on an urban block along Harbor Street contains the majority of the lab and geospatial research, while the public educational element floats in Belmont Bay (fig. 2). Several intertwined questions were explored during the design process: How can the specific history, culture, climate and ecosystem of this place influence the Center’s design? How can the Center make a positive impact as a green demonstration project

figure 4: breaking down barriers and combining unlikely uses (left: Daphne Lasky, right: Ben Hartigan)

across a wide range of scales? How can the architecture contribute to a model of learning that emphasizes the importance of the physical environment and human engagement through the bodily senses? How will the Center be formally, spatially, or materially different than the typical university lab building? How can the new Center serve as a model for how to build wisely and dwell with minimal mechanical intervention and negative environmental impact? It was crucial that both buildings were designed to maximize human health and happiness, while meeting LEED Platinum standards and minimizing resource consumption during construction and inhabitation. The Center is intended to create a new type of educational experience for the community and each project was designed to educate about sustainability through form, space, materials, and systems. In addition, the studio proposed several opportunities for community use of the Center. In all cases, student proposals were designed to powerfully contribute to the district of Belmont Bay and the region in which it is located, to establish a translatable model for sustainable development, and to create a significant public presence announcing the Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important social and educational role (fig. 3).

crisman POTOMAC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER figure 5: inside and outside spaces (Kurt Marsh)

The studio examined abstract ethical and theoretical concepts, while exploring and resolving a specific design problem through creative and physical meansâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;ideas and things. Students developed a mode of inquiry through an iterative process of critical thinking and critical making. For instance, they created strategies for reclaiming leftover places and materials while motivated by an ethical intention that remains open to time, use, ecology, reception, and interpretation. They studied the threshold between public and private life by combining unlikely uses and exploring the environmental, social, and aesthetic benefits of breaking down unnecessary barriers between these realms (fig. 4). They designed rich rooms and spaces both inside and outside (fig. 5). They employed strategies to improve dwelling for inhabitants while reducing building energy use and achieved material and tectonic resolution with integrated structural, envelope, and environmental systems and building services (fig. 6). They investigated the importance of the bodily senses to architecture through texture, light, material, sound, temperature, color, and other qualitative phenomena. They understood temporal change by hour, day, season, year, and tide and explored threshold and the liminal zone between land and water (fig. 7). Ultimately, they studied the interconnectedness of architecture, human culture, and the built and ecological environment while interacting and collaborating with project partners. This collaborative studio investigation demonstrates the critical importance of thinking in systems to work across scales from complex urban environments to detailed architectural making. The congested conditions of Northern Virginia along the Potomac are an exemplary location in which to research and test design strategies for ecological

figure 6: integrated structural and environmental systems (top: Ben Hartigan, bottom: Tina Cheng)

regeneration and sustainable architecture. Such a holistic approach draws upon the University of Virginia School of Architecture’s greatest strengths: the capacity to understand complex connections across a range of environmental, social, ethical, and aesthetic systems, and to creatively embody this understanding through complex spatial, formal, and materially rich designs for architecture, landscapes, and cities.

1 John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1911) 2 See Phoebe Crisman, “Working on the Elizabeth River,” Journal of Architectural Education, v.61, issue 1 (2007): 84-91. Also Phoebe Crisman, “Environmental and Social Action in the Studio: Three Live Projects along the Elizabeth River” in Agency: Working with Uncertain Architectures, F. Kossak, D. Petrescu, eds. (London: Routledge, 2010) 3 See the PEREC website for more information: http://perec.gmu.edu

crisman POTOMAC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER figure 7: understanding temporal change (top images: Emily Miyares (light and tide), bottom images: Lauren Hackney (solar path))

EDUCATION AS CLIMATIC EXPERIENCE POTOMAC ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER DAVID ERICSSON M.ARCH 2011 The Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC) is defined in two elements: masonry volume and parasol. The masonry volume houses most of the building’s working program, while the parasol houses the public science center as well as the building’s collections and growth room. These two come together around an impluvium, which brings fresh air into the building, and serves as a light core. At the base of the impluvium, there is a courtyard that acts as a mesocosim. This inner void is lined with the same material as the parasol: ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) inflatable plastic panels. This system is adaptable to various climates, and will act as a visible marker of the seasonal variation occurring at the site. Along with the climate responsive building skin, the parasol will also contain “seasonal aids”: radiant panels, spray mist system, and variable lighting systems. The rest of the building program is engaged around this element, with a public circulation spine that takes the inhabitant from the ground floor up to the viewing terrace. Along this spine, the user passes the indoor classrooms on the second floor, the outdoor classroom and teaching labs on the third floor, and the viewing terrace and public science center on the fourth floor.

EDUCATION AS CLIMATIC EXPERIENCE

ericsson

From the fourth floor view terrace, the PEREC floating education center is visible at the edge of the marina, tying back to the main PEREC center by a promenade. The promenade features a bioswale which filters runoff from the surrounding community before hitting the Potomac River. The outpost itself is defined similarly as a masonry volume and parasol, with the addition of a learning platform which utilizes a container barge. From here students and researchers can access the Potomac. CLASSROOM The classroom is defined by a large opening facing south-east overlooking a bosque of yellowwoods and redbuds. Using Ecotect, I was able to obtain radiance graphs which measure how many hours of daylight were received across an area of the site. This data informed the decision to place a line of trees as a shading device for the south-facing classrooms. Using deciduous trees allowed for winter solar gains, while blocking summer light. RADIANCE STUDIES Initial studies were conducted across the site to understand adjacencies, shading issues, and the amount of energy in BTUs that might hit a surface, in efforts to see if solar or thermal mass was an option.

EDUCATION AS CLIMATIC EXPERIENCE

ericsson

SPRING Spring had moderate temperatures that fell in or near comfort level, as well as prevailing winds for which temperatures were on average around 15ºC (59ºF) from the south, but from the west around 10ºC (50ºF). This reinforces the decision to place the larger openings of the building to the south. Graphically representing the windrose with colors that were more indicative of wetness helped reinforce the climatic feel of this season.

SUMMER Summer had more extreme temperatures that rose above the comfort level, as well as prevailing winds for which temperatures were on average around 20ºC (68ºF) from the south, but from the west around 25ºC (77ºF). This again reinforces the decision to place the larger openings of the building to the south; graphically representing the windrose with colors that were more indicative of humid warmth helped reinforce the climatic feel of this season.

ericsson Fall had moderate temperatures that fell in or near comfort level, as well as prevailing winds for

EDUCATION AS CLIMATIC EXPERIENCE

FALL

which temperatures were on average around 20ºC (68ºF) from the south, but from the west around 10-15ºC (50-60ºF). Graphically representing the windrose with colors that were more indicative of warmth and light helped reinforce the climatic feel of this season (with high solar radiance due to decrease in humidity throughout the season).

WINTER Winter had more extreme temperatures that drop below the comfort level, as well as prevailing winds for which temperatures were on average around 5-10ºC (32-41ºF) from the south, but from the west around 0ºC (32ºF). During winter the large openings will be closed by a series of rolling metal doors which will be insulated to prevent too much heat loss to the cold conditions. Graphically representing the windrose with colors that were more indicative of cold precipitation helped reinforce the climatic feel of this season.

EDUCATION AS CLIMATIC EXPERIENCE

ericsson

HOUSING DUNLOW RURAL, AFFORDABLE, PANELIZED HOUSING IN APPALACHIA MARILYN W. MOEDINGER M.ARCH 2010 SOM FELLOW 2010 Appalachia produces vast quantities of mineral wealth, yet its people have experienced persistent poverty since the 19th century. Working against systemic economic, cultural, environmental, and political patterns, local communities face an uphill climb to build infrastructure, small businesses, and jobs, and to provide health, educational, and social services. Substandard housing persists in the region, but could the need for housing be used as an opportunity to catalyze local communities? I propose a solution to persistent housing shortages using a prefabricated panel system, constructed from materials found at local lumber yards that can be assembled using basic carpentry tools. These panels, using several different configurations, will be customizable to specific Appalachian microclimates and family needs, and, by their production in a local factory, provide jobs and economic stimulus for Appalachian communities.

something to build with, we could go on.” I propose providing “something to build with,” not just a product [panel] but a process [way to build] and a reimagined context [economic system] that is both specific and responsive to Appalachian cultures and environments.

HOUSING DUNLOW

is choked to death, how is anything going to grow? We got the people, if we had

moedinger

As one Mingo County resident explains, “If you can’t have homes and everything

ECONOMY/COMMUNITY

HOUSING SYSTEM PANEL

redesign PRODUCT redesign PROCESS redesign ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

appalachia [today]

appalachia [future]

lumber mills

interior window trim [S4S 1x2 pine]

gypsum wallboard plants

1/2â&#x20AC;? drywall or plywood

interior jamb extensions [S4S 1x4 pine]

2x6 framing

spray foam rig

spray foam insulation

1/2â&#x20AC;? OSB with housewrap and furring strips

wayne, wv

kermit, wv

window [fiberglass]

exterior jamb extensions [1x6 borate]

panel: from whence it comes

window manufacturing

The panels are not only assembled at a local factory, they are comprised of materials that can be acquired within about 150 miles. Stimulating local production and use of materials keeps income generated from extraction processes local and strengthens local communities with increased tax revenue and more jobs. COMMUNITY NEEDS As a rural community, many services and material resources are quite a distance from Dunlow. Though Wayne is only 22 miles away from Dunlow, many people live on gravel roads, roads unmaintained by the the state, or roads accessible only by four wheel drive vehicles. Without retail trade, industry, or services, the Dunlow area offers very little in terms of job opportunities and without local jobs, not much hope for economic stability or ability to provide basic needs for families. POTENTIAL MARKET Though the N+W Railway was rerouted around Dunlow, the state road that replaced it connects Dunlow in a more economically useful way for small communities than the mainline coal hauling railroad; Dunlow remains close to major interstates and railroads. Within 500 miles of Dunlow, there are 11 major metropolitan areas with a total population of nearly 16 million people. These populations extend the potential market for the panels manufactured in a plant located in Dunlow or other, similar Appalachian communities.

HOUSING DUNLOW

union, wv

pine grove, wv

ronceverte, wv

flat top, wv

princeton, wv

glenville, wv

beckley, wv

mount hope, wv

buffalo, wv west columbia, wv

moundsville, wv

moedinger

saltville, va

roanoke, va

huntington [pop 49,185] kenova [pop 3485]

50 MILES

ceredo [pop 1675]

MARSHALL UNIVERSITY TARGET/WALMART SHOPPING MALL RT 64 SOUTHERN WVA COMMUNITY COLLEGE NS YARDS wayne [pop 1105] 25 MILES GROCERY STORE WALMART FAST FOOD GAS STATION BUILDING SUPPLY STORE BANK HIGH SCHOOL GOVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T RESOURCES

east lynn [pop 750] fort gay [pop 819] louisa [pop 2018]

dunlow [pop 50]

10 MILES GAS STATION HARWARE STORE CHURCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COAL MINE

williamson [pop 3414]

community needs

PITTSBURGH COLUMBUS INDIANAPOLIS

CINCINNATI

CHARLESTON HUNTINGTON

LOUISVILLE LEXINGTON

CHARLOTTESVILLE

DUNLOW BECKLEY

LEXINGTON

BLACKSBURG

500,000 - 1,000,000

GREENSBORO KNOXVILLE

1,000,001 - 1,500,000 1,500,001 - 2,000,000 2,000,001 - 2,500,000

CHARLOTTE

INTERSTATE MAINLINE RAILROAD

potential market

site elements

ground

house elements

garden

foundation

+ road [public face]

roof + porch

water collection

NORTH FACING SLOPE; ROAD ABOVE HOUSE

circulation + storage living

house

domestic water source

tree

entry

SOUTH FACING SLOPE; ROAD BELOW HOUSE

A MATRIX OF DESIGN RESPONSES TO SITE By understanding a series of basic site element relationships, a variety of sites throughout Appalachia can accommodate the panelized house system. Clients can determine the location of their garden, house, and water source based on site analysis, location of road, topography, sun orientation, and wind patterns.

week 1 1:mobilize 2:assess

week 2

week 3

week 4

week 6

week 5

3: dig + clear 5: span

week 7

8: support 9: wall

week 8

week 9

10: stitch

week 10

week 11

week 12

week 13

week 14

week 15

week 16

wek 17

week 18

week 19

week 20

12: live

professional assembly 4: anchor 6: frame 1:mobilize 2:assess

3: dig + clear 4: anchor

non-professional assembly

construction timeline

7: protect 5: span 6: frame

11: clad 7: protect 8: support

9: wall

10: stitch

11: clad

12: live

week 21

The construction timeline shows these two possible labor scenarios. The cost per square foot with professional local labor would be $55.76 per square foot, and with volunteer labor would be $40.91 per square foot. All costs include tax, delivery fees,

moedinger

Once on site, the panels can be assembled by professionals or non-professionals.

