ARCH-4980.2 | Jeremy Carvalho, Adjunct Professor

URBAN FILTRATION
Connecting Urbanism + Indigenous Ecosystems

ANDREA  GOLDSTEIN

The edge condition between land and water in dense urban environments is created to optimize buildable space with a sharp barrier. There is no variation between the ground and water, no connection to bridge the gap; a clear divide that creates two separate ecosystems without dialogue.  The separation and lack of access for locals creates a disassociation from the environment.  To reverse this effect, access to the water needs to be allowed in varying degrees for recreational purposes as well as the benefits of the water for not only human life but to the urban landscape.

Rebuilding the edge condition would help with several problems.  The reestablishment of wetlands brings an ecosystem that has been destroyed by the urbanization and integrates it giving native species a new habitat. The wetlands also serve as a barrier to stop storm surge from flooding as extensively.  One of the important species integrated specifically into the design is the oyster.  Oysters work with the wetlands in filtering out harmful chemicals and debris from the water.  Oyster beds create an additional barrier for storm surge and create flows of micro scale chemical filtration.  While the wetlands although also filters on the micro scale, it largely can collect the matter in areas where it can be removed.

Oyster beds continually go through a cycle of growth and decay.  Growing as they collect on top of older oysters, decay as sediment is trapped within the beds preventing growth, and redevelopment as the bed falls apart, the sediment is cleared and new surfaces are available.  A survey of oyster beds in a given area creates a weave of beds in various stages of this cycle.  By using this logic of significant variation of surface, an increased number of different types of conditions can be created for different programs.  The weave built from the interconnection of grids responding to different environmental factors allows for a dynamic site than can address a number of issues while still remaining one larger system.