THE GREAT RIVER

Cylindrical Appropriation

There is a closed section of interstate 195, about 1.5 miles long skimming along the outskirts of downtown Providence. The highway was rerouted in the past few years to reopen the city core after being filled with this massive stretch of road for the past few decades. But the demolition of this section of left over road is lagging and in the mean time there have been vigorous debates and many interesting proposals made by architecture students as to what should be done with this abandon stretch. In particular, the section that spans the Providence River is a very provocative segment; it receives full sun all day, the river gently flows beneath it and it has perfect views of both downtown Providence to the North and the opening to the Narragansett Bay to the South. Tear it down, build a commercial development on top, fill it with soil and farm it, creating a sort of CSA run by homeless people, making a hub for a city wide bicycle network, as well as making a Providence version of Manhattans highline has all been discussed.

But nothing has been done for many months now, and probably nothing will be done for many more. Yet, Cardi construction, who has the development contract, and the City of Providence are prohibiting people from using the closed section in the mean time. But people, by simple avoiding the authority figures, are slowly beginning to use this section of highway as a quite, if not surreal, getaway from the city.
There have been large scale construction materials stored on the bridge section since Fall, 2009, leaving the material weathered and unused.

What if the public began to usurp the resources left over by the City? What if the city relinquished its tight grip on public resources and allowed people to take and active roll in transforming abandoned and unused spaces in the city?

This is a small space I calibrated on top of this bridge section. This project infills a 7 foot tall concrete cylinder, initially meant to house underground pipes, that had been sitting unused on this highway for many months. The addition includes a wood and glass skylight, with a hole left to climb up the ladder, a pine floor and two circular window/doors that pivot on magnet connections.

After the flood

In late March, localized sections of Rhode Island experienced serious flooding. After just a few days of heavy rain, Cranston and Warwick were hit with historic high waters from the Pawtuxet River which crested at nearly 21 feet, nearly 12 feet above the normal flood line. As a result sewage treatment facilities became inundated, houses were destroyed, parking lots were termporarly turned into ponds and lakes and the Warwick mall, and many other retailers, full of insurance backed merchandise, was left to mold.
The paved streets turned into water thoroughfares, exposing the delicate reliance that automobiles have on the status quo. However, after the streets became filled with calmly flowing water, they became a perfect place to take an alternative mode of transportation. This is me and Andy traversing the city by canoe, have a totally new spatial experience.

If John were an urban planner

Imagine there's no disconnection,

it's easy if you try

you can see beginning and end

of the systems that maintain life

Imagine all the people,

living for a cyclical urbanism,

ahhaa ahhhh

chicken tractors

" Chickens & Permaculture

30 March, 2008 at 10:07 am (+ Permaculture Design, Maine Food)
Tags: Chickens, permaculture, chicken tractor

Animals are often a component of a permaculture garden and backyard chickens are one of the best examples. Thinking about chickens is also an opportunity to think about some very important core permaculture ideas … let’s do some chicken analysis! [image courtesy of Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison]

As with any element in permaculture, we must think not just about the element itself, but its relationship to and connection with other elements! Think of it as the Theory of Relative Location: place every element in relationship to others so that they assist and support each other. In other words, each element supports the entire system so the value of the whole is greatly enhanced. As Bill Mollison says, “The core of permaculture is design. Design is a connection between things. It’s not the human, or the chicken or the garden. It is how the human, the chicken and the garden are connected.”

Chickens require inputs:

• Shelter
• Grit
• Dust
• Water
• Air
• Food
• Other Chickens
• General husbandry

Chickens have the following products and/or behaviors:

• Eggs
• Meat
• Feathers
• Manure
• Methane
• CO2
• Scratching & Tillage
• Foraging
• Clucking
• Flying
• Fighting

We also consider the intrinsic characteristics:

• Breed
• Color
• Climate tolerance
• Breed-specific behaviors

With all of this taken into account, we can consider the optimal location for chickens in our permaculture garden so that we create the most beneficial relationships possible with the other elements. Tune in next time to learn about one of the best ways to do this: Chicken Tractors. "

Casey says,

"Permaculture is a good idea."

persperation of brain. ( pre-flood)

Infrastructure which combines systems required for urban environments that are also made for human experience/occupation

Exposed systems as a means of maintaining awareness of our production, waste, and general cycle of materials.

The utilities of the city should not be removed from sight or touch. Rather than mono-infrastructure, the systems of the city should be wed to encompass waste managment, energy production, recreation and general civic participation.

Synthesis of the biological and the mechanical.

Localized closed cycles. ecology and technology are facilitated to maintain healthy, economical and cyclical systems.

Technology as a means of creating simpler, more cohesive lifestyles. Urbanism as a programatic concern for community development and visa versa.

----------------------------------------

Spaces that are not intellectualized. Spaces that are felt with the senses.

Bio-infrastructure.