HOUSING DUNLOW

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

The panels are designed to be factory built with standard lumber and fasteners. They are four feet by eight feet, weigh about 170 pounds, and can be assembled using basic carpentry tools, either by professionals or non-professionals. There are four basic window locations, and two bearing conditions [load bearing and non-load bearing]. The wall panels are structural without insulation, and can thus accommodate any kind of insulation; the roof and floor panels are

local

factory-made

insulated panels (SIPs).

structural

attachment zone

panel facts wall panels dimensions: weight: qty in prototype:

4’x8’ 170 lbs each 64

roof + floor panels dimensions: weight: qty in prototype: uninsulated:

4‘x17’ 360 lbs each 24 roof, 24 floor 4 roof, 4 floor

factory direct: panel

non load-bearing

load bearing

STEP 4

moedinger

STEP 8

STEP 7

STEP 6

STEP 5

2 3 4 5

9 10 11

STEP 3

HOUSING DUNLOW

STEP 2

4 3 2

STEP 1

7 8 tools needed

labor needed

roof structure

roof and floor panels

wall panels

1. roof panel 2. [2] 2x8 structural spine 3. routed chase for electrical 4. electrical wiring 5. nailing splines 6. floor panel 7. floor panel connector plates 8. LVL beam 9. 1/2” OSB scab panel 10. 5.5” siding [Hardi, borate, etc] 11. drywall spline cover 12. site installed foam insulation 13. chase for electrical

finishing

low

high

full

none

CHAMELEON BEN DANCE, BS ARCH 2011 ELIZABETH FARRELL, BS ARCH 2011 DJ HICKMAN, BS ARCH 2011 Chameleon is a modular design that responds to environmental and social conditions in less than 1000 square feet. It is adaptable to different lifestyles and social situations. The main organizing concept is an open living space radiating out of a dense core. While this design parti remains the same, two parts of the design are variable—the facades and the modules. This project was part of the ecoMOD XS design studio in Fall 2010. Within the studio, students formed teams of 2-3 to develop a design for an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). ADUs are small residences that sit in the backyard of existing homes, providing unique social situations and increasing density. All five designs were less than 800 square feet and employed passive design features. The Chameleon design was the product of a three-student collaboration that lasted for about half of the semester. FACADES The name “Chameleon” comes from the ADU’s ability to be altered based on client preference. While the facades retain their basic design characteristics, the material type and articulation can be changed for each. This flexibility allows the Chameleon to blend into different sites and

dance + farrell + hickman CHAMELEON two-story accessible and two-story recessed units

respond to different client preferences. The apertures and thicknesses of each facade are designed on solar orientation. The south and east facades in particular are designed to allow inhabitants to connect to the outdoors. The south facade is a double-skin system designed to benefit the thermal comfort of the interior. The glass windows are mediated by louvers, which pleasantly filter the sun into the space throughout the year. The east facade includes sliding screens and sliding glass doors, allowing inhabitants to alter their relationship to the outdoors based on the season and time of day. MODULES There are three floor plan variations: a two story accessible layout, a two story recessed layout, and a studio layout. These plan variations are constructed out of modules, each measuring approximately 10’ x 20’ x 20’. The module design allows the majority of the ADU to be pre-assembled off-site. Each module will be constructed out of SIPs panels, with the facades also attached off-site. There are three options for living modules, and three options for wet modules. The modules within each of these categories retain similar characteristics, with slight variations. Each floor of the three designs is made up of one living module and one wet module. The living module contains living and bedroom space, while the wet module holds bathroom, mechanical, and storage space. CONFIGURATION 1: TWO STORY ACCESSIBLE, 735 SQUARE FEET The two story accessible layout was designed to accommodate people with mobility

WET MODULES

issues. It offers a lift for access between floors, and includes an open plan layout. The

W2 - master bathroom - wall houses power for electrical needs in bedroom - space remains open for lift

W3 - accessible bathroom storage and mechanical space

L2 - bedroom space - gives open space for closet/study area - option for exterior patio open to sunken courtyard

L3 - accessible bedroom and living space - includes full kitchen

LIVING MODULES

W1 - includes wall that provides electricity/plumbing to house first floor bathroom - power for handicapped lift

L1 - dining space and living space - opens to southern porch

dance + farrell + hickman CHAMELEON

screen options

exploded wall type options for two-story accessible unit

lower floor offers a full kitchen and half bath as well as a living space that opens onto a patio to the south. The upper floor consists of a spacious bedroom and fully accessible bath, which also houses a laundry unit. The target clients for this design are couples of any age and although this configuration accommodates those with disabilities, ablebodied people could also comfortably use this layout. CONFIGURATION 2: TWO STORY RECESSED, 700 SQUARE FEET The two story recessed layout gives the ADU a low profile but still provides two floors of living space. The upper floor includes an open living space, a full kitchen with bar seating, and a half-bath. The lower floor offers an outdoor room adjacent to the bedroom. This covered outdoor space connects the lower floor to the outdoor living space which wraps around the south and east sides of the ADU. This design offers ample outdoor space for group gatherings or play, and might best fit the needs of a young couple, or bachelor(ette). CONFIGURATION 3: STUDIO, 440 SQUARE FEET The studio layout provides an option for one story living. The living module is an open plan with space for a bed and seating area. The wet module includes a fully accessible bathroom as well as a full kitchen. This design would be appropriate for single people of all ages.

LIVE[ABLE] HOUSE THOUGHTFUL DESIGN + ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS JUSTIN HERSHBERGER, M.ARCH 2011 MARYLIN MOEDINGER, M.ARCH 2010 The following text and diagrams explain how, and why, we set out to design a house that would embody the three ideals set out by the USGBC’s “Natural Talent Design Competition: Small, Green Affordable” competition. The competition brief required a detailed cost estimate (with construction costs totaling less than $100,000), detailed drawings and construction strategy, a completed LEED checklist, compliance with all local zoning regulations (including one that requires new homes’ finished floor level to be 7 feet above grade), a house that “fit with the aesthetic context of the Broadmoor neighborhood,” was less than 850 square feet, was fully ADA accessible, and had two bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. The house had to comply with hurricane resistant design standards, and have a deep pile foundation as well. Though not required, we also built an energy model of live[able] house, showing it to perform 55 percent better than IECC 2004.

hershberger + moedinger LIVE[ABLE] HOUSE

Live[able] House can fulfill a variety of clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; needs on typically narrow Broadmoor lots. As the ramp is structurally independent from the house, each client can decide to build the ramp initially, or when they need it later. The roof can easily accept a photovoltaic array, and the layout of the house allows it to grow longer for additional living space, if needed. Depending on budget and lot size, storage sheds or additional below-house storage can also be added.

While the competition specified the context for the house as a New Orleans neighborhood, we grounded the design in thinking that could be applied more broadly to a system of affordable housing solutions across the country. We were deliberate in our choices to simplify many formal aspects of the house in order to reduce construction costs, while still imbuing the house with a modern, efficient design. The primary sustainable features of the Live[able] House are derived from its orientation and careful consideration of ventilation and shadingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;issues that are not site specific. When applied to a different context, these considerations would remain consistent, while others would be adapted. For example, in Indiana, the money saved on substituting a standard foundation for the pile foundation could be applied to added insulation or even more energy efficient appliances. We were tasked with designing a site specific house, but the strategies employed are meant to be applied across an entire system of affordable, environmentally sound housing.

section perspective, utility and storage zone

LIVE[ABLE] + ACCESS[ABLE] Small houses require a careful attention to storage needs of the occupant; Live[able] House’s storage and utility zone provides ample, multifunctional storage that is accessible and integrated into the layout of the house. The utility and storage zone takes every opportunity to synergize accessibility, storage, and livability. The design adheres to HUD’s “Residential Remodeling and Universal Design”, ADA and is fully accessible. SUSTAIN[ABLE] While Live[able] House uses LEED as a sustainability metric, we made design decisions that took into consideration LEED, cost, context, livability, and aesthetics. The competition brief required LEED Platinum, which Live[able] House exceeds SITE | LOCATION | CONTEXT Live[able] House is located in the Broadmoor neighborhood, which is close to many urban resources, including public transit. There is no conventional turf in the project; low maintenance grasses and hardscapes make caring for the landscape easier for an elderly occupant. All hardscapes are permeable [ramp, permeable concrete paving, or gravel], and paving is located so that the entire site is accessible to someone in a wheelchair, including a raised, accessible vegetable garden in the back yard. WATER EFFICIENCY Live[able] House’s water efficiency points come from the use of water saving appliances and native, drought tolerant plants to reduce irrigation demand. Instead of using potable water, irrigation is provided by rain collection barrels. The half bath utilizes

hershberger + moedinger LIVE[ABLE] HOUSE universal versal design

hurricane resistance strategies

hvac

water

storage

Energy awareness. Live[able] House’s homeowner awareness system alerts occupants to red light/green light days. On days when conditions are appropriate (lower humidity, comfortable temperature), a green light in the kitchen, connected to a simple exterior thermometer/humidistat, alerts the occupant to shut down the mechanical ventilation system and open windows to rely on passive ventilation. On “red-light” days, where the humidity and temperature are too high to rely on natural ventilation, occupants use the high-efficency HVAC system. section perspective, looking north

a Sink PositiveTM, which conserves water and contributes to homeowner awareness about water usage. ENERGY EFFICIENCY Energy efficiency is proven in our energy model: with energy bills hovering around $27 per month, better windows, proper air sealing through the use of foam insulation, use of 2x6 walls, and good quality, properly sized HVAC equipment prove their direct impact on residents’ operating costs. Live[able] House employs two split ductless heat pumps. Fresh air is brought into the house via an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), which does double duty exhausting the bathrooms; dehumidifcation is provided by a unit in the utility room. Domestic hot water is provided by a heat pump water heater; hot water runs are insulated and kept less than twenty feet in length. MATERIALS + RESOURCES Live[able] House achieves LEED points in this category by employing advanced and efficient framing techniques, including two stud corners, ladder blocking at “T”

products wherever possible, including recycled content gypsum board, Volatile Organic Compound-free paints, sealants, caulks, etc., fly ash and local aggregate in all concrete, and hardwood floors throughout. Construction waste diversion will be maximized with many homes being built in the neighborhood simultaneously. INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Live[able] House maximizes points in this category by utilizing good filters, careful management of construction activities, as well as pre-occupancy flush, dehumidifcation,

hershberger + moedinger

designed framing plans. Live[able] House uses local and environmentally preferable

LIVE[ABLE] HOUSE

intersections, 24 inch on center wall, floor, and roof framing, framing cut lists, and carefully

and elimination of a garage. Again, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;red light/green lightâ&#x20AC;? sensor system engages the occupant in operating their house, educating him or her about which days they should be relying on the mechanical systems for comfort or for the health of the building. DUR[ABLE] Hurricane design has been considered in the reusable hurricane shutters, structural straps throughout the framing and foundation, and consideration of roof overhang size. Durability measures include use of Hardi Plank siding with rainscreen detailing, water resistant flooring throughout, non-paper faced wall board in bathrooms, all ductwork included within the envelope, whole house dehumidification, spray foam insulation, and adherence to the Thermal Bypass Checklist.

ON THE WATER: PALISADE BAY CATHERINE SEAVITT HARRY S. SHURE VISITING PROFESSOR On the Water: Palisade Bay is a projected transformation of the Upper Bay of New York and New Jersey in the face of certain climate change and sea level rise. Funded by the Fellows of the American Institute of Architects’ Latrobe Prize in 2007 and led by Guy Nordenson, Adam Yarinsky, and myself, this project includes the collaboration of many others, including engineers, architects, landscape architects, and planners. This research resulted in the publication of our book, and was the “backstory” of the 2010 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, curated by Chief Curator of Architecture and Design Barry Bergdoll, entitled “Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront”. Our proposal for the Upper Bay presents a “soft” infrastructural alternative to hard engineering techniques. Soft infrastructure is a very different approach than the zero-tolerance, emergency management alternative of a storm surge barrier. These barriers, adopted by cities such as Rotterdam and London, are large-scale, moveable seawalls that would close in the event of a storm or hurricane approaching the harbor. One such solution for the New York region is being studied by a group of engineers at Stony Brook University, who are proposing three moveable but impermeable storm gates at three points: the Verrazano Narrows to the south, the Long Island Sound to the north, and the entrance to the Kill van Kull to the southwest. Alternatively, we are studying ways of designing more incremental, soft infrastructures that might address the problem of storm surge and flooding in an adaptive, absorptive, and incremental manner. In addition, we see this climate crisis as a moment of potential, one in which we might rethink our region, and transform the catalyst figure of the Upper Bay into a gathering place for the region.

master plan

combined sewer overflows

conceptual plan

The word “palisade” in our title carries three meanings—plant ecology at a cellular level (the palisade cell, responsible for photosynthesis and the production of energy), geological formations (the palisade sill, an upward intrusion of molten magma forming a vertical cliff), and man-made fortifications (the palisade fence, constructed of individual wooden stakes bound together with cord). The Palisades, the name of vertical cliffs north of the Bay along the western banks of the Hudson River opposite Manhattan, were first called “rocks that look like rows of trees” by the Lenape Native Americans— the phrase became “Weehawken,” now the name of the town atop these cliffs opposite Manhattan. Palisade derives from the Latin word palus, meaning stake, and by extension, boundary. The possibility of creating protective yet porous boundaries, across both politically staked borders and along the ecological edge of water and land, deeply influences this research and our master plan proposal. The terrain of the Upper Bay has a long geologic history of flooding. The southernmost point of our site, the Verrazano Narrows, aligns with the southern terminus of the Wisconsin Ice Sheet, the most recent glaciation which ended approximately 20,000 years ago. The glacier’s terminus is the site of a ridge of rock debris deposited at its southern limit; this is known as the terminal moraine. The glacier was also responsible for gouging out the canyons and valleys to the north and deepening the bed of the Hudson River, the southernmost glacial fjord in the Northern Hemisphere. The ice sheet covering the present-day terrain of New York City was over 1000 feet thick; when the glacier retreated and its ice melted, the huge volume of water produced drowned the mouth of the Hudson, and flooded a huge area around this region.

We were particularly interested in examining the Upper Bay not only because of the massive impact that sea level rise and potential storm surge from hurricanes would

consequential. Conservative scientific estimates predict a two-foot sea level rise by 2080, but a rapid ice-melt (RICE) scenario from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could result in a four-foot sea level rise by the end of this century. This dimension is a static rise—things become much more serious when this higher baseline of water is combined with the dynamic systems of hurricanes and their resultant storm surges. Our GIS (Geographic Information Systems) inundation analysis of the National Hurricane Center’s SLOSH model (Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes) shows

ON THE WATER: PALISADE BAY

be gained from an adaptive soft infrastructure. The effects of flooding are serious and

seavitt

have on this densely populated region, but also for the regional benefits that might

the massive regional inundation consequences of category one, two, three, and four hurricanes when pushed through the Verrazano Narrows. We overlaid major systems of transportation onto this SLOSH map, revealing the vulnerability of transportation in the region. This is particularly acute when transportation is in the proximity of the waterfront. Our research began with a focus on a history of the waterfront edge, the limit between water and land. This line in plan has transformed radically over time within our region.

National Hurricane Center’s SLOSH Model (Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes): Category one hurricanes are indicated in dark green, category two in light green, category three in orange, and category four in red.

