ARCH 310
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Over six consecutive days in September 2020, 130 architecture students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee circumnavigated the perimeter of Milwaukee on foot, by bike, and car to experience firsthand how the city is both affecting and being affected by greater and more complex phenomena such as race, social class, global warming, and climate change. The studio, Walk the Line, functioned as a meeting place, curatorial lab, traveling repository, and production atelier that operated from the periphery of the city to survey the intersection between land, the human body, and human activity. By traveling 110 miles around the outermost edge of the city, without ever crossing the imaginary line that encloses it, students understood the effects of racism, segregation, and economic disparity not as theoretical constructs but as issues that are available to immediate experience. The impact was real, tangible, and difficult to ignore. Students cataloged the nature of their observations through field diaries and narrative maps, reflected on those annotations with people they met along the way and online, and collectively designed and built 34 site-specific interventions in response. The interventions acted as barometers that were capable of recording the effects of the record high water levels of Lake Michigan, racially restrictive covenants in Wauwatosa, eroding sand dunes, and rapidly depleting salt piles on Jones’ Island, and highlighted how these phenomena connect across multiple temporal registers and enact change that is felt across multiple timescales.
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Critics:
Rafeeq Asad Sarah Aziz Gabriela Bustos Bob Greenstreet Matt Mabee Monika Thadhani Chelsea Wait |
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The basis of this project was to design and build a structure that could hold 4 people socially distanced 6 feet apart. The structure had to be designed around elements from the site given and had to protect the occupants from the outdoor elements. Rhino was utilized to design the project using the correct building materials and sizes. The group members that designed and build it are Cameron Hansen, Jeff Kwiecinski, Marco Cordero, and Philip Dahlberg. On the site we used 4 tree stumps from cut down trees as a foundation for our pods we suspended from the trees nearby. The pods all faced each other and were enclosed, except the front, using clear vinyl. The site was in a patch of woods next to an elementary school in Greenfield, so we used bright color to paint the bases to attract the attention of hikers and the children from the school. The building process took about 30 hours in 3 days to assemble with the trailer loaded with building supplies. With this structure being next to an elementary school the teachers were very interested in it and used it to build outdoor lesson plans to get the children outside and interested.
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Project Images (Click to Enlarge)
Student Presentation
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Site 9 is located on Lincoln Memorial drive the eastern edge of Milwaukee, WI. Given conditions of heavy wind, close proximity to Lake Michigan and the Linwood water treatment plant nearby, we want to incorporate plastic pollution into our design. At a glance from the outside our installation is intended to be elegant and catch the eyes of those who either walk or drive by, as the site location has heavy traffic (see site photos diagram). Upon entering our installation one would quickly see all the plastic that has been intertwined into our design. This is to mimic that the lake from a glance is very beautiful but upon entering it one sees all the litter and plastic that washes up along the beach. We plan to attach plastic bags under the outer tarps to add a noise element to our design, as our site can be quite windy (see environmental factors map). Our specific area is flat, we are bringing the relationship to be the highest point and draw attention to our installation. The site is mostly surrounded by home residences so we also want the installation to light up at night as most people will be home that time and it can receive more attention. People traveling home off the highway, up the hill make it more popular at night for this area. For materials we have a budget of $200 and want to use as many objects as we can find from previous projects e.g. Keeping the budget down while informing people who come across our site of the possible waste and the second life it can have.
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Project Images (Click to Enlarge)
Student Presentation
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“Rotating Light,” was located on 12400 W Hampton Ave. on the Northwest part of Milwaukee’s broader. This specific site experiences large amounts of pollution emissions because of its close proximity to the Union pacific railway, manufacturing business, and a busy intersection that transportation vehicles use daily. By setting off two smoke bombs, we were able to illustrate what particle pollution looks like at a large scale. Prisms were added to the roof, to act as a PM2.5 reader; as the light reflects, it hits the pollution particles. The design includes four clear plastic divides, that can rotate in the wind, to incite a feeling of isolation due to pollution. “Rotating Light” exaggerates what pollution looks like and how it can feel to demonstrate how, if left unattended to, pollution has the power to harm us in ways other than physical health.
