THE MARCHING TOWARDS OCEAN LENNOX ISLAND
SOVEREIGN MIKMAQ TERRITORY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which the project landed is the traditional and unceded territory of the Abegweit Mi’kmaq First Nation.
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PROJECT PROPOSAL
In mediating the rapid coastal erosion on Lennox Island, a self-governed Canadian First Nation’s territory, resilience techniques will develop in reforming a floating wigwam-bubble structure, softly linking the transitional zones between land and water, with site-specific considerations of the local building traditions of the indigenous people. Coastal erosion and sea-level rising is an emerging crisis to our planet, caused mainly by the sea’s thermal expansion, glaciers, and the loss of ice sheets due to human activities. It rises 0.13 inches per year, and the number is accelerating. Every inch of the sea-level rise will cause 100 inches of coastal loss. The land is shrinking. The Lennox Island, located in Prince Edward Island, has been a traditional Mi’kmaq territory for thousands of years, experiencing a disproportionate consequence for climate change; they contribute very little to the production of greenhouse gasses compared to the dominant community but are impacted severely. Fifteen percent of the land in Lennox Island was lost during the past twenty years, and if continuing the current rate of land loss, the Island will be under the sea level in 50 years. The long-term geographical changes are now vividly unfolded to the local aboriginal community within their lifetime. The Mi’kmaq Nation and their culture are deeply rooted to the ground they live on with a respectful heart to nature, generation by generation. Losing access to traditional lands, waters, and natural resources is also a loss of ancestral, spiritual, totemic, and language connections to lands. Instead of being forced to leave their traditional grounds lessened by coastal erosion, human resistance to the marching water is needed for the people on Lennox Island. The Mi’kmaq Confederacy of PEI, the Lennox Island self-government, has eagerly proposed open requests for flood reliance design methods in response to the severity of the flood issue for the protection of their homeland. Instead of building rigid walls on the seashore to harshly segregate the land and ocean, a bubble structure is promoted around the Island’s edge that slows water invasion but keeps the accessibility to the waterfront. It reduces the pounding towards the land and stabilizes the coastal changes through layers both above and below water. The structure engages with the rising water differently over time. The local zoning plan (residential, burial, forestry and fishery lands) and natural shoreline system (sandy, muddy, bedrock, and biological shorelines) analysis divide the structure into multiple programs through its various levels to engage with the Mi’kmaq Community and the natural ecological systems. Traditional Mi’kmaq totemic, formal architectural languages and building techniques will be actively engaged on the structure with contemporary buffer design technologies to design from and for the Island.
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GLOBAL SEA-LEVEL RISING
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+30m
+40m
+50m
+60m
LENNOX ISLAND IN PEI Prin ce
CANADA
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Edw
ard I sland
MIKMAQ TERRITORY
Gespegeoag
Sigenigteoag
Pigtogeoag
Onamag
Epegoitnag Esgigeoag Segepenegatig
Gespogoitnag the Marching Ocean 7
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Conservative Forest
LENNOX ISLAND = 1.3 CENTRAL PARK
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Fresh Water
Sewage Lagoon
Residential Area
1958
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1974
1990
2000
2010
MALPEQUE BAY AREA BATHYMETRIC / FISHING MAP
Lennox Island Lennox Island Hog Island
PEI
Prince Edward Island
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Ho g
Lennox Island
Bird Island
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Isl an d
Ge Isl orge an d
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LENNOX IN 100 YEARS
RED SAND ISLAND
100%
75%
58%
43%
30%
19%
9%
2%
0.3%
+0m
+1m
+2m
+3m
+4m
+5m
+6m
+7m
+8m
2050 Lennox Island
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2100 Hog Island
Bird Island
PEI’S LOST OF LAND WHEN LENNOX DISAPPEAR
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ZONING | SHORELINE ANALYSIS
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THREATENED BY THE MARCHING OCEAN LENNOX ISLAND’S CULTURE, INDUSTRY, & INFRASTRUCTURE
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LENNOX CULTURE
THE BURIAL GROUND AND SCARED SITES ARE GROUNED MIKMAQ HERITAGE. THREATENED BY FLOODING, PEOPLE ARE LOOSING THEIR FAMILY HISTORIES, COMMUNAL MEMORIES IN THE CULTURAL GATHERING PLACES.
There was a playground near the shoreline where I played games with my friends when I was a child. And now the playground is flooded by the water entirely. I can not tell where it is actually located. the Marching Ocean 18
BURIAL GROUND the Marching Ocean 19
RITUAL SITE
LENNOX INDUSTRY
THE FISHERMAN’S PRIDE INC. IN LENNOX IS THE ONLY LOBSTER PROCESSING PLANT OWNNED BY ABORIGINALS IN CANADA. THE FOREST ON THE NORTH OF THE ISLAND IS USED FOR TRADITIOANL MEDICINE COLLECTION.
I have been living and working on the island for my whole life. My parents built the house I lived in. The Fisherman’s Pride is where I work. And now the water is coming. I don’t know where I will go. the Marching Ocean 20
FISHERY the Marching Ocean 21
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE PLUCKING
LENNOX INFRASTRUCTURE
THE SEWAGE LAGOON IS A MILLION INVESTMENT OWNED BY THE ISLAND. ONLY 3 METERS ABOVE, THE LAGOON WILL CAUSE SEVERE POLLUTION ONCE FLOODED. THE BRIDGE LINKS LENNOX TO PEI IS ALSO TOUCHING THE WATER.
By the time I grow up, the only bridge that connects our island to the rest of the world will be flooded. I don’t know where the island will be.
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BRIDGE the Marching Ocean 23
SEWAGE LAGOON
DISCOURSE MIKMAQ
GATHERING PLACES MEDICINE | RITUAL | PETROGRAPH
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LAND PROJECTS
RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS
BURIAL | RITUAL | PLAYGROUND
WIGWAM | SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSES
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DISCOURSE COASTAL RESILIENCE
Mangroove
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Mangrove Tetrapods
Coastal Groins | Nantucket
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Oyster-tecture | NY | SCAPE
SCENARIO I. RETREAT
RETREATING THE LAND FOR A ECOLOGICAL REVIVE IS THE MOST SOFT SOLUTION FOR THE EROSION. MANGROOVE, AND OTHER LOCAL PLANTS, MEDICINES COULD BE FUNCTIONED AS A FRONTIER FOR THE WATER. TRAILS WILL BUILD UP THE ACCESSIBILITY TO THE WATERFRONT FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY.
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SCENARIO II. ARMOR
ARMORING THE ISLAND THROUGH SEAWALLS, TETRAPODS, AND COASTAL GROINS SLOW WATER’S FORCES TO THE LAND. MOSTLY MADE BY CONCRETE OR STONES, IT IS A HARD INTERVENTION TO THE SITE
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SCENARIO III. ADAPTAION
BY ADAPTING THE COMING SEA-LEVEL RISING, FLOODING STRUCTURES COULD BE ACTIVELY BUILT FOR BOTH SLOWING DOWN THE WATER WHILE PRESERVING THE USE OF LAND.
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LENNOX MICMAQ TERRITORY | FACING RISING WATER HOW CAN WE DESIGN AS INDIGENOUS HOW CAN WE SUSTAINABLY SOLVE PROBLEMS
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WIGWAM REFORMATION STRUCTURAL FRAME
OUTER WALL
CENTRAL GATHERING
WOOD | TREE BOUGH
WOOD | RAWHIDE
HOLE ON TOP
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EXTERIOR TO AIR PLANTING | LANDSCAPING
EXTERIOR TO WATER PLANTING | FISHERY
CORE CENTURAL STRUCTURE
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