101

Before the late 19th century, anyone who owned waterfront property could create landfill (evocatively called “made land,” on the Viele Map of 1874) and extend their docks as far into the surrounding waters as they wanted. In the 1870s, New York City established a municipal body called the Department of Docks, which established and regulated the limits of the pier head line and the bulkhead line. The pier head line limited the extension of waterfront piers out into the water, and the bulkhead line was the point from which the piers might spring from the land. No further landfill was allowed beyond this newly established bulkhead, nor might a pier extend beyond the pier head line. By the early 20th century, this zone between the bulkhead line and the pier head line had been striated with a fringe of docks. We became particularly interested in this fringe zone, which we thought might be reconfigured as a variable gradient between water and land. Using historic maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) archive, we created a composite map of one hundred years of transformations of the flats, shoals, and edges of the Upper Bay. Parallel to this site research, we did some typological research. We examined strategies of edge conditions in two orientations, parallel and perpendicular to the water’s edge. Parallel strategies included wetlands, reefs, breakwaters, seawalls. Perpendicular strategies included tributaries, piers, and slipways. In both conditions, we arrayed the typologies from most pervious to most impervious. With both the parallel and perpendicular strategies, the extremes are the seawall/flood gate. Analysis revealed a line in plan, a vertical wall in section. We wanted to shift our own design strategies and proposal toward the other extreme, the wetland/tributary. Here, analysis revealed a wide zone in plan, a sloped gradient in section. Our catalog of edge typologies led us to a precise mapping of the actual edge conditions, varying from seawall to wetland, along the entire waterfront perimeter of the Upper Bay. Using precise LIDAR data within our GIS model, we created a document we call the Edge Atlas, a series of forty-eight plates, documenting the height of existing seawalls as well as the slope of revetments. Each waterfront plate also overlays the limits of the FEMA one hundred-year and five hundred-year floodplains. This digital edge data was then merged with our topographic and bathymetric datasets, creating a very precise model which we imported into a fluid dynamic analysis program (AdCirc). We were thus able to test the performance of our proposed “soft infrastructure” by running a digitally simulated storm through the AdCirc model. Our strategic approach to soft infrastructure for the Upper Bay is a series of interventions within expanded edges (the zone between the bulkhead and pier head lines) and shallow flats (areas of limited bathymetric depth). No strategies would interfere with

edges

flats

103

ON THE WATER: PALISADE BAY

seavitt

subway car reefs

existing shipping channels, to allow for the future possibilities of a shared public and working waterfront. We considered strategies that would serve to attenuate wave energy as well as absorb floodwaters. Again, we looked to abstracted typologies which might perform well along the edges or within the flats. Strategies for the flats included pile fields, fin walls, reefs, and mounds; strategies for the edges included slipways, piers, peninsulas, and basins. The first strategy developed for the Palisade Bay master plan is the establishment of wetlands and reefs. Wetlands are proposed in areas of the bay which are extremely vulnerable to inundation, given the possibility of a one hundred-year flood. Reefs are proposed for the shallow offshore flats, in zones which had previously been mudflats and shellfish habitat. We are proposing the use of retired subway cars, currently donated to other coastal states, to create artificial reefs. These train cars, stripped of their interior finishes and dropped into offshore waters, have been very successful at establishing habitat for various organisms. The second type of strategy for Palisade Bay is the implementation of an archipelago of small artificial islands in areas of shallow depth. During our research phase, we found

a compelling artificial island constructed from fill on our site, just south of the Bayonne Bridge near the Staten Island shore. Shooters Island, built from dredged rubble, was

around the island. The site became valuable habitat for nesting herons, and the island is now protected by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation under the Forever Wild jurisdiction. We found the aerial image of this island evocative, as it hovered in a zone of entropy, moving from industry to nature. We saw this as an apt metaphor for our interventions. A constructed artificial island type that we found appealing was a caisson island

ON THE WATER: PALISADE BAY

on the island had been left to decay for over one hundred years in the shallow waters

seavitt

the site of an abandoned shipbuilding company. All of the ships and barges remaining

developed in Cherbourg, France in the eighteenth century. These hollow rings of lashed wooden posts were towed offshore by ships and then sunk, creating artificial reefs in the Atlantic. We considered how this strategy might be implemented as a clustered field of islands in the shallow flats of the Upper Bay. Given the circular form of the islands and the dynamic currents of the bay, we also examined how the accumulation of sediment might affect this island field, further stabilizing and building these islands. We rigged up an old water table and, using just food coloring and a slow flow of water, tested various island shapes and configurations. The experiments indicated how sedimentation might occur over time, and how the multidirectional currents might move through various arrays of islands.

water table

105

water table detail

The third strategy for the master plan is the extension of piers and excision of slips, working within a gradient zone between water and land. Piers and slips are of course part of the nautical history of the Manhattan waterfront, projected disruptions of the edge line. We thought it useful to consider the repurposing of these techniques to disperse wave energy and allow the tidal variance of water to again enter into and retreat from the city. Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waterfront edge, particularly in the case of Manhattan, is a continuous vertical granite-faced sea wall. Our intent is to consider transforming this highly constructed seawall into a contemporary version of the former maritime edge conditions of pier, slip, and gradient slope. Piers might be extended out beyond the pier head line in order to create zones of still water and provide a break in the wave energy. Slips incised into the land, interior to the bulkhead line, could serve as a spatial volume that could contain excess water in the event of flooding or storm surge. And these slips could also serve as absorptive bioswales to capture and filter runoff from the city streets, preventing additional outfall from an overcharged combined sewage system. Through these three strategies of wetlands and reefs, archipelago islands, and piers and slips, we developed a new master plan for the region. On the Water: Palisade Bay is an attempt to address a way of making infrastructure that is softer than the typical emergency responses of hard-edged engineering. By deploying strategically

resilient and iterative methods of infrastructure to address both future sea level rise and the current risks of flooding and storm surge, we have also created the possibility

from Veniceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vaporetto system, we propose a public inter-borough and inter-state water-based transportation system. Thus the waters of the Bay are transformed from an empty void to the very infrastructure used to facilitate movement from waterfront to waterfront.

ON THE WATER: PALISADE BAY

sense of place within the New York/New Jersey Region. And, with inspiration drawn

seavitt

of improving the health of the estuarine environment as well as generating a stronger

all images courtesy Latrobe Research Team

107

EXPERIMENTS IN INTENSITY HUANGMARSHWORKSHOP JIE HUANG, M.ARCH 2011 KURT MARSH, M.ARCH | MLA 2012 HuangMarshWorkshop is a collaboration between designers Jie Huang and Kurt Marsh. The teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current interests focus on the combined use of digital fabrication and manual construction to produce adaptable installations that offer shifting aesthetic experiences to their participants. There is consistent interest in bringing moments of spatial and experiential intensity to our overly comfortable constructed environments. The work is an exploration into ways of creating adaptable and intense spaces articulated by thresholds and edges of varying perceptual solidity. The aim, always, is to create spaces that are at once connected and distinct, that can offer different sensory experiences while maintaining spatial continuity and design coherence. These soft spaces can then be composed in networks, suggest paths of movement, and invite exploration and interaction.

The following is a collection of three

representative projects from HuangMarshWorkshop.

huang + marsh EXPERIMENTS IN INTENSITY original collaboration with Erin Root

109

reflecting radiation, providing shade capturing radiation, deflecting wind

CLIMATIC FABRICS On an earth laid barren by the scorching sun, people wander in packs searching for water and food. Their need for shelter has changed. They can no longer rely on the thick walls of conventional buildings. A solution is found in an age-old technique for extending agricultural growing seasons. Shade fabrics are developed into portable modules that are assembled to variably mediate exposure to the elements. The modules have a reflective side that deflects radiation on hot days and captures it on frigid nights. They aggregate and snake across formerly abandoned roofscapes, and create temporary encampments in harsh expanses.

The Aluminet fabric was once used in the hill towns of Italy to extend the growing season of succulent tomatoes. The tomato plants stopped producing flesh long ago â&#x20AC;&#x201C; now seeds are dispersed in shriveled satchels, bleached a milky pastel pink. The fabric has become our livelihood. We sewed it in layers and stretched it across lightweight frames to create modules that are assembled and dissembled, incessantly. We make patterns with them, configurations that we shift and move about to block the sun, to stop the dust, and to focus idle hands. Then we strap them to our backs and move on, like herds of ragged dragonflies crawling across the dirt. We drag down the hill toward the prospect of lazy afternoon company. Perhaps they have an old chessboard, or stories to tell. Maybe there is someone among them who remembers, who can conjure images of emerald palaces dripping cool shadows. Night presents very different threats. The wind brings not only dust, but a dry frost that bites. Without the sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beating, the earth cools and the sky opens. The stars are bright, but they offer no warmth, and their appearance starts a short countdown to temperatures too low to sustain the trek. Again the people must find a suitable place to erect their shelters, and again we have the fortune of spotting familiar shimmers. In the night their constructions look like ghostly cocoons dotting the desert floor. Through cracks you can see the burning hearts of hibernating creatures, the orange glow of embers reflected.

huang + marsh

The distinct sparkles below signal an afternoon settlement. They have found a low spot, maybe even low enough to sustain a filmy puddle. Their shelters reflect the sun away, and have come to be the sole cheerful beacons in a rarely articulated expanse.

EXPERIMENTS IN INTENSITY

Dust blows in saffron curls around bandaged feet. The tendrils whip at their burnt cheeks, lashing them onward. The wind is picking up, and the sun is getting high. The people must reach a valley and assemble shelter before the heat of the day: there are children in the group, and their faces have yet to leather enough to survive midday exposure.

The fabric modules are turned inward, so that their reflective sides bounce the heat of the fires onto the backs of huddled masses. On cold nights we assemble tighter configurations to block more wind and trap more warmth from fires and radiating bodies. It is good to camp in clusters: the morning offers a short window for uncovered recreation, and having other groups around makes for better sport. But now is not a social time: we remain in small, tight, clusters around the fire. I look out across the encampment. The slender triangles of fabric chain around the fires and glow. They look like I imagine a sumac leaf would have, as it turned blazing red in the autumn chill - but those times are gone. In the morning I will once again don shimmering wings, and walk.

111

installation organization

combined diagram

negative space

positive space

new orleans block structure

LABYRINTHINE VOLUMES The typology of small courtyards that exists in New Orleanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s French Quarter constitutes a labyrinthine network of hidden niches of various experiential qualities and irregular geometries. This proposal takes the unique character of this network as inspiration for creating a maze-like construction that displays a similar level of spatial variety and irregularity within the confines of a smaller outdoor space.

The installation

is framed as an assembly of overlapping rectangular volumes. Each of these has drastically different dimensions so that the experience of moving from one to another is heightened by the variety of spatial compression and expansion. It is not the volumes themselves, however, that are emphasized, but rather the passage from one to another, as one pushes into, or pulls away from, its neighboring volume. The material stretched

huang + marsh EXPERIMENTS IN INTENSITY

between one space and another is meant to highlight the differences in dimension as well as the overlap or distance between the volumes. The fabric is meant for outdoor use and comes in a variety of densities of weave that would allow for more or less opacity for various viewing and light transmitting possibilities. The proposal would have an outer skin of black shade fabric that would give the initial outward appearance of an ephemeral dark presence within the courtyard. The interior skins would consist largely of Aluminet shade fabric, which would give the inside a shimmering appearance as portable LED lights are reflected about the spaces. This will create a variety of spaces: spaces of passage, spaces to pause, spaces for social gathering, and spaces for more intimate conversation.

113

OBSCURED PERCEPTIONS This investigation began with a desire to use parametric modeling to create a gradated three-dimensional surface that might lend itself to fabrication using the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new CNC Router. The software allowed us to develop a consistent geometric logic that could then be disrupted with an adjustable curve of influence to produce multiple iterations of the surface. Various methods of screening were then tested in attempts to create an effect that would change the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of the surface as they moved around it. This shifting perception is created by partially obscuring the surface and using light and shadow to enhance the irregular depths of the contours. The parallel striations were developed as a geometry that could create the desired effect while providing a simple means of joinery through splicing. These long contour cuts were also relatively

huang + marsh EXPERIMENTS IN INTENSITY

fast and easy for the CNC router to perform. Furthermore, it was important that these spliced joints be operable to produce the corrugated assembly method that allowed for stable vertical stacking. This also makes the installation adaptable to any number of locations or uses.

115

SHORE ‘NUFF A NEW SHORE FOR NEW ORLEANS SETH DENIZEN MLA 2012 ASLA 2011 STUDENT MERIT AWARD She loves me. She loves me not. Few cities can boast of the simultaneous threat of inundation and abandonment, but this is precisely the love sick condition of New Orleans and its river. But the river isn’t the only one playing hard to get. Forming the northern boundary of the city of New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain has historically been as much of a protagonist as the river. While it was the only navigable access to the city for about a hundred years, and instrumental in the siting of the city, it has also been the traditional dumping ground for the city’s waste and an important food source. From the 1930s to the 1960s it was also a kind of Coney Island of the South, with racially segregated carnival rides and boardwalks. This has since disappeared, and what was left was wiped away by Hurricane Katrina. The London Avenue Canal sits at the intersection of the cultural, technical, and ecological interactions of the lake and the city. During Katrina the canal breached in two places, primarily due to the inability of the pumps in Pumphouse No. 3 to push water out of the canal fast enough given the surge of the lake water into the canal. This has since prompted the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans to build a closure structure at the outfall of the canal. In the event of a storm, the lake water can be prevented from entering the canal, and the canal water can be pumped up and over the barrier into the lake. Normally the barrier is open, and the canal water flows by the force of gravity into the lake between 300 to 9,000 cubic feet per second depending on the amount of pumping needed. This flow is untreated however, and brings significant quantities of heavy metals, petroleum, and other pollutants associated with urban runoff directly into the lake.

