[click to enlarge]
There are many convergent issues I am drawn to as I begin this project. The two biggest questions I find myself seeking to answer are these:
- How does our physical setting define our relationship with the world around us, and how can it be used to rekindle our generation’s relationship to nature?
- In light of increasingly turbulent economic and cultural forces, can we create new patterns of land use in America?
The two site conditions proposed here, though visually similar, may require drastically different approaches. On the right (”Reviving the Midwestern Prairie”) is a sample of reconstructed prairie on the outskirts of Chicago– a landscape that has nearly disappeared in the wake of two centuries of Midwestern agricultural and urban development. This site would demand consideration of how to appropriately renew this dwindling ecosystem within a landscape of active cornfields and urban sprawl; at the same time, it would provide an opportunity to teach young midwesterners about the history of their own native landscape.
On the left (”Conversing with the Pacific Wilderness”) is an image of seemingly untouched land just outside of Boise, Idaho. Unlike the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest is one of the few regions of the continental United States where wilderness is largely intact and accessible, even to city dwellers. This region may lend itself to negotiate the edge where the city meets the native landscape, balancing development with preservation; it may begin to create a new pattern of building that protects a unique landscape that is easily taken for granted in its seeming abundance. This context creates a rich environment for children to explore their natural surroundings, and learn to appreciate all it has to offer.