Project Design Studio 2
Other Landscapes: Albany Bulb, San Francisco Bay Area / Surfridge, Los Angeles
Other Landscapes: Albany Bulb, San Francisco Bay Area / Surfridge, Los Angeles
Other Landscapes
Through two projects, this studio explored themes of otherness in landscape – that is, landscapes that lie outside of normal codified use through exclusion, abandonment, appropriation, or subversion. Implicit is the idea that unsanctioned examples of successfully appropriated ‘other’ spaces appear to suggest alternative conceptions for reengaging public space. In both projects the studio considered the value and limits of adaptation and reuse, versus reconfiguration and renewal.
Through two projects, this studio explored themes of otherness in landscape – that is, landscapes that lie outside of normal codified use through exclusion, abandonment, appropriation, or subversion. Implicit is the idea that unsanctioned examples of successfully appropriated ‘other’ spaces appear to suggest alternative conceptions for reengaging public space. In both projects the studio considered the value and limits of adaptation and reuse, versus reconfiguration and renewal.
Myra Messner
Exploring the role of design at Albany Bulb wasteland
Over four decades, the Albany Bulb metamorphosed from a dumpsite to an exotic thicket harboring a clandestine community. Since the first and second forced decampments of this spontaneous society, the site has endured as a living ruin that continues to inspire the explorative impulses of visitors. Today, residual structures and decaying scrap-sculptures represent the tangible face of the site and its heterotopic past. However, as these artifacts disintegrate, a site that was defined by continual transformation, cultivation and creativity since emerging from the Bay half a century ago enters a new phase of stasis. Although the Bulb has never been more accessible and inclusive as a public space, it now risks losing its ‘edge’ through steady decline into normalization.
Students explored the potential role (and limitations) for design in adding a new layer to the Bulb. Although it may take many forms, the objective of landscape design in this context is to transition the site into a new phase whilst simultaneously upholding the ‘open’ ambiguous wasteland (or terrain vague) characteristics that have come to define the Bulb. This requires negotiating a potentially fraught condition, whereby the agency of design risks codifying and smothering the un-planned landscape nuances that permeate the experience of the Bulb in the first place.
Over four decades, the Albany Bulb metamorphosed from a dumpsite to an exotic thicket harboring a clandestine community. Since the first and second forced decampments of this spontaneous society, the site has endured as a living ruin that continues to inspire the explorative impulses of visitors. Today, residual structures and decaying scrap-sculptures represent the tangible face of the site and its heterotopic past. However, as these artifacts disintegrate, a site that was defined by continual transformation, cultivation and creativity since emerging from the Bay half a century ago enters a new phase of stasis. Although the Bulb has never been more accessible and inclusive as a public space, it now risks losing its ‘edge’ through steady decline into normalization.
Students explored the potential role (and limitations) for design in adding a new layer to the Bulb. Although it may take many forms, the objective of landscape design in this context is to transition the site into a new phase whilst simultaneously upholding the ‘open’ ambiguous wasteland (or terrain vague) characteristics that have come to define the Bulb. This requires negotiating a potentially fraught condition, whereby the agency of design risks codifying and smothering the un-planned landscape nuances that permeate the experience of the Bulb in the first place.
Myra Messner
Yiping Lu
Yiping Lu
Unlocking the Surfridge deconstructed coastal suburb
Once an opulent 1920s beachside estate, Surfridge was demolished under eminent domain in the 1960s as the jet age expanded to its doorstep. Wedged between LAX and the coast, the site exists today as a residual buffer zone fenced off from public access. A self-sown coastal ecology fills the former parcels that remain delineated by the disintegrating suburban street layout. Designated as a butterfly sanctuary and undergoing piecemeal ecological rehabilitation, the official outlook for Surfridge remains off limits and invisible to the grounded public. Indeed, the site remains most visible from airliners on final approach to LAX.
Students challenged the official future of the Surfridge site as an off-limits buffer to LAX. Surprisingly, Los Angeles has one the highest average urban densities in the US. In this context, a 340-acre urban site suggests cultural and natural potential, even where it is subjugated by the landing gear of jumbo jets.
Once an opulent 1920s beachside estate, Surfridge was demolished under eminent domain in the 1960s as the jet age expanded to its doorstep. Wedged between LAX and the coast, the site exists today as a residual buffer zone fenced off from public access. A self-sown coastal ecology fills the former parcels that remain delineated by the disintegrating suburban street layout. Designated as a butterfly sanctuary and undergoing piecemeal ecological rehabilitation, the official outlook for Surfridge remains off limits and invisible to the grounded public. Indeed, the site remains most visible from airliners on final approach to LAX.
Students challenged the official future of the Surfridge site as an off-limits buffer to LAX. Surprisingly, Los Angeles has one the highest average urban densities in the US. In this context, a 340-acre urban site suggests cultural and natural potential, even where it is subjugated by the landing gear of jumbo jets.
Lauren Bergenholtz
Lauren Bergenholtz
Jason Prado
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Jason Prado
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Myra Messner
Myra Messner
Myra Messner