117

SHORE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;NUFF

denizen

Lake Pontchartrain is an inland bay and tidal estuary connected directly to the tides of the Gulf of Mexico via the Biloxi Sound, and is subject to the freshwater discharge of several mainland rivers. This creates a salinity gradient from east to west, with the western portion of the Lake near Lake Maurepas being very nearly fresh. The brackish

denizen SHORE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;NUFF Choreography of dredging changes the porosity of the new shore.

condition is responsible for the lakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique ecology, which has evolved to thrive within a wide range of dynamic conditions. The range within which the organisms of the lake thrive, however, has a limit. In the 1930s a mile long spillway (the Bonnet CarrĂŠ) was built at a former crevasse that once briefly connected the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain. This spillway periodically, about once every ten years, acts as a relief valve when the Mississippi reaches a high flood stage, diverting a portion of the river into the lake. When this happens, the lake becomes almost entirely fresh, measurably colder, and more nutrient rich. These nutrients come from the agricultural runoff of the Midwest, which drains entirely to the Mississippi. In the past, the increase in nitrogen, phosphates, etc. have caused algal blooms in the lake. This complex set of technical, ecological, and social conditions is what must be addressed if an intervention at the London Avenue Canal is to succeed. The first opportunity this design identifies is in the bathymetry of the lake itself. On average the lake is extremely shallow, between four and twelve feet. This makes its currents almost entirely wind driven, with the winds coming from the south and north,

119

BORROW PIT

driving the currents in a slow circular motion. The exception to this is about 500 feet from the London Avenue Canal, in which there is a long channel dredged to a depth of 35 to 40 feet, known as the ‘borrow pit.’ The borrow pit was the cut for the fill of the Lakeshore Drive development in the 1930s, which protruded into the lake forming both a neighborhood and sea-wall. The deepwater condition of the borrow pit does not exist anywhere else in the Lake Pontchartrain estuary until the Chandeleur Islands in the gulf. In this sense there is a unique opportunity to see this deep water condition in Lake Pontchartrain as the armature by which an ecological gradient from ocean to city could be established. What would be necessary to form this gradient is a more deltaic and marshy condition in between. The land that would need to be built to accomplish this gradient could be dredged from the pit itself, forming a cycle whereby the new land that was formed from the borrow pit would erode back into it, rather than being washed into the gulf—providing a reset button and preserving valuable sediment. This new public landscape of hummocks and reeds would promote biodiversity, and create a place to fish for food. It could be thought of as the municipal fishing grounds. If the design is successful, fish and shrimp would be more abundant. This new public landscape would also provide a way of sequestering heavy metals coming out of the canal. Heavy metals are always found bound to sediment, and as the velocity of water

denizen SHORE ‘NUFF

MARSH

CITY

slows, sediment loads drop out of the water column. Once in a marsh environment, the heavy metals have the potential to decompose into less biologically harmful forms. The problem with producing a design that achieves these goals, however, is to find a way to block the flow of the canal enough that the heavy metals drop out, but not so much that additional pressure is put on the canal walls. This is essentially a call for a ‘soft infrastructure’ approach to the problems of New Orleans, in lieu of the traditional approaches of the Army Corps that call for concrete walls and steel barriers when confronted with the problem of water. The critiques that are always lodged against soft infrastructure, however, especially when lives are at stake, revolve around issues of certainty. It is difficult to quantify in engineering specifications the performance of plants and mounds. The work presented here takes the problem of testing as its primary challenge. How can these issues begin to be worked through and tested quickly, without surrendering the task of form-making to engineers? In order to both produce and test designs quickly, two models were made and then integrated. The first model was a parametric design that created an exaggerated landscape of mounds of differing diameters. This form was an evocation of swamp hummocks, which also identified opportunities in how the movements of the dredger

121

could be choreographed. The size of the mounds was based on the reciprocal of their angle of incidence with the Bonnet CarrĂŠ plume, which resulted in an enlargement of the western-most mounds. This model was then modified to output instructions for the movement of a CNC router. The CNC router was then modified to accommodate the flowing of sand rather than the spinning of a drill bit. (fig 1) In order to test the design, however, a model of the London Avenue Canal as it discharges into the lake needed to be created. This was accomplished by fabricating a 1:100 scale model which could be filled with water. (fig 2) At this point the two models were integrated, and the parametric model was used to print different iterations of the design to be tested on the water table. The end result of this process was a design that could be evaluated based on a clear set of parameters. The process is by no means finished, and the design presented should not be viewed as such. The point is the process itself, in which serious landscape architectural questions could be tackled without resort to image-making, and the promise that consultants will take care of the engineering afterward. For example, the specific way in which the public would access this landscape is not resolved, however the process by which this could be intelligently addressed is already

denizen SHORE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;NUFF figure 1 (opposite) - A parametric model was then adapted to output NC Code to a sand fitting on another router to enable testing of various configurations of sand mounds. figure 2 (above + right) - A 1:100 model of Lake Pontchartrain and the mouth/anus of the London Ave Canal was routed out of foam.

clear. First a path structure through the terra firma of the landscape would be identified, based on slope stability, grade, and directness. Then a series of iterations of that path sequence and its effect on the porosity of the system as a whole could be submitted for dye tests. This creates the possibility for the structure of the path system to have an immediate and perceivable relationship to the canal, both in its orientation relative to the mounds and its seasonality relative to its discharge.

Setting up these kinds

of relationships to be tested in an analogue water-tank is not a replacement for the advanced computer models of the hydrodynamics of Lake Pontchartrain, which exist, but allows for a fluid and rigorous approach to the generation of form under a very complex set of technical, ecological, and social conditions that ultimately could be submitted to these modeling systems. If landscape architects are serious about making a contribution to the design of public infrastructure, especially in light of the immense failings of organizations traditionally tasked with this mission like the Army Corps of Engineers, a system for working fluidly and creatively within serious technical constraints will have to be invented.

This

exploration sketches the boundaries of what this process could look like.

123

ON CHANGE JULIAN RAXWORTHY MYLES H. THALER MEMORIAL LECTURE I’m a landscape architect, but for about five years prior to undertaking studies in landscape architecture I did an apprenticeship as a landscape contractor and worked as a gardener. I think it continues to inform my research, which is the relationship between gardening and landscape architecture. When I tell my Ph.D. supervisors that landscape architecture and gardening don’t have a whole lot to do with each other anymore, they’re quite surprised, even though I would tend to say that architecture and building don’t have much to do with each other anymore either. When it was started, Landscape Australia was a very avant-garde magazine, the publication of the very young Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, which was founded by landscape contractors, immigrant landscape architects from England working in Canberra, and some architects that were interested in landscape. At that time, in the 1970s, the profession was very focused on ecological issues. There was a strong influence from Ian McHarg—who also came to Australia, as did a number of his graduates from Penn—and so there was this strong current in Australian landscape architecture about rediscovering the indigenous landscape. I was educated later in the middle eighties, but this current about indigenous design, and trying to work with the Australian landscape was still very strong. As a horticulturist and as a landscape contractor, I was also really involved with a movement in Australia that was called “bush regeneration,” which is, in a way, ecological restoration. It was started originally by the Bradley sisters, who were working on a little patch of bushland, as we call it, near their house on Sydney Harbor; in that bushland, they would get down on their hands and knees and pull out individual weeds. When I was educated, we were really focused on, What is that regenerating? Is that a weed? Really finegrain stuff.

Bruce McKenzie was the kind of big daddy of Sydney landscape architecture, and

that was happening in Sydney between modernist architecture, produced by people like Harry Seidler, and this wild, rugged, Australian bushland condition. At that time Bruce McKenzie was able to step in and start to produce work that was about putting the bush back around these modern buildings, and his work boomed. One of the major parks that he undertook was in Botany Bay, and it was a major constructed

ON CHANGE

contractor and he started working on gardens at a time when there was this thing

raxworthy

Australian landscape architecture to some extent. He was an untrained landscape

piece of landscape associated with the port. Botany Bay is a very important part of Sydney because it was the place where Captain Cook originally landed. However, it is completely modified now, but McKenzie was proposing that somehow the landscape would be returned to its indigenous condition and regenerate naturally. A bit later I was working in a park in Sydney called Trumper Park. We were also trying to do this kind of revegetation effort, and it was predicated on the idea that if you planted the existing species, they were going to regenerate. But the soils in Sydney are very different today. A lot of the soils in Sydney are sandstone, and native plants growing on sandstone soils have become really tuned to growing without much phosphorous. However, lots of products that are produced by the Civilized West are very phosphatebased, so what’s happened is that these sandstone soils have become very inhospitable for these particular sorts of plants. So we had this weird situation happening. The kind of ideological logic of this indigenous landscape approach was that the plants would regenerate, somehow they would just find their place and go, “I’m home.” They’d start to regrow, they’d start to regenerate, and the whole thing would start to find its own pattern. But in this park I was working on in Sydney it became very clear after a couple of years that the soils were so modified that the plants weren’t regenerating. If you talked to the residents in the park I was working in, they were in fact very upset with us because, as far as they were concerned, we were destroying the amenity of their park because we were removing the weeds. The decisions about whether the plant material was indigenous or not made no difference to them. What they were interested in was the quality of the spaces, the quality of vegetation, regardless of floristic origin, regardless of whether they were indigenous or not. We faced an enormous battle. We had this sort of righteous position, that we were putting back what was there once before, but at the same time they were saying, “Well you’ve pulled all this stuff out and what you’re putting in is not growing, and so if it wanted to be here, why is it not growing? It was a pretty fair question, because if you evaluated the qualities of what was there, there were amazing little spots of kids hiding among the Lantana, there was Cestrum all over the place, and there were amazing vines with blue flowers. The whole place was a complete weedscape and horror, but it really was quite amazing, the

125

children loved it, etc. So as I became a landscape architect, undertaking research, I became really interested in this idea about how we work with succession or don’t work with it, the aesthetic judgments we make about landscapes as weeds, etc. When I was approaching a Ph.D. topic, I decided to focus on this idea of change. I started my Ph.D. in 2003 and this was a period when lots of the discussion about change in landscape architecture was happening. But because I’d been from this landscaping base, seeing what was happening on the ground, I didn’t trust all these very well-to-do Photoshop speculations staged over time, which were saying, “this is what’s going to happen at such and such a point.” Rather I would say, well, let’s actually see what’s going to happen rather than just predict it. Can we make assumptions about what change is going to occur? If it’s not happening in real time, it’s a simulation; it’s not change. Change is something that does occur. And the way that we project change can tend to be really linear. When we’re projecting and visualizing it, we’re sure that it’s going to end up in this particular way. And everyone says they’re interested in serendipity, but, as I’ve discovered, if it turns fills up with invasive species, then that’s not what we want. Suddenly it’s not the right change. Maybe we need to change the way we discuss change. And so I returned to Bruce McKenzie’s projects and used them as a starting point for some of my research. When we look at his drawings, Joseph Banks Reserve is a typical picturesque park in Australia. It uses picturesque principles and substitutes Australian plants into them with a little bit of arts and crafts perennial garden thrown in. When I looked at this site 20 years later I discovered that there is no regeneration actually occurring. These species have reached senescence and are not reseeding. Bruce McKenzie read my writing about the reserve and he contacted me, and we had a long correspondence where we discussed this idea about regeneration. He said, It’s all about maintenance, which is something I agree about. When I speak about maintenance, I’m talking about what, after the project is completed, continues. And what intervention role do we have, as landscape architects, in that process? Most practitioners would say it’s all about maintenance, but if this is so, I would ask them: How have you modified your practice? How have you engaged with gardeners? How have you changed your contracting projects?

Is maintenance somebody else’s

problem? And while they’d all like to be involved, the kinds of models that they operate within—which are white collar models—are very different from the blue collar models, which are doing the gardening on the ground. In the Botany Bay project the key issue is that indigenous plants rely on disturbance, they often rely upon fire, upon incredibly sophisticated and complex systems of pollination, etc. It’s a frail landscape. As much as it looks tough, the landscape is tough because it’s had to deal with these strict

conditions and suddenly it’s got conditions that are bountiful and which now produce

if we’re interested in sustainability in our landscapes, we have to move towards a position of regeneration in the landscape. Interestingly, when I returned to this park that I had been involved in planting in Sydney twenty years earlier, called Trumper Park, I discovered that the parts of the park that were growing well and regenerating were

ON CHANGE

The question is, Does that matter? Who cares if they regenerate or not? I think that

raxworthy

entirely different landscapes.

not the species that had been adapted to grow in the sandy soil of the site; what was regenerating were the rainforest species that we had opportunistically inserted in there, using a logic that if it was a gully once, we can put in rainforest species. Some of these plants were from vastly different areas, but those rainforest species were regenerating and expanding into the Eucalyptus areas that weren’t regenerating. When I was a bush regenerator, we would suddenly see desirable indigenous species start to increase in distribution, which led them to be described as weeds. These species were no longer described as colonizers in their first stage of regeneration. In ecological terms, that’s a very successful outcome, and the kind of outcome that McKenzie would have wanted, but with different species. In my research I’ve been quite interested in this question of how we balance this desire for regeneration with this desire for particular species or even for particular uses. I became interested in the physical transition between the regenerative and the planted which is managed by gardening. One of the few people who talks about this relationship between landscape architecture and gardening is Sven-Ingvar Andersson. Ann Whiston Spirn, in The Language of Landscape, writes about and quotes SvenIngvar Andersson and his own garden at Marnas. I went to visit the topiary chooks (the Australian word for chickens/hens) in his garden, because I understand that when he talks about the chooks he uses them as a way of talking about the relationship between gardening and plant material. He says, I’ve created a grove of hawthorns, and that grove of hawthorns has been clipped into chooks, and I’ve pruned them in such a way to create the chook yard, but that chook yard is tuned to me, because when I stop being able the climb the ladder with my pruning devices, these will become a hawthorn grove. And so the garden’s development is tuned to my age. As a gardener, your time and the garden’s time are tuned to each other. I visited this project to see these chooks, and I had expected to see a hawthorn grove, because Sven-Ingvar Andersson was dead, but what I saw was more of these chooks. It was really interesting for me to realize that Andersson’s argument—and I should restate it—was that, in the hawthorn is the chook and the hawthorn tree, and the plant has the potentiality to be both. It’s how we, humans, are interacting with regenerative, natural processes that determines

127

whether it will be a chook or a hawthorn grove and that’s something you can only do through gardening. But you can create these kind of growth reactions in other ways through spacing in planting design. This whole garden is made of hawthorns planted in three rows. They’re always on the same spacing, and what’s interesting is that the same species, with the same spacing, becomes vastly different things under these different growth conditions. Looking across the garden with all of the same species, significant difference is created, just through the different pruning regimes, the different ways that each plant is creating a microclimatic effect on each other, and the reflection of time. There’s a whole range of conditions that were created through the kind of serendipity of seeing something arise, having some time on your hands, being a bit keen with the clippers, and producing these kinds of situations that have further effects. It’s the balance between the planting regime with a standard system, setting it up really basically, and then the interaction and reflection over time that’s possible when one is one’s own gardener. How one does that for a professional design project is a good question, obviously, when it’s not one’s own garden. There were some great situations where a single plant was three things all at one time: it was a hedge on one side, it

raxworthy ON CHANGE Sven-Ingvar Andersson’s topiary garden at Marnas (image courtesy of the author)

was a shrub on the other side, and, when it became too tall to be cut, it was a tree. The idea that one plant, one piece of form, metamorphosizes into three forms, is such a radical possibility. I’m not just talking ecologically; this is a form-making, a formbuilding operation. Another dimension of my research is the way that plant materials are constructional materials that are alive. Can we see building as a gardening process, where gardening is something that happens in time, through improvisation? A project that exemplifies this most of all would be a project by Louis le Roy. He’s an artist and he taught at a local school in a town called Heerenveen, which is in the northern part of the Netherlands. He bought a piece of land, called the Ecocathedral, which was a completely empty piece of pastureland when he started. He worked out an arrangement out with the local council that asked them to dump their brick rubble onto his site. And so they would dump their brick rubble there and he would go about arranging it. One of his key ideas was that people, through economics, have lost their understanding of what human effort is capable of. We’ve lost any understanding of what our bodies can do; we’ve lost any

