Happy 2013! It’s a new term and thanks to a nice long 4 week break I am refreshed and reignited, ready to finish this last thesis studio on a strong note. For our first project this term, we had to study our site’s ecosystem and then find an organism that has adapted and survived the environment for a very long time. The south waterfront is a very interesting ecosystem. Due to past pollution the soil on the banks of the Willamette river are very infertile and hard for almost anything to grow. However up in the hills behind my site, in the air and across the river to Ross Island are packed with many diverse organisms. When looking for that one species that has adapted itself to the south waterfront I couldn’t help but stay focused on the river and Ross Island. This because they too are elements that have gone through a lot of human intervention and still stand the test of time as spaces that help promote life. After a lot of research I finally landed on the Black Cottonwood tree. It is a deciduous tree that is native to Ross Island as well as up and down the banks of the willamette. The aspect I focused on the most was how it would spread it’s seed. The Black Cotton wood drops a vine of cotton seeds and lets them hang in the elements to be taken away. Wind and water then take the seed and spread it somewhere else. I looked into the concept of harnessing and taking advantage of the wind’s power and came up with a concept of kite energy. Kite energy is in it’s early design stages in Italy in a larger scale, my concept though would be a smaller more personal kite that would power apartments for everyday needs and keep high rises off the electrical grid as much as possible. I really enjoyed this project because it felt like a nice and fun way to get back in the term. I am excited to see what this term has to offer! Click on the link below to take a look at the presentation.