the limestone study challenge and designing for hydrological juxtapositions of the Everglades
When designing anything in South Florida one major factor is going to be water, not only from the sky, and not only from the ocean on the east and the Everglades on the west, but also through the shallow and porous limestone below.
Week one we did a ridiculous amount of analysis. We looked at history of the site, existing conditions, hydrology, demographics, geology, land use and more.
The Challenge: An Invented Remote Landscape
Providing a destination for artists engaged in the study of ecosystems, productive landscapes, and cultural expression connected to the land, while exposing to the public the spectrum of land uses ranging from mining to habitat restoration, from pristine to disturbed. Artists will reside, study, congregate, collaborate and display their art here.
Design Solution: Edible Artscapes
This project takes place in a land once inhabited by alligators and anhinga, manatees and moringa. Once a slough of tree islands and free-flowing freshwater, the humans discovered its riches down below, and destruction ensued.
In the early 1970’s mining began in the area, clearing large swaths of habitat, blocking natural hydrological flow, scraping, shaking, blasting and extracting the limestone beneath the surface. This practice continues today, and leaves in its wake large barren pits where crystal clear water enters through the porous substrate.
A spectrum of land uses surrounds the Lake Belt located just west of the Miami-Dade Urban Development Boundary and adjacent a major expressway. Municipal wellfields are scattered throughout, limiting depth and breadth of mining in certain areas.
No longer an active mine, the project site boasts a peculiar tapestry of human-inflicted textures, from deep uninhabited lake to barren sand pit, man-made dirt roads, to areas cleared of vegetation. The scars of the mining days remain, and it is the resident artists who will re-inhabit the area and save the day.
This project is about restoring and renewing disturbed landscapes while inhabiting these spaces of contemplation, isolation and inspiration. Resident artists are challenged to leave the landscape better than they encountered it, involving themselves in productive exploration while finding inspiration in the geology, ecology, history and use of the land.
Land is used and cultivated in productive and ecologically beneficial ways. Residents are encouraged to add color to the landscape in any creative manner they see fit.
Repurposed industrial buildings from a former cement factory provide housing and studio space for the artists, a relocated visitor center and various covered areas throughout the site.
The general public is engaged through recreational trails showcasing works of art and through markets which sell foodstuffs produced onsite. The goal is to create environmental awareness through what we need most from the land: fresh food.
Planting strategies aim to renew disturbed areas, create habitat, add biodiversity, and rebuild rich soil. Due to nearby municipal wellfields, surface water must be kept pristine, achieved through organic agricultural practices on site and lakeside plants which cleanse and purify.
This is starting to look like the Bahamas project.
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