129

understanding of what the duration of time really is. The Ecocathredal activity is about just laying one brick, and then laying another brick. And you just keep doing that, and when you need to stop, you stop, and then when you come back you just lay one brick on and then lay another. No mortar; he would literally just pile the bricks up, and, over time, what would happen is that the bricks would start to trap wind blown dirt, become fauna habitat, and catch seed. If he’d had a particularly busy few months, suddenly that structure would have something growing in it. He wouldn’t be able to get to it, and so he’d move on and start to stack the next bit up. Louis would call it a collaboration between him and nature. He says, “I do culture, nature does nature. I’m not interested in doing nature. Nature does that.” He is uninterested in the romance of nature. I remember when I showed him photos of Australian bush and he’d say, “It’s so ugly, there’s no people in it; it’s just disgusting.” The Ecocathedral grew up over time, over generations, and out of it came a kind of community group called the Time Foundation. Because the Netherlands is very flat, this is a topography-creating activity. From refuse comes a structure which ends up looking like a ruin, which causes some people to say, “Oh, this is just some rustic thing.” It’s not, it’s just a material he is building with and it’s just what happens over time to that material. He’s not into rustication. Whenever I would say to him, I want to do a drawing of this, he’d say, “Why would you waste your time? You’d never get it right. This is beyond design. This is beyond drawing. This is so specific it would take longer to draw it than to build it. You may as well just build it.” This idea of building is a really important one to me. How do we accommodate these building operations, gardening operations, in the canon of design? Maybe we don’t. Recently I also visited a similar building project by a famous American Modernist landscape architect, although the building itself is a bit crazy: James Rose’s house in Ridgewood, New Jersey. I’ve always been fascinated by James Rose because he was interested in plant material as form, but not in ecological terms—more as sculpture, in formal terms, tectonic terms. When you visit his garden what you realize is that his house involves the building-as-gardening idea, like the Ecocathedral. The garden itself is completely uninteresting, and the house is not universally very good, but it is that thing of someone living in a place and improvising around the place and around their occupation and losing their judgment to their commitment to their own building project. The whole thing utilizes this dynamic motive. There was a filing cabinet in Rose’s house, and in that filing cabinet I found one of his contract documents. How does one work in an improvised way through the professional design process? How does one say, I am a designer, but I want to work on site? How do I bring those two things together? So here’s James Rose’s version of it: “My landscape services follow design, which continues throughout the duration of the job, and 20 percent of the cost of labor and materials as it goes along.” Also I found this document, which says: “The drawings

are for the purpose of securing the required permits and to assist in procuring cost

involvement in the project that continues over time. This process demonstrates how we might start to negotiate that space between the one-to-one relationship on a site, which the gardener normally has, and the landscape architect’s relationship. Finally, how do a moment of flux and a really highly designed moment meet each

ON CHANGE

And so he’s saying, This is not about my drawings for the project; this is about my

raxworthy

estimates. It is understood, however, that such drawings are essentially guidelines.”

other? And what is the gradient between them? How can we say, “That’s my really perfectly executed detail, which cannot change, for these reasons, and, here is this area of flux.“ How do they come together? The High Line is an extraordinary piece of detail because it really starts to investigate the way that these two conditions between flux and solidity meet with each other. But this flux edge, which is roped off, reveals to us the discomfort of the park’s managers with this flux. And so the issue of how we manage flux and how we keep it under control is actually tantamount to sustainability. I would say that sustainability, which is not a term that I particularly like, is the idea that we’re reducing the amount of money put into landscapes, that those landscapes are starting to produce themselves, just as le Roy creates those structures and out of those structures comes a huge volume of more stuff. He says, I put a few bricks down, and I get much more than I could have drawn. I start off with two bricks and I end up with forty different species—a whole lot of complexity. So how do we allow for this complexity to come into our projects? How do we make that happen? Alexandre Chemetoff is a landscape architect from France, and Île de Nantes is an island in Nantes where he’s been systematically seeding projects into the existing industrial fabric—cultivating, allowing, and exploring the edges between spaces and things that regenerate and areas of control. Louis le Roy would say, You have to leave space for nature, and he means a physical gap. These kinds of gaps are spaces of regeneration. You can explore the dimension of the gap as a way of choosing the kind of regeneration we want. A gap of this width will give you these qualities; a gap of this different width will give you these different kind of qualities. One of the best things about Île de Nantes is the fantastic elephant that is an artwork by François Delarozière, who has been making these hybrid machines for quite a long time. It’s kind of steam punk, and this elephant comes out every few hours and goes around the island. It’s such a great idea that you wouldn’t design it, you wouldn’t think about it; it’s just serendipity that they needed a place to put the elephant. Suddenly it came to the project and you’re just a lucky person to end up with an elephant in your project that activates the whole landscape. I didn’t plan to end with an elephant but I did. Thank you.

131

MESSY TECH A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO L.A.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLEAN CORRIDOR JENNIFER JONES, MLA|MUEP 2010 RENEE PEAN, M.ARCH|MUEP 2010 RANDALL WINSTON, M.ARCH 2011 WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES CLEANTECH CORRIDOR + GREEN DISTRICT COMPETITION Our project, Messytech, responds to the existing urban fabric of downtown Los Angeles, which has diversity of people, economies, and neighborhoods. We wanted to work with the existing messiness, and propose a new type of messiness that would make a unique Cleantech Corridor. The L.A. river serves as a major armature for the site. The river used to be more of a wash, but was channelized in the 1930s to control seasonal flooding. There is a huge push to revitalize the L.A. River, with an emphasis on creating public space. The river is largely inaccessible to people, with rail and electrical lines on both sides. Highways that ring downtown act as barriers, as does the river and all of its associated infrastructure. However, many of the surrounding industrial buildings are underused or abandoned. Our proposal called for adaptive reuse of these buildings, as well as ways to bridge over the rail lines to provide river access. Our proposal embraces the current momentum of the Arts District and tries to weave in a new strategy for the entire corridor that works with the existing conditions. There are exisitng rail lines that connect downtown to surrounding areas of L.A., but they do not circulate within downtown. We propose a new light rail circuit that stitches the existing lines together, connects the Cleantech Corridor to old downtown, and also serves as a spine for infill development in the corridor.

jones + pean + winston MESSY TECH this is a caption. you should write cool stuff about your work here.

133

135

MESSY TECH

jones + pean + winston

137

MESSY TECH

jones + pean + winston

Testing Facilities

Commercial/ Retail

Third Floor

jones + pean + winston

1/16”=1’

Fifth Floor

1/16”=1’

Labs

Offices Offices

Commercial/ Retail

Gallery Cafe

Atrium

Prototyping Facilities

Lecture Hall Theatre

Offices

Green Roof

MESSY TECH

First Floor

Labs

139

EMERGENT CITY

INTERSECTION, CONNECTIVITY, INFLUENCE IN ROCHESTER

JIE HUANG M.ARCH 2011 Transportation infrastructures of declining post-industrial cities have the potential to inform and create emergent systems for urban regeneration. The focus of my study is threefold: transit connectivity, transit intersections, and these systemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; influence on the city. These components present an opportunity for cities such as Rochester to shift their course of development so that catalytic initiatives and interventions can be implemented through the participation of its residents.

huang EMERGENT CITY

High energy interchanges or moments of intense intersection could be an interesting proposition for mute and desolate downtowns. Could we create a hub where rail, car, bicycles and pedestrians weave at various levels of ground? Other support spaces and programs would need to exist that would eventually begin to not only facilitate a dense point of activity, but also generate a desire to move back into the downtown. From these intersections, programs can begin to aggregate vertically and outward. Potential sites, such as the abandoned subway tunnel, could offer a unique opportunity to engage the downtown and reveal the rich history of the once vibrant city.

Rochester, NY

STRATEGY The dynamic nature of this study uses parametric technology to help visualize the fluid and connective qualities of urban interactions in the investigationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three components. The potential of such methods to reveal unforeseen opportunities and iterative patterns is crucial to this projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investigation. ROCHESTER | POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY Rochester, New York is an ideal site to study because of its rich history of urban growth and decline as well as its fluctuating infrastructural uses. Today, it is in a state of depression with a 10 percent vacancy rate, while its median household income of

141

$29,975, is about half that of New York State’s. However, there are some positive signs of renewal. Forbes recently named the city the fourth most affordable place to live in the U.S. Rochester also announced plans for two new transit centers: a bus terminal in downtown and a new rail station to replace the current Amtrak station. Since the turn of the 20th century, Rochester has undergone major shifts of infrastructural systems, going from the Erie Canal to rail and finally to trucks for longer distance transportation, and from trolley to subway or interurbans to buses to cars for more localized transportation. Each of these major transit changes tended to overlap with the next iteration by re-using previous infrastructure, as seen in the city’s reuse of the Erie Canal bed and the highway for the subway. From the 1960s, the city’s commuter infrastructure has not changed considerably due to Rochester’s economic decline. This development lull may actually be fortunate for the city because it provides an opportunity to rethink the entire organization of the city’s evolution as a more emergent process.

transportation system chronology

EMERGENT RE-ORGANIZATION This study explores a new idea of a city by using emergence to explain and help engage processes that are more self-generating for Rochester and other post-industrial cities. The exploration is comprised of three components. The first is an investigation of the current rail, bus and bike systems of Rochester, their connective relationships to each other, and the proposition of alternate routes. These findings will help to evaluate the city’s current decision to build two new transit stations at their proposed locations. The second component is the design of interventions at the intersections of the mapped connective systems. These intersections could become a combination of complex transit interchanges with a range of sub-stations that vary typologically. While efficiency in moving people in and out of the city is crucial to this project, it is also important to consider how initiatives could alter the image of the downtown and begin to encourage temporary or permanent inhabitation. Thirdly, and at a larger scale, the study will examine the interventions’ influence on the urban patterns of the city.

huang EMERGENT CITY

rail

bus+rail

bike+rail

bike+bus+rail

proposed transitions

parametric studies on connectivity intersections

SHRINKING CITIES | TRANSITIONING OPTIONS The phenomenon of shrinking city populations is prevalent across the country and offers significant potential and opportunities to rethink the way cities fluctuate and reuse urban infrastructure. This restructuring is especially critical at a time of environmental and economic downturn, where more traditional means of top-down master-planning are no longer viable for the current state of decline. Accordingly, this study aims to initiate a new type of dialogue through iterative experimentation.

143

parking areas to each other. This allows us to see where clusters begin to appear/form and perhaps become potential opportunities for interventions.

PARAMETRIC MAPPING In mapping downtown Rochester, parametric modeling became an essential methodology to create non conventional ways to read data. To the right are screen shots of an animation that built on parametric representations of relationships among the parking lots/garages, the river, and subway. How can we rethink this transportation structure and change the perception of these parking spaces as potential opportunities to engage the larger network of transit and civic life? Are there specific places (i.e. the public library) in downtown that the tunnel could connect because of its proximity?

huang EMERGENT CITY Each image varies by the number of points connecting parking garages.

145

The abandoned tunnel may be re-purposed as a distribution spine for not only bringing and dispersing people into the city, but also for creating public gathering spaces, such as places for events seen in the example from last year’s World Canal Conference. In other words, the abandoned tunnel infrastructure can become an integral part of Rochester’s civic life, acting not as a corridor but a series of places where people have the opportunity to linger and connect to the rest of the city.

physical conditions of network intersections found along the western portion of the tunnel

After the identifying the moments of connections along the tunnel, spatial and operational models will be developed for interchanges that transfer people from one mode of transit to another. They may be stairs, ramps, elevators, or other yet unforeseen methods of transportation. The intersections will then become a series of prototypical hubs— responses to found conditions that, when read together, begin to weave a larger idea of the city and how people traverse through and interact with it. This kit-of-parts approach allows for flexibility within the systems, as unique moments appear throughout the system acting as anchors and special attractions along Rochester’s new spine.

huang EMERGENT CITY This conceptual model shows a system that responds directly to the various transit networks (highway, rail, and tunnel). The model uses tendon-like paths to connect between intersections in both horizontal and vertical sections.