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Project Images (Click to Enlarge)
Student Presentation
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With designing our pavilion, we tried our best to incorporate the relative theme of the site. Given our site is Veterans Park and is in walking distance of the monoliths in veterans memorial. We wanted to make sure that our design pays respects to its site without trying to take any attention away from nearby memorial. When brainstorming ideas for the construction we felt it would make the most sense to mimic the monolithic design of the memorial and create 4 separate pods that a passersby can occupy. This aspect of our design was imperative to our construction of the pavilion. It allows the pavilion to absorb its surrounding architecture without taking too much attention away from it. The pods were made out of PVC pipes and the roof of each pod is covered with waterproof fabric. The project represents unity and order, and that is the reason why the units are standing by themselves and that is “being united”. The bench represents the monolithic monument in the park, and it also creates a circulation inside the unit that gives access to all the units with keeping a 6 feet distance away from others using other pods. Each pod focuses on a certain view one is looking at the monument, the other one is looking at the park with a large green space, and one looking at the lake alone, and the last one is looking at the lake and the art museum including other buildings.
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Project Images (Click to Enlarge)
Student Presentation
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Everyone experiences nature and each surrounding environment differently, however how we can sometimes shape the way we feel or experience nature by the different types of structure and geometries with nature. Through out the Arch 310 semester, this was a learning experience to be had, while we all took practicing social distancing to the extreme, as well as designed our projects to benefit others, encouraging social distancing. Within our structure, we wanted our program to be a flexible, yet rugged piece that was constructed out of the simple geometries of a pallet. From this module of a pallet, we were then able to explore the extraneous possibilities of the built environment through multiple iterations of a model making and assemblage. This was the turning point within our work when we realized the true purpose of our project; to bring and experience inclusiveness in nature, while maintaining a safe social distance from each other throughout the structure. We also decide on some natural materials to use that would be able to eventually decompose and not cause any environmental harm, even though this was a temporary exhibit. By creating open, covered, and semi covered, modular spaces, we created an inclusive program that had a deceiving transition from structure to structure. These modular geometries were different from each other but were naturally created from the same program.
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Student Presentation
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This site is located along Estabrook Parkway alongside the Milwaukee River. A short walk from six bus stops and free parking makes this a prime location for community engagement. With multiple paths forming into one right next to the site, fishermen along the river, and a soccer park not too far away, the three of us knew we wanted to create something for families and individuals to relax and enjoy the outdoors while still being able to practice social distancing. Each pod structure is set up to be completely interactive whether people come to read and relax on their own, take a book from the little free library that we added, or leave notes and drawings for one another. Each of us came into the project having similar ideas and inspiration that we wanted to utilize. We knew we wanted to have at least three different pods in order for people to remain social distanced but still have a place to relax and communicate with strangers. For this reason, we did not want the pods to be closed off, we wanted to make a wall that kept people apart from one another, but also provided people with the ability to talk and share ideas. With having a strict budget, we knew we had to use our materials and money wisely. All of the wood and composite decking were donated recycled materials in order to make the frame of each pod, other materials were purchased and recycled from Habitat for Humanity.
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Student Presentation
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The project my group and I created that was nominated was called Site Specific Intervention. Each group was assigned to one of many various sites around Milwaukee, each offering different possibilities and challenges to design around. Our site was on Bradford Beach. The project began by learning the basics of site analysis. We were expected to research things on our site such as wind patterns, nearby transportation, and sun-paths. We then began the design process. Our design was to be an installation that would not only respond to the site but protect users from any inclement weather as well as promote social distancing for its users. Our design was very open with four different corners for users to sit in where they would be protected from strong winds. Even though users would be socially distanced while inside our installation, our open design still allowed for socialization. This open design was also utilized to allow users to fully capture the beautiful views that Bradford Beach provides at all angles. In addition to this, the star-shaped pattern on the top of our installation frames the sky in an elegant way creating an a way to use the installation while still taking in ample sunlight as well as providing the opportunity for stargazing with protection from chilling winds at night.
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Project Images (Click to Enlarge)
Student Presentation
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