11.19.2007

NYSea

After about an hour of discussion...

Sites Out_

Great Lakes_ Receding water = more of the same... Land. Hard to approach.

Dhaka + New Orleans_ Unstable land and invading storms, what's more viable stabilizing land or heading to sea? Dhaka-Mangrove system seems promising but there seem to be too many variables for in depth investigation without visiting the site.

UK_ The problem is country wide, making it pertinent but almost too fantastical, a system which reveals itself through erosion could secure the buildings but it cannot and should not attempt to control the shore's recession as this would simply be delaying the inevitable. Maybe i'm cold but i have little compassion for Mrs. Creighton's Tea Shop, sorry AH, i've got a New York State of Mind.


The Site_ New York City_ Deals with inevitable forthcoming of water with an attitude of embrace and adapt rather than flee, truly allowing a system to integrate the rarely explored edge of water and land and allows systems to change the experience of the city through use, space, and perception while still maintaining and revitalizing the culture of New York.

I am provoked by the idea that a half-submerged civilization as enriching instead of destructive, if planned for. Bedrock allows existing buildings to be retrofitted with a new skin which serves as a language for the system. The diverse urban fabric requires multiple derivations of this system where as the Happisburgh, UK site is relatively monotonous.

The scale of the specific investigation is oil-rig sized (200'x 200' roughly), for lack of a better comparison, but will also address the scale of its systematic growth from conception, growth, adapted city and even proposed expansion (the life cycle from polyp to reef). Site access was also a large factor in this decision as photography is important to my process.
To look at: Venice and Thames tide-scapes

1 comment:

neight said...

Comments from Sneha on paper 2 when all sites were discussed...

The "environmental crises" as site identifiers can be an
interesting approach. But if this is the challenge - the
condition and site need to be immediately identified and
researched such that the design intervention does not assume
but is well-grounded in the specifics of the local
conditions/complications.

I know you are aware of this - but the situation in Dhaka is
vastly different than that of New Orleans or England... so
knowledge of the site is key here. Also, while the coast of
England can be seen as a "model" - choosing a particular
location along it gives it measure and the ability to quantify
it. Then your strategy can be that your intervention is
implementable in several or many locations along the coast
with variable adjustments.

If none of these particular sites are of interest to you in a
meaningful way - the project is viable as a means of
understanding a shifting landscape. Rather than one that is
attempting to solve/resolve an environmental crisis (which you
or any architect is not trained/educated to resolve alone.) It
is really important not to presume divergent knowledge simply
to make an interesting project.

The project can be about the engagement of systems thinking,
manufacturing and design/building models that engage a
particular landscape and context (here: the ocean). Perhaps
not so much to solve crises but to propose an effect (that is
both experiential and functional). The functional effect may
simply be to raise or lower water levels which has huge larger
implications - the experiential effect is not "programmed" as
much as it is discovered.

Understanding that you are still attempting to resolve your
questions about site, etc... these comments may be precursory.
Let's see where you take it...