147

REINVENTING DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES THE PIERS AT PIGGYBACK YARD JENNIFER JONES MLA | MUEP 2010 Downtown Los Angeles is ready for a renaissance. A massive river revitalization plan is underway, a high speed rail station is slated for downtown, the city is planning for a new Cleantech Corridor, and there is widespread clamor for more public space. The Piers at Piggyback Yard presents a bold landscape intervention to catalyze the coalescence of downtown’s future transformations. Piggyback Yard, a 125-acre underutilized rail yard, will transform from an inert patch within L.A.’s fabric to a dense network of edges and corridors that serve as a new model for infrastructure as public space in the city. Derrida said that “something is not

GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY KATE BIRD, BUEP 2012 BENJAMIN CHRISINGER, MUEP 2011 CARLA JONES, MUEP 2012 In July 2010, we traveled to the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China campus to engage in discussions about food security, food sovereignty and international cooperation. Universities from across the world were represented in the Universitas 21 Summer School, including India’s University of Delhi and Sweden’s Lund University. Sixty-seven students and ten faculty members spent two intense weeks together debating and attempting to understand this complex issue. Among the diversity of cultures and opinions we encountered, one common thread was evident throughout the sessions: global food security issues require a systems approach. The interrelationships between nations, climates, customs and economies pose an intricate web of challenges. We realized that untangling these issues demands a wide variety of stakeholders, and that no one country or group can single-handedly reform the whole system. For example, subsidizing corn in the United States affects the entire world’s food prices. Decisions concerning agricultural production affect water quality and associated fisheries production, air pollution, soil erosion, energy policy, and should not be made without considering all costs. In addition to resource-related issues, agricultural policies influence the social sphere through international and cultural conflict. In a systems approach, we must consider all of the aspects of the issue including how it will affect other people, the environment and the economy.

bird + chrisinger + jones GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

Our current global food system is interwoven with a multitude of problems, which were topics of discussion during summer school. The globalized world that we live in is heavily dependent on industrial agriculture, a high-input, high-yield agricultural method that often uses resource-intensive machinery, fertilizers, and pesticides. Genetically modified (GM) seeds are also often a part of the industrial agriculture equation and can lead farmers into a cycle of dependence on expensive GM seeds. There have also been concerns about the health and environmental effects of GM crops. Agricultural subsidies also pose challenges to farmers in less developed countries who simply cannot compete with the low prices. Recently, we have seen a rise in food prices, which can be attributed to rising oil prices and the recent change in many diets across the world. Feeding a rapidly growing world population is a production and distribution challenge that the developed and developing nations must meet together. The efficiency of agricultural production has increased dramatically over the past 40 years, and greater gains are being pursued through genetic modification and other strategies. There are concerns that these gains in efficiency will not be able to keep pace with increasing population growth. A perceived shortage of productive agricultural land has embroiled nations in controversial and ethical issues related to â&#x20AC;&#x153;land grabbing,â&#x20AC;? or buying agricultural lands in other countries for the production of food for their own citizens. While China has recently made such investments in Africa, many Chinese argue that their nation is only the latest to the employ these tactics. Beyond production, efficient distribution of food stocks is the next great challenge of world markets and food scientists, as waste and energy loss represent a significant

179

portion of food produced. The large amount of food lost during transport is one challenge to global food security that food scientists are attempting to solve through technical solutions such as genetic engineering. While many think that the current level of food production cannot meet the world’s food demand, it is argued that simply improving distributional efficiency would ensure global food security. Due to this fact, global inequities in food access have resulted in a paradoxical situation where just as many people are undernourished as are overnourished.1 Waste is largely to blame for the gaps in food security. For instance, reducing the amount of food wasted in the United States by just five percent would feed four million people per day, according to the USDA. We currently posses the tools to feed the world’s population. We need the systems in place to better connect the supply to the demand. Decisions made about food production at the federal and global levels have implications on food prices and policies at the local level. During our visit, we saw that locally-based, innovative solutions to food security challenges are woven into the urban landscape of China. While American cities are learning to embrace “new” ideas of urban agriculture, farmers have been cultivating every available inch of available urban landscape in China, sowing rows beside highways and under overpasses. Examples of rural agricultural communities can still be found where the raising and harvesting of crops is an activity at the center of the community, weaving families and residents

bird + chrisinger + jones GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

The terms food security and food safety can mistakenly be used interchangeably. Food safety concerns the appropriate handling and labeling of foods while food security concerns access to affordable and nutritious foods. Moving beyond food security, food sovereignty addresses the right of people to define their own food systems, rather than having them defined by international market forces.

together. These communities are quickly becoming obsolete as rapid urbanization sprawls into the countryside. The university where our summer school was held stood on the site of what had only five years before been a small village whose economy centered around rice production. To develop food security solutions that ensure food sovereignty, planners must bridge these centuries-old agricultural traditions with the demands of a rapidly-growing population and economy. Locally-based solutions give us valuable tools to increase resilience against larger food system shocks; however, the global food system still operates at an order of magnitude that challenges the transportability of local options. As climate change contributes to a more unpredictable global future, locally-designed options can help insulate communities from widespread food insecurity. The rural Chinese village of 120 persons who grow food in incidental spaces help provide reliable sustenance for their town, though it is of little consequence for nearby Shanghai, a city of 12 million. Since the global system still dominates, decision-makers must continue to pay special attention to the dynamic systems of production and distribution, while also seeking to support indigenous projects and innovation. During two weeks of intensive discussions with the other students, we determined that while global distribution systems may be the largest challenge to global food security,

181

measures toward change can be implemented most quickly and effectively at the local level. Making system-wide changes requires the input from multiple disciplines and we left the conference with the idea that we each have an important role to play in implementing strategies to tackle these challenging problems. An approach that combines an appreciation for local contexts with global complexities will be most successful in realistically considering how to improve food security and safety for an increasingly populated planet.

1 McCormick, Patrick. 2002. Supersize Me: overeating may be just as big a problem globally as lack of food, but our concern and compassion for those who are fat is usually less than generous. The Free Library (accessed February 05 2011).

REGIME SHIFTS IN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AND THE ROLE OF DESIGN MICHAEL PACE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES As I write in late January 2011, the government of Tunisia has fallen and the leader of Egypt is under severe threat. We know these political disruptions as regime changes. Similarly in other types of systems, abrupt changes can result in a different regime. These shifts have been documented in climatology, oceanography, and social-economic systems, as well as in terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems.1 Here, I focus on regime shifts in ecosystems which have been defined as sudden and large changes that are irreversible or difficult to reverse. Are there early warnings for regime shifts and can they be prevented or in some cases promoted? I contend that managing ecological systems in an era of rapid environmental change will require enhanced scientific understanding of regime shifts and collaborations between scientists and designers to sustain the benefits humans derive from ecosystems. An ecosystem after a regime shift is not what it was. For example, in coastal seas, removal of otters by hunting or predation results in urchin explosions that mow away kelp seaweeds. The luxuriant kelp forest and associated diverse life forms disappear. The sea bottom is an urchincovered barren. Fortunately, this change is reversible if otters can be reintroduced and nurtured back to sustainable populations. Other regime shifts are harder to reverse and often require a determined intervention effort. Managers of natural systems, therefore, often wish to avoid regime shifts like fishery collapses or rangeland degradation. Restorationists

183

often wish to push severely altered systems back toward a more natural state and so may seek to create regime shifts. Ecologists understand some but not all of the mechanisms promoting regime shifts. Shallow lakes are a well-studied case. These systems may shift from a pleasant condition of dominance by aquatic plants and clear water to foul turbid water with few aquatic plants and dominance by algae. The system is controlled by several switches. Vegetation prevents sediment resuspension and promotes clear water. Vegetation also harbors grazers that check algal growth. If water turbidity starts to increase because of conditions that promote sediment resuspension or increased algal growth, shallow lakes reach a critical point of run-away increases in algal biomass and vegetation collapse. Once in the altered state of algal dominance, reversing the system requires big efforts like removing predators of the algal grazers or physically preventing sediment resuspension. Are there early warnings of regime shifts? Mathematical models and lab experiments provide evidence of increased variability prior to regime shifts. Populations exhibit larger than normal variations in abundance and critical ecological processes fluctuate with greater extremes. Such early warnings might allow forestalling regime shifts through management actions. I am part of a research team testing these ideas by manipulating the food web of a lake. A regime shift is being created by adding top predators to a lake and observing dynamics of the reorganizing food web. This experiment requires several years so that the food web can be monitored prior to the complete regime shift. The outcome is still uncertain, but the food web shift is now well underway and the work will provide a strong test of early warnings. Optimistically, environmental monitoring and analysis of statistical signals may provide ongoing readings of ecosystems and indicate if regime shifts are approaching. The concept of regime shifts and the potential for early warnings has important implications for human well being and for environmental management. Here is where designers and ecologists have much to share. Preventing undesirable changes in ecological systems and sustaining the services of these systems will require new efforts. The capacity to recover from change is resilience. Ecological systems, while variable, are usually quite resilient as physical, chemical, and biological properties modulate dynamics around long-term mean conditions.

However, erosions of biodiversity,

invasions of alien species, heavy pollution by nutrients and toxins, and changes in climate that influence hydrology and temperature can knock ecosystems off-center and cause directional change or regime shifts. Increasingly, human activity drives ecological systems. For example, the state of fish and shellfish populations in the

Chesapeake Bay ecosystem is largely a result of human actions both past and present. Over fishing and nutrient pollution of the Bay have lead to declines of many species

systems with natural ones to increase resilience and to decrease vulnerabilities. The familiar case is using structural and natural elements in concert to reduce runoff from urban and suburban landscapes. I foresee a great need for “designer ecosystems”

REGIME SHIFTS

Given the forces on modern ecosystems, the design problem is to couple human

pace

while fishing moratoriums have lead to increases in the abundance of some species.

and a developing expertise at the interface of ecology and design.2 Creating working systems that integrate human activity and structures with natural settings and processes is not a new problem. The developing problem is that the scope and scale of human enterprise creates interacting global, regional, and local forces. These interacting forces make the problem novel and compel the need for collaboration. Tunisia is a small country. Egypt is a large country with substantial regional influence. We can guess, but not conclude, that the regime shift in Tunisia has had a contagious effect on politics in Egypt. Small changes can have big effects when a system is poised due to an accumulation of phenomena. Environmental systems including the climate system are accumulating small changes in their composition and interactions that have the potential to promote sudden, large shifts. There is much to learn about the science of regime shifts and much to learn about how to manage and forestall this form of change. Human well being is intimately tied to ecosystems through the provision of clean water, nutritious food, and products like timber. Sustaining these services and others will require the work of ecologists and designers. New ways of thinking and new approaches are needed along with practitioners who can turn concepts and perspectives into structure and function.

1 Marten Scheffer, Critical transitions in nature and society (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009) 2 Margaret A. Palmer, Emily Bernhardt, Elizabeth Chornesky, et al.“Ecology for a crowded planet” Science 304 (2004): 1251-1252.

185

THE BIG FL(EA)UX, THE BIG ORANGE DELTA METABOLISM, HYBRID INFRASTRUCTURE JEN LYNCH MLA 2012 ASLA 2011 STUDENT MERIT AWARD In this design, I considered the uniquely dynamic and dialectical geology and hydrology of deltas. The delta was conceptualized as a shifting gradient between ground and water and also as the interaction of two competing dynamics, tides and floods. Situated between the seasonal flooding patterns of the freshwater Mississippi River and the brackish tides of Lake Pontchartrain, the landscape of New Orleans is an analogue for the greater delta of southern Louisiana. Settlement of the city, however, has historically necessitated modification of the landscape’s hydrological morphology. The city’s water infrastructure has ultimately been articulated as a network of pipes and pumps, which draw distinct lines across the landscape and a metaphysical line between water and ground. Additionally, the landscape’s metabolism (hydrological dynamics)—has been replaced by two mechanical speeds—the constant, baseflow pumping of the city’s groundwater and the accelerated removal of rainwater from the landscape during storms. How can the ground/water gradients and hydrological dynamics of the delta landscape be restored to the urban landscape of the delta city? In other words, how can the city’s water infrastructure be made to resemble, in its morphology and metabolism, the deltaic “infrastructure” that preceded it?

lynch THE BIG FL(EA)UX, THE BIG ORANGE Oranges and straws were used to explore the blended languages of biology (form structured by water) and mechanics (form designed for the removal of water) in a way that considered the ideas of hybridity and metabolism. This Frankenstein (biological machine) metaphor was carried across scales to address water at the scale of the system (the neighborhood scale, through a consideration of tidal and flood dynamics); at the scale of a street/boulevard median (the scale of the body, through a consideration of materiality, form, and cultural associations); and at the scale of the lot (the scale exploring an individual householdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to modify water flows, through a consideration of the abstraction vs. actuality of water, and the idea of shared agency).

187

existing plan

proposed plan

lynch THE BIG FL(EA)UX, THE BIG ORANGE

SYSTEM SCALE The original “biology” of the landscape was considered in addressing the scale of the drainage basin of Pump Station No. 4 of the London Avenue Canal. The major drainage lines of New Orleans often intersect with unique linear public spaces—its neutral grounds, or street medians. Morphologically, the design blends the water infrastructure with this landscape. The major culverts which run beneath the neutral grounds are daylighted and water is woven through the neighborhood. The discrete strata of urban fabric, water infrastructure, hydrology and geology are transformed into a blended gradient, reflected as a variety of wetland types. Metabolically, the dynamics of tides and floods are produced. Tidal dynamics are mimicked by modulating the otherwise constant base flow due to groundwater pumping, transforming Gentilly’s water infrastructure into a living machine. Floodplain dynamics are mimicked through the detention of stormwater within the urban fabric, allowing water to infiltrate the ground, mitigating subsidence and lessening, the mechanical demands of the stormwater infrastructure.

189

BOULEVARD SCALE New Orleans’ neutral grounds—a boulevard typology unique to the city—were further explored. The form, cellular quality, and materiality of the delta landscape (and similar qualities found in the orange) were explored through the redesign of medians resulting in the transformation from local topographic highs to lows. Form: the gradient of wetlands types within a delta landscape is determined by microtopography and the dialectical relationship of these forms with hydrology. A gradient of microtopography is created in the neutral ground medians and, additionally, cellular forms are used to hold and treat water moving through the landscape. Material: a biological and mechanical hybrid material is proposed. Jute lots, which are engineered from plant fiber, are

lynch

build retaining walls and cellular structures. Because the material is engineered from plants, it biodegrades, becoming part of the landscape and yielding, ultimately, in its form, to the water that interacts with it. Culturally and socially, the boulevards perform an additional function. The cypress marsh neutral grounds convey, through regionalcultural associations, a stronger tie to a greater New Orleans identity while, at the same time, distinguishing Gentilly as a former swamp, a place with a boulevard character of its own, one that is atmospherically intensified by water.

THE BIG FL(EA)UX, THE BIG ORANGE

braided across the ground to form the proposed microtopography and, additionally, to

191

LOT SCALE Oranges and straws were used to explore the blended languages of biology and mechanics in a way that considered the ideas of hybridity and metabolism. The transformation of the landscape-as-orange into an iconic abstraction and the potential to critically reshape the power of this symbol was explored. The original relationship between humans and hydrology (the actual straw stuck into the actual orange) has become one that is completely mediated. Water is distant, abstracted, and always managed by another party (the image of the straw stuck into the image of an orange on the carton of orange juice). How, through a critical reframing of this mediated relationship, can a more direct relationship be restored? Can this reframing break apart the symbol while also recognizing the power of a brand and use it to preserve the language and reassemble the pieces of it critically? A language that describes the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hydrology was first established, the complexity of the relationship between

lynch THE BIG FL(EA)UX, THE BIG ORANGE

water, ground, and urban settlement translated into the terms of the orange and its evolution from actual entity into image. This language is pop art-like, and, in this sense, has a similar potential to reveal, if manipulated, the relationship with the actual that the symbol otherwise masks. Building upon this language’s potential to represent complex landscape issues, it is then further exploited as a means of introducing a lot-scale water infrastructure to Gentilly. The “orange” now represents a small-scale, more biologically modeled infrastructure, the small, modular interventions contributing like segments towards a larger biological system. The color orange is used to brand this kit of parts—orange rain barrels, backyard cypresses and swamp tupelos (which turn orange in the fall), rain gardens (filled with goldenrod, a species native to Southern Louisiana), copper roof pipes, terra cotta pervious driveways. In this way, water becomes a shared responsibility and participation in a more direct relationship with it is signified through color.