This is the classic photo by David Ow of a transgenic plant expressing firefly luciferase. Basically, this is a glowing tobacco plant. This experiment was initially done in an attempt to visually display bio-engineered plants. The gene which fireflies contain to allow them to light up the sky was harvested and linked up a second gene. When that other gene is expressed, the plant glows.
Infrastructures are the systems that allow cities to maintain a pulse. Perhaps bio-engineering and more radical appropriation of plants, as well as permaculture and increased general awareness can lead our cities to have a healthier blood pressure and

Interstellar space stations have been discussed recently.
I was reminded of a story I read recently by Arthur C. Clark story called Rendezvous with Rama. Essentially a monolithic cylinder comes charging into our solar system one day, from the deep depths of space. This cylinder, 60 kilometers long, 16 wide, contains inside of it what seem to be cities, infrastructure, advanded technology and an ocean the shape of a gigantic ring.
Alien urbanism, floating through deep space.

plein air sound

Vision is undoubtedly our most dominant sense. Some of our most deep rooted cultural activities and media events are made possible almost exclusively by perception via the eye ball.
In the field of architecture alone, a large majority of critical theory, both in the past and present, has focused almost exclusively on the visual, placing importance on sight lines, visual corridors, the importance of framing views.


While this visual dominance certainly exists in part because of that particular sense's wide ranging and often extremely practical capabilities, this increasing focus on vision comes at a cost to the development and rewards associated with sound, touch, taste and smell.

While there are many examples of spaces designed specifically to please the eyes, besides concert halls (which also may kneel primarily to visual aesthetics), it is difficult to imagine a space that could be designed to primarily facilitate a non-visual experience.

But perhaps more important that attempting to conceive of an olfactory architecture, is to maintain a conscious effort to keep the other senses in mind; if for no other reason, for the sake of sense-diversity. Agricultural critics speak of mono-crops as problematic because they promote short sighted production rather than fostering a healthy, diverse and resistant ecosystem.

The drawings below are part of a series of auditory records of particular places, at a particular time. They are made by covering the eyes, and asking the hand to move in correspondence with surrounding sounds. These sonic events can then be re-imagined by a subjective interpretation of the visual record.

Glimpses of the primary factory, located on the eastern edge of
the site. While this space is wonderfully empty in this depiction,
it would presumably be filled with assembly line equipment,
trucks, ect..



.

the end of the beginning

Below are a few of the images depicting the last round of representation I was able achieved while in Korea. A few days before leaving, I was asked to produce a site plan that had 3 factories, an office building and an R and D buildings. I had previously been working toward a plan that included 2 factories and the office head quarters. Because the land is being leased by the city, and plots are becoming more and more scarce, Invicx needed/needs to show that they are going to be using the 11 acres efficiently and economically.
Prior to the addition of one more factory and the R and D building, there was a lot of open space, which I thought to be a major advantage. So basically, we giving the city a proposal for what the site may look like far into the future, but as far as the near futures is concerned, there should still be ample space to breath. ( that assuming there will be anything built at all in the near future)
So, while the reason for adding two more buildings is reasonable, they late notice was trouble some, and the rest of the design is probably suffering because of it.
I may have a chance to continue to develop these plans thoughout the summer....

feng shui

The Switch


The factory and the office buildings had more or less been placed on the site. Then, one of the owners decided that he should have a friend of his, who is a Feng Shui expert, take a look at the site to give us the perspective of Asian cultural history.
We drove to the site to meet this man. He stepped out of the car, holding a Feng Shui compass and imediatly began to give his assessment on the where the most ideal place to put the buildings is.
He was dressed in traditional garb, and was the only person I have seen here that had the long, pointed, graying beard.
While he only spoke Korean, thus I did not hear this from the horses mouth, but rather from a rough, and I'm sure generalized translation. But basically, he says the office must face either east or south ( he assumes all buildings have a single directionality). The Factory should be on the other side of the site. There should be two entrances on the north side, one for the factory, one for the office.
Later when I asked why this was, I got a half hearted, and very generic answer basically say that there are certain rules in feng shui that have been followed for thousands of years, and that it has to do with aligning with the positive energy of the earth, and turning from the bad.
Initially, skepticism was full on. Im not down with designing around arbitrary superstition and rules that have the pseudo-scientfic feel of astroglogy. The owners of course where completely down with designing around such.
But, trying to be culturally considerate, I calmed down a bit and realized that most of my decisions up till that point had fallen in line with those rules, except the buildings needed to be mirrored. While mirroring everything is obviously a big deal, it was not nearly as drastic as I anticipated. While doing this would thrown off some things with the layout, it actually solved some of the problems I was having. So, only a partitial step back.
Also, I have decided that I am down with aligning with the earths energy, weather you call in fung shui or not. and being culturally conscience is also a good thing I suppose. ( even though pretty much none of the contemporary buildings here are.)


The Switch

the beginning of buildings

The site is located is a small, but growing industrial
complex on the northern edge of Gwangju.




The initial conceptual mock-ups. Undoubtedly many
changes in ensue, but the basic idea is present.




move below, ascend up into the belly of the beast.