193

REURBANIZING WITH WATER

A HYDROLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR RETROFITTING EAST CLEVELAND MAGGIE HANSEN MLA|M.ARCH 2010

This project investigates a decentralized water infrastructure, developed as a bottom-up strategy for reinvigorating the residential fabric of first ring suburban communities in decline using East Cleveland as a test site. Building on case study research of four American ‘hydro-suburbs’ and using the layered functionality of river systems as a design model, an aggregating, lot-scale system of water management was developed. This system layered social and economic functions with water filtration, collection and reuse to create vibrant spaces for occupied and unoccupied lots.

This lot scale system capitalizes on the power of the existing

community to reinvest in itself, and is in contrast to typical solutions that focus on building commercial zones.

This ‘kit of parts’ allows individual homeowners to personalize their lots, building a lot scale hydrological infrastructure that fits their own water use, aesthetic preference and social habits.

Lot scale intervention creates new social spaces.

Vacant and occupied lots build a new urban hydrology.

Neighborhood fabric connects into regional networks.

hansen RE-URBANIZING WITH WATER ABANDONED STRUCTURE VACANT LOT FORECLOSURE

EAST CLEVELAND 2010 East Cleveland provides an extreme example of the depopulation and disinvestment suffered in first ring American suburbs as a result of suburbanization, inner city crime and reinvestment, and the recent foreclosure crisis. Once home to Clevelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Millionaire Row and the Rockefeller estate, its residents now have the lowest median income in Ohio, with the highest foreclosure rate in Cuyahoga County. With abandoned buildings on every block, the area is known for crime, poverty and desperation. The city has begun demolition of 150 abandoned homes and is placing vacant land in a community landbank as part of the 2003 Masterplan.

195

AGGREGATING INFRASTRUCTURE | BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP Despite East Cleveland’s reputation, residents take great pride in their community. Residents fought to keep their local farmer’s market and several new community gardens have emerged over the last few years. By harnessing the energy and optimism on the ground, a community can emerge that reflects the residents’ values and priorities. This aggregating retrofit claims strategic parcels for hydrologic and commercial use, regrades lots as a part of demolition, and allows for continual change. Changes at a small scale allow for experimentation and incorporation of new technologies.

PHASE 1: Identify critical, available lots

PHASE 2: Regrade lots and street swales during demolition

PHASE 3: Insert cisterns and block drainage strategically

PHASE 4: Allow for continual transformation

SUBURBAN HYDROLOGY | SINGULAR FUNCTION Typical residential water systems manage water by rapid conveyance to central filtration, in contrast to nonconstructed systems that serve multiple functions along the way. East Cleveland’s aging Combined Sewer System contributes to pollution in Lake Erie and repairs required to meet new EPA regulations will more than double quarterly costs. HYBRID HYDROLOGY | LAYERED FUNCTION A new hybrid infrastructure combines functions, allowing more targeted treatment of pollutants, collecting household and rain water for reuse, cutting household water costs by 60% and creating vibrant spaces.

NON-CONSTRUCTED

HOUSEHOLD

CONSTRUCTED

DISCONNECTED, SUPPRESSED

SOURCE

hansen

INTERCONNECTED, MULTIFUNCTIONAL

SOURCE

RE-URBANIZING WITH WATER

COLLECT |FILTER FOREST CANOPY

CONVEY

FILTER|COLLECT

ROOF | STREET | LAWN

COLLECT|FILTER|ABSORB

WATER FILTRATION CENTER

GROUND COVER

CONVEY|AERATE

CONVEY

GUTTER | DOWNSPOUT

MUNICIPAL WATER PIPE

AERATE|FILTER SEDIMENT WATERFALL

CONVEY

HOUSEHOLD USE (POTABLE)

STREET CURB | DRAIN

WASHING | DRINKING

CONVEY|AERATE|FILTER STREAM

HOUSEHOLD USE (NONPOTABLE)

FILTER SEDIMENT CSS CATCHBASIN

TOILET | WASHER

CONVEY

CONVEY|AERATE|FILTER STREAM

CSS PIPE

CONVEY|AERATE|FILTER

WASTEWATER PIPE

RIVER

COLLECT|FILTER|ABSORB

FILTER |COLLECT

FILTER|COLLECT

WETLANDS

WASTEWATER TREATMENT

HYBRID HOUSEHOLD INTERCONNECTED, REVEALED, MULTIFUNCTIONAL SOURCE

SOURCE CONVEY

ROOF | STREET | LAWN

FILTER|COLLECT

WATER FILTRATION CENTER

CONVEY|AERATE GUTTER | DOWNSPOUT

CONVEY

MUNICIPAL WATER PIPE

COLLECT FILTER

HOUSEHOLD USE (POTABLE)

WETLAND SCREEN

FILTER | CONVEY

WASHING | DRINKING

FILTER | COLLECT

CAR PORT | ROOF FILTER

EXPANDED GUTTER

HOUSEHOLD USE (NONPOTABLE) TOILET | WASHER

[UV FILTER]

COLLECT

CISTERNS (BELOW OR ABOVE GROUND)

CONVEY

WASTEWATER PIPE

CONVEY FILTER ABSORB

FILTER|COLLECT

WETLAND TREATMENT

FILTER |COLLECT

BLOCK SPINE

COLLECT FILTER

WATER TOLERANT TREES

WASTEWATER TREATMENT

COLLECT FILTER CONVEY CONVEY POROUS DRIVEWAY

STREET SWALE

ABSORB

GROUND | SOIL

ABSORB

DRAIN FIELD

SOURCE

197

CISTERN PATIO collects rain water for household use

CISTERN FENCE collects rain water for household use

GREEN ROOF COLLECTION filters & collects rain water; conveys to storage

FILTER FENCE filters & collects rain water for household use

EXPANDED GUTTER filters & conveys rain water to cistern for storage

CAR PORT FILTER filters rain water; conveys to infiltration

WETLAND TREATMENT filters wastewater for ground infiltration

HOUSEHOLD FILTER filters and collects 1 dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s household water for re-use & infiltration

WATER TOLERANT PLANTS filters & collects rain water for evapotranspiration

WETLAND SCREEN filters & collects rain water for household use

RETROFITTING RESIDENTIAL LOTS | A KIT OF HYDROLOGIC PARTS New hydrologic components at the scale of the residential lot filter, collect, and convey water while building a new network of backyard spaces. These components are scaled to the regional climate and informed by the regional riparian systems. Each component fulfills multiple purposes while improving on the aesthetics of the typical gutter and tank systems. Patio-scale cisterns capture household and rain water for reuse, while providing a thermal mass for an extended season of barbecues. Expanded gutters and screens provide a network of plant filtration before conveying water to areas of

hansen RE-URBANIZING WITH WATER

Block drainage spines create a new semi-public network, lot scale hydrologic components allow for individual aesthetics and lifestyle to influence design.

further filtration or reuse. These individual components can be assembled in multiple configurations, allowing residents to personalize their system to their own aesthetic and needs. RETROFITTING VACANT LOTS | NETWORKING HYDROLOGIC, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS Unoccupied lots are put into immediate community use through regrading for specific hydrologic function, as sites of infiltration, collection, filtration, and conveyance. These hydrologic functions inform development for social and economic functions. Redeveloping these lots with an emphasis on layered function allows for new forms of enterprise that draw influence from the specific regional ecology. These small scale hydrological nodes frame a community embedded in its ecological and local context.

INFILTRATE

FILTER

COLLECT

CONVEY

PUBLIC UTILITY

RECREATION

EDUCATION

BLOCK COMMUNITY

COMMERCE

parking strip drainage

swale trail

info check dam

block drain spine

dining patio

building & bioretention

cistern b-ball court

raingarden theater

block cistern patio

grocery farm

bioretention park

wetland classroom

forest worklot

play space meadow

garden daycare

block service garden

bio fuel station

wastewater treatment geothermal lots

tree nursery

199

ALCHEMY OF AN URBAN ESTUARY REVEALING AND TRANSFORMING INFRASTRUCTURE ALONG THE JONES FALLS CORRIDOR AJA BULLA-RICHARDS, M.ARCH 2011 SARAH SHELTON, MLA 2010 ASLA 2010 STUDENT HONOR AWARD This project transforms mono-functional infrastructure into multi-functional systems, addressing stormwater issues and creating an identity for the largely uninhabited corridor that bisects Baltimore. The unique space proposed is comprised of a series of wetland parks, formed through revealing and adapting the layered history of the Jones Falls River and Expressway. Once buried and problematic infrastructure is re-interpreted as regenerative space that supports ecological and cultural functions, engaging both sides of the city. HISTORICAL CONTEXT The Jones Falls River was a primary resource for the city of Baltimore. As the city encroached on the territory of the river, filling in wetlands and destroying the estuary, floods threatened the downtown business district. After significant floods took many lives and destroyed valuable property, the river was channelized and eventually buried in a culvert. Presently the Jones Falls Expressway (JFX) runs over and parallel to the underground river, forming a physical and psychological barrier between east and west Baltimore. The city is considering various scenarios for removing all or part of the elevated expressway south of Penn Station. The decommissioning of the JFX opens up new possibilities for this under utilized corridor.

bulla-richards + shelton ALCHEMY OF AN URBAN ESTUARY

ECOLOGICAL ISSUES The Baltimore harbor suffers from very poor water quality; this is an ecological, cultural, and economic concern. The lower Jones Falls Watershed encompasses 58 square miles, composed primarily of highly impervious urban land. Currently the pollutants and trash that enter the stormwater in this region converge within the culvert and are released into the heart of Baltimoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary tourist attraction, the inner harbor. At a regional scale, the ecology of the larger Chesapeake Bay is threatened by contaminants from the matrix of tributaries, such as Jones Falls, that feeds its waters. In this project, the urban fabric of Baltimore is considered as part of this larger estuary system.

201

Layers of infrastructure including bedrock, the river, the culvert, and expressway structure weave together, becoming the fabric of public space.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES —Reveal layers of existing infrastructure. Daylight the culvert under Fallsway Road and divert the Jones Falls River base flow. Expose the geomorphology of the corridor by uncovering the bedrock layer at grade with the base of the culvert. —Transform mono-functional systems to serve multiple purposes. The culvert that once confined the last mile of Jones Falls River now filters and stores stormwater, provides room for flashy water, irrigates the river, and becomes a boardwalk. The robust expressway structure supports multiple modes of transportation and shelters public events. —Generate public space where diverse flows intersect and overlap. The floodline can be understood as a generative edge, delineating a site for desirable and adaptable public space.

bulla-richards + shelton ALCHEMY OF AN URBAN ESTUARY proposed systems plan, existing and proposed sections, and perspective sequence along corridor

203

storm water enters the culvert water is filtered in chamber 1 water is stored in chamber 2

water is filtered in chamber 1 water level builds in chamber 2 water enters chamber 3

NEW PLUMBING FOR BALTIMORE: strainer basket, mixing valve, check valve, gate valve, and emergency floor drain, abstracted and applied to Baltimoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drainage system.

URBAN ALCHEMY Baltimoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culvert and topographical change are utilized to create manifold systems of filtration and infiltration. A network of landscape features such as check dams, constructed wetlands, and bioswales work in concert to detain, clean, and manage water. Street edge bioswales are introduced to filter storm water run-off before it reaches the culvert, effectively reducing the volume of water and concentration of pollutants that enter the Chesapeake Bay. Adaptive infrastructure functions as decentralized systems composed of small moments of filtration and infiltration. The three 20 foot x 16 foot concrete chambers of the culvert are retrofitted to clean, store, and distribute water.

bulla-richards + shelton HYDRAULIC SYNERGY: Multiple conduits perform in parallel for clean water and flood prevention. In times of drought, the retrofitted culvert irrigates the river with filtered stormwater. During storms the culvert carries flashy water, protecting the urban fabric and the river ecosystem.

ALCHEMY OF AN URBAN ESTUARY

water level builds in chamber 2 water enters chamber 3 the culvert irrigates the river

The first chamber contains baffle boxes to trap trash, while sand filters remove debris and pollutants cleaning storm water before it moves into the second chamber to be stored. Upon reaching capacity the water spills from the second chamber into a third. The final chamber opens towards the river allowing the filtered water to irrigate the stream. These new functions make the culvert a dynamic feature in the urban landscape. During storm events water will occasionally shoot up out of slots cut into the top of the concrete channel, and urban waterfalls will form along its edges. The culvert boardwalk becomes a destination for viewing multifarious hydraulic processes. River water and brackish harbor water meet within the culvert. Flooding forces come from run-off during storms and also move up from the harbor. Our site acts as an estuary providing wetland habitat that improves the water quality, while increasing water storage capacity in flood events. The design also shapes public space, creating a stream environment with ecological and aesthetic value in both high and low water conditions. The wetland extends into the adjacent land that is now a parking lot but is slotted for new development. Bio-filtration swales and micro-topography structure the ground so that new buildings can be sited within the floodplain.

205

The floodplain defines a generative corridor where layers of existing infrastructure can be re-imagined.

bulla-richards + shelton ALCHEMY OF AN URBAN ESTUARY

An island between the east and west sides of the river is sited under a portion of the expressway structure that is currently the location of the Baltimore farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market. We are preserving this piece of the northbound structure to provide cover for the farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market as well as other public events and performances. A much larger portion of the southbound structure is kept in place for an elevated pedestrian and cyclist trail. Tributary streets lined with bioswales reach east and west extending the new trail into the urban fabric. The corridor is transformed from a mono-functional conduit for automotive traffic into a multifunctional pathway that provides opportunities for pedestrians, cyclists, vehicular traffic, and watercourses to weave together in a diverse system of overlapping and intersecting flows.

207

THE LEGACY OF DEAN HARRY W. PORTER, FASLA, 1936-2011 WARREN BYRD MERRIL D. PETERSON PROFESSOR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE REUBEN RAINEY, WILLIAM STONE WEEDON PROFESSOR EMERITUS NANCY TAKAHASHI DISTINGUISHED LECTURER AND CHAIR OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Dean Harry W. Porterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contributions to the School of Architecture and the University are profound and enduring. In his 26 years at U.Va., Porter founded the Department of Landscape Architecture, served as the Dean of the School, and was appointed the first Architect of the University, a position he helped establish. His distinguished career of academic leadership and service was grounded in a strong and articulate environmental ethic. He advocated a firm commitment to work in the public realm, enlightened environmental stewardship, and the responsibility to preserve cultural landscapes. He also believed the professions of architecture, landscape architecture, and planning should be guided by a democratic vision of social justice and the power of art to delight, enrich, and foster the life of a community. He never ceased to emphasize that design and planning were in essence the giving of form to values, and he urged those engaged in these pursuits to be fully conscious and critical of the values informing their work. Standing six-foot-four inches tall, Porter was a dashing and charismatic presence in the halls of Campbell. Students recall his striking athletic figure (he was a star in track, basketball, and football in high school) crossed with his boyish, matinee-idol look that beamed warmth and empathy. His

his eye that revealed his zest for life and slightly devilish sense of humor. Shunning the spotlight, he preferred to remain in the background, supporting and mentoring the success of others, but his undeniable talents would elevate him to leadership positions throughout his lifetime. Porter was recruited by Dean Joseph Bosserman to establish a Department of Landscape Architecture in the newly opened Campbell Hall building in 1969. By then, he already had accrued an impressive mix of professional and academic credentials, including degrees from Syracuse and Harvard, work in the distinguished professional firms of Sasaki, Dawson, and DeMay and Associates and Edward Durell Stone Jr. and Associates, and five years of teaching at Harvard and the University of Michigan. Within thirteen short years, Porter built the department faculty and created a highly motivated, close-knit community of students and faculty. A rigorous, comprehensive curriculum

byrd + rainey + takahashi

at other times, very public, but there was always that kind smile and playful gleam in

THE LEGACY OF DEAN HARRY W. PORTER

behavior was a paradoxical blend of serenity and intensity. He was often private and,

emerged focusing on what Porter and his faculty envisioned as the core of landscape architecture—site-specific design based on a clear and sophisticated environmental ethic. They introduced courses in design theory, emphasized historical precedent as a source of design, and developed a rigorous technical curriculum integrated with studio. He and his wife Anne (also an outstanding teacher) opened their home frequently to faculty and students. Department picnics, softball games, tubing on the James, hikes, field trips, and graduation banquets in the Rotunda characterized the rich social life of the Department and complemented its academic rigor. Quickly the program rose as one of the foremost in the nation. Porter continued to teach full time as Chair. He was responsible for studio, landform and grading, and the site works course to architecture students. He was appreciated as a tough and demanding studio critic whose brilliant clear-headedness grasped students’ intentions quickly and steered them precisely. He tailored his instruction to each individual’s needs and tolerance for criticism. For those former students who became teachers, Porter was their archetype of excellence. Warren T. Byrd, a student and later a colleague, remembers him as “intuitive, sensitive, inspiring and demanding…. He held to the highest of ideals and fairness…we knew that he would find something of value in our work but would leave us thinking we could certainly do better.” Porter’s articulate environmental ethic, proven leadership ability, calm civility, and advocacy of cross-disciplinary work were major factors in his selection as Dean of the School of Architecture in 1987. Under his leadership the School’s mission focused on the planning and design of public spaces throughout the nation. He recognized the

209

importance of architectural history in the curriculum, supporting research and teaching in that discipline as well as strengthening the program in historic preservation. He initiated efforts to develop more collaborative courses in the four departments and encouraged additional international study opportunities similar to those of the already established Venice and Vicenza programs. He also increased recruiting efforts for minority faculty and students. In describing the flavor of his tenure, Professor Daphne Spain of the Urban and Environmental Planning Department and then Associate Dean under Porter, aptly described him as the “populist Dean”. He worked to support and nourish the ideas and initiatives of the student/faculty community he was charged to oversee. With farsightedness in an era of dramatic decline of state funding for the University, Porter expanded the School of Architecture’s development office, made numerous fundraising trips throughout the country, and established the Dean’s Forum, which continues today to honor generous donors to the School. As University Architect, serving from 1991-94, he sought to improve the quality of the University’s architecture and site planning through commissioning distinguished national firms. His willingness to serve in these two demanding positions at the same time was emblematic of his energy and total commitment to service to the University. Former University President John Casteen, then a member of the search committee for the Dean, remembers Porter: “As the meeting ended, he told us what he would do as Dean. Then he went away and did it elegantly, gently, modestly, and above all brilliantly…The impression that always comes to mind: Harry—thoughtful, cool, sympathetic, principled, and gentle—quietly teaching culture and value, often about planning and landscape architecture, but always about life and how to live it well.” Harry Porter retired from the faculty in 1995. He was the recipient of several national and University honors, including election to the Council of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects, President of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, membership in the Raven Society, and the Edward E. Elson and Lawrence Lewis Jr. Professorships in Architecture. In New Bern, North Carolina, his place of retirement, he continued his commitment to public service through pro bono design work for the city. In 2003 the Harry W. Porter Visiting Professorship was established with the enthusiastic support of alumni and friends. A pumpkin ash tree, planted on the Lawn in front of Pavilion IX where the Porters lived for four years, honors him as well.

byrd + rainey + takahashi THE LEGACY OF DEAN HARRY W. PORTER

Harry Porter died in February of this year after a long and courageous bout with a series of illnesses. His legacy endures in the hundreds of alumni who have gone on to become leaders in professional practice, scholarship, and the civic life of their communities. Here in Campbell Hall, that same legacy profoundly resonates in our teaching, our collaborative community, and our continuing commitment to the public realm, as we strive to become skilled and enlightened citizen stewards of the world we inhabit.

211

MEMORIAM: MARIO DI VALMARANA PETER WALDMAN WILLIAM R. KENAN JR. PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE Mario di Valmarana’s career as an educator began at the University of Venice where the study of architecture is researched as the foundation of cultural history. Indeed his mission began earlier in his own remarkable family home Villa Capra, La Rotunda by Palladio, and he shared the lessons of all his homes as his intellectual and visceral legacy to generations of students and faculty alike. His doctoral dissertation focused on re-reading the Books of Palladio through modern eyes preparing him for his life-long work on the preservation and regeneration of contextual histories at the scale of cities, buildings, and secret gardens. Throughout his career, Valmarana established an extraordinary record of teaching through an aura of personal modesty and passionate aspirations for his students’ growth. Valmarana was the first educator in America to investigate both a temporal and visceral engagement of both natural and constructional processes. He was the first to locate issues of sustainability and of coincidence and connection exactly at a time when the architectural academy as increasingly reductive and disengaged. Long before we were talking about “sustainability” in this school, Mario’s students understood profoundly the long history of reciprocities and remarkable resourcefulness time and again associated with the Lagoon, the Venetian plantation system and the humility of maintenance in the face of the flood. “My teaching, life, professional and personal philosophies invoke making connections.

No villa or palazzo can be discussed

independently of the structure of the land or city. To the department I hope I have brought a critical perspective from an education in modern architecture, but I am by no means bound by it. I love the interplay between young and old cultures, between generations, what one informs us about the other. It is precisely this relationship that helps to inform the comparative discourse between Jefferson and Palladio, long a scholarly pursuit of mine.”

waldman + sherman MEMORIAM: MARIO DI VALMARANA

Valmarana was fiercely inquisitive in his capacity to re-read contemporary circumstance while maintaining a firm belief in the enduring lessons of archetypal paradigms. His modest authority instilled in students a profound knowledge of the past as a guide for contemporary action. His teaching in studio and seminar always stressed phenomenal processes over prescriptive models providing for the eventful celebration of archetypal engagements over the tyranny of reductive reason antithetical to his inclusive posture. When he returned with his Venice class at the end of each October, his students reinfected a Marco Polo vitality of tall tales and precisely crafted artifacts in a tremendous show and tell exhibit at school. The students returned and set an intense pace for the entire school starting their day far earlier than most and lingering with smiles if not joyful grins on their faces way into the darkness of autumnal nights. Energetic collaboration came naturally to these students because they had learned routinely with Mario how to render visible in concrete terms the contemporary critical contributions of a culture of material resourcefulness and contemporary maintenance. He was consistently praised by students as “energetic” and “stimulating”, “driven” and “passionate”, and was identified with a profound “generosity” and a “nobility of character.” Most significantly, he had tremendous capacity to “hear out” his new world students and to guide them on “their” way. In our School, he was perceived by the students as one of the rare “educators” amidst a myriad of skillful trainers. “I have the privilege of interacting with young adults who inspire me and my colleagues as to what the future should be. Our job as educators is to plant within them a conscience. What they owe to themselves comes first, and then they can responsibly serve the community at large.”

213

There are many great teachers who also serve as a consistently demanding catalyst for their colleagues at home. Mario was for nearly three decades the intellectual host for this school through the frequent use of his Virginia homes for students, faculty, and visitors. Built by students over five years, his house became the location of frank and spirited collaboration for all who came to celebrate lectures and reviews, for all the many young faculty who joined us as that are now senior colleagues, as well as the setting of future planning strategies which kept the school vital over the years. This extraordinary pedagogic center burned down in a lightening storm in 1997 and with it went the physical artifacts and theatre which might have been called the soul and forum of this school. In spite of that loss, we realized that it was Mario’s character, his spirit and firm belief in enduring values and love of this his place in Virginia which sustained him. To live and to teach “here” in this new world condition has provided a powerful exemplary lesson of citizenship and optimism for our students in his capacity to survive and flourish with a profound respect for the culture of this place. A leitmotif in Mario’s teaching was that of a Venetian “cistern” containing and filtering the rainwater as an ingenious mechanical and cultural innovation. Mario’s teaching was perceived by students and faculty alike as the necessary wellhead for our school’s unique character and we are fortunate his legacy remains as deep, resonate, and generous as ever. “Had it not been for my life in teaching, I may not have developed the need or habit to rethink place. To show my students a structure for the first time is to see it myself for the first time.”

MEMORIAM: MARIO DI VALMARANA WILLIAM SHERMAN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE The most meaningful honor of my 25 years in academia has been the Mario di Valmarana Professorship. Knowing Mario and working with him on the Venice program transformed my perspective on architecture and the relationship between a culture and its physical environment. To visit the Veneto with Mario was to experience the buildings, cities and landscape as an integrated whole, inseparable from the culture that formed it. In 1995 he prepared a lunch for the students in the basement kitchen of the Villa Rotunda: pasta with eggs, chicken, a salad and wine, all from the villaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s property. He spoke of the deeper meaning of sustainability, which is a question of our fundamental relationship to our resources, a cultural rather than a technical challenge. Similar is his passionate commitment to preservation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not just to save a building, but to maintain the continuity of human investment in the places in which ideas are formed and life is lived. Walks, dinners, sketching in a campo while drinking wine donated by the resident of the adjacent palazzo (invariably a friend), added up to an experience that students (and faculty colleagues) could not forget. The

215

drawings from the 2010 Vicenza Program by Sam Pepper

program provided a space to think, to explore, to experiment, to connect to people and a place that added new layers of enriched knowledge to the complex stew of the creative process.

He cut through academic pretensions, theorizing that had

come untethered from experience, compositional formalism detached from its cultural origins. Over and over, he exhorted the students to capture what was transferable from the Veneto to Virginiaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the relationships rather than the things that would enrich a life in the context of any culture. His perspective on what this means for the future carried the optimism of a true modernist: that we are not here to reproduce the past but to understand and carry forward that which still resonates, translating it through the culture we are continually forming anew. He sought the density, the smell, and the tangibility of experience in the design of the new. His passion for geometry, precision and formal quality was for a way to access the deeper, transferable meaning he sought, using abstraction as the means of translation rather an end in itself. But above all his optimism was grounded in the continuity of the earthy materiality of life: the structure of the landscape to be tasted in the wine, the thickness of stone to be felt in the bones, the play of light across a weathered surface to delight the eye, as ephemeral as music or poetry. He spoke of local food, ecological processes and material flows before they were translated into acceptable subjects of design research. His generosity included, but embraced far more than a personal grace; it created an aura within which the human connection

waldman + sherman MEMORIAM: MARIO DI VALMARANA

provided the security that made exploration possible. It is a kind of generosity that propels us forward, a goal for design and a way of life. I have seen many students transformed by this spirit, some as designers, some just as people, no matter their vocation. The Venice and Veneto programs cannot reproduce what Mario brought to them, but they can sustain the spirit that animated them. They were not about narrowly framed historical research or about the individual disciplines of the school. The programs have the potential to sustain the integrated view of design that refused to respect boundaries of time or discipline, always seeking contemporary value in the richness of a manylayered place. Buildings, landscapes and processes of urbanization are part of the same enterprise that a student of the Veneto can experience with unparalleled intensity. Venice is a city shaped by the constant negotiation between human ingenuity and forces far greater than itselfâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;its exquisite materiality is imprinted with the scale of each human hand that built it as much as the flows of water and minerals that shaped, grounded and enriched it. The density and complexity of these relationships can only be understood through close observation, sustained study and cultural immersion. The subject of the Venetan programs is the visceral understanding of a way of connecting to the world; its urgency is driven by our need to reinvent these connections in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. It grounds the imagination in an experience of a possible future, ripe with tangible, transferable relationships.

217

[The term 'lunch' is an informal derivation of the word luncheon. The colloquialism of the term coupled with some 'talk of you and me' speaks to the core intention of this collection. lunch is inspired by chance; by chance discussions that grow from a meal in a shared setting and by chance discussions that alter or challenge views of the space and place we inhabit. lunch provides for the meeting of diverse voices in common place tended by a casual atmosphere. To lunch suggests an escape from the day's work; perhaps even a break. The works collected in previous editions of lunch mix a range of studies, conversations, drawings, statements, and stories that together aspire to reflect the student and educational experience at the University of Virginia School of Architecture.]

Kevin Bell, M.Arch 2006 Matthew Ibarra, M.Arch 2006 Ryan Moody, M.Arch 2007