This image is the final iteration of the action map drawings I’ve been working with for a while here.  A few small changes, such as using a circle cut-out of the background aerial to indicate commercial/residential centers (as opposed to industrial), have helped to make the map clearer.  The industrial areas are lighter zones on the aerial, the surface infrastructures are darker aerial zones.  Brown indicates parks and plaza space in the city. Green are the areas of extension strategically important to the Riachuelo design.  Pink is the canal itself as well as the 40 meter setback on either side.  Blue lines indicate the new Buenos Aires bicycle network; dashed is existing, solid is proposed as part of this project. The little tick marks by the labels over at the mouth of the river indicate depths, each tick mark is 1 meter.  Orange lines in the pink zone are boat crossings, blue lines are bridge crossings; for each, dashed is existing and solid is needed. I’ve also added phasing to this drawing and eliminated the operations diagrams from this drawing.  It was too messy and confused two different (albeit it related) issues:  connections existing and needed, and spatial implications of material operations of contamination remediation.  For the second set of issues, I’ve ended up creating a separate, related drawing called an “operations map”.

This image is the final iteration of the action map drawings I’ve been working with for a while here.  A few small changes, such as using a circle cut-out of the background aerial to indicate commercial/residential centers (as opposed to industrial), have helped to make the map clearer.  The industrial areas are lighter zones on the aerial, the surface infrastructures are darker aerial zones.  Brown indicates parks and plaza space in the city. Green are the areas of extension strategically important to the Riachuelo design.  Pink is the canal itself as well as the 40 meter setback on either side.  Blue lines indicate the new Buenos Aires bicycle network; dashed is existing, solid is proposed as part of this project. The little tick marks by the labels over at the mouth of the river indicate depths, each tick mark is 1 meter.  Orange lines in the pink zone are boat crossings, blue lines are bridge crossings; for each, dashed is existing and solid is needed.

I’ve also added phasing to this drawing and eliminated the operations diagrams from this drawing.  It was too messy and confused two different (albeit it related) issues:  connections existing and needed, and spatial implications of material operations of contamination remediation.  For the second set of issues, I’ve ended up creating a separate, related drawing called an “operations map”.

11 months ago  1 note View high resolution

This is an initial draft of a 1”=100’ site map of the first phase of tierra plastica.  It shows a new sediment basin located in the lagoon site, opposite the existing Rocha Turning Basin. The red indicates pedestrian and small vehicle circulation within the towpath and extending up the side streets, through the industrial zones and into the neighborhood; the industrial zones are indicated with an aerial photo, slightly masked with a white tone; green rectangles suggest small soccer fields, yellow areas are tree groves, the white rectangles within the black canal are barges and the very long, lattice rectangles in the canal suggest the “dredge-bridge”.  The grey zones in the black canal suggest a channel network for transit boats, with a central channel and smaller connections joining points on land where important streets hit the canal.  The brown spots throughout the city are existing open spaces, some are parks, most are little plaza areas.  The black zones in the canal are the hyacinth gardens. There are serious issues with this design- the dredge bridge does not seem efficacious yet in terms of taking out sediment, but it is also not generating recreational or industrially productive space, and the rest of the landscape is diagrammatic at best.  Nonetheless, the idea that dredgers might be affixed to armatures or stay in place altogether and do their work, generating a landscape in which people and sediments and water and hyacinth bubble and weave all around them according to specific dimensions and rhythms is suggested, and intriguing.

This is an initial draft of a 1”=100’ site map of the first phase of tierra plastica.  It shows a new sediment basin located in the lagoon site, opposite the existing Rocha Turning Basin. The red indicates pedestrian and small vehicle circulation within the towpath and extending up the side streets, through the industrial zones and into the neighborhood; the industrial zones are indicated with an aerial photo, slightly masked with a white tone; green rectangles suggest small soccer fields, yellow areas are tree groves, the white rectangles within the black canal are barges and the very long, lattice rectangles in the canal suggest the “dredge-bridge”.  The grey zones in the black canal suggest a channel network for transit boats, with a central channel and smaller connections joining points on land where important streets hit the canal.  The brown spots throughout the city are existing open spaces, some are parks, most are little plaza areas.  The black zones in the canal are the hyacinth gardens.

There are serious issues with this design- the dredge bridge does not seem efficacious yet in terms of taking out sediment, but it is also not generating recreational or industrially productive space, and the rest of the landscape is diagrammatic at best.  Nonetheless, the idea that dredgers might be affixed to armatures or stay in place altogether and do their work, generating a landscape in which people and sediments and water and hyacinth bubble and weave all around them according to specific dimensions and rhythms is suggested, and intriguing.

1 year ago  View high resolution

Before the proliferation of cobra head street lamps and human scaled promenade poles, cities used to be lit by arc light arrays mounted at the top of buildings or on huge, high poles; here the New Orleans levee at night.  Because of their height and brightness they were good for industrial work and created a sort of magical, ethereal exaggerated night, a lunatic landscape not scaled to the human body.  The city of Austin, TX still maintains their arc lighting systems. Here a lighting system (possibly not arc lights but those used to light sports fields at night) might be affixed to the top of the dredging cranes; when their work is done for the day they move in to position and the lights turn on.

Before the proliferation of cobra head street lamps and human scaled promenade poles, cities used to be lit by arc light arrays mounted at the top of buildings or on huge, high poles; here the New Orleans levee at night.  Because of their height and brightness they were good for industrial work and created a sort of magical, ethereal exaggerated night, a lunatic landscape not scaled to the human body.  The city of Austin, TX still maintains their arc lighting systems.

Here a lighting system (possibly not arc lights but those used to light sports fields at night) might be affixed to the top of the dredging cranes; when their work is done for the day they move in to position and the lights turn on.

1 year ago  1 note View high resolution

These cranes also existing on the site of the Exolgan logistics facility; they appear to be horse-head jib cranes, about 120’ high and with a 75’ operating radius; they are equipped with hooks right now. They might be moved or left in place and equipped with a clamshell bucket to operate as a primary dredger as well as being used in the gathering of the hyacinth biomass used in the filtration gardens and composted in the city yards or along the tow path in specific locations.

These cranes also existing on the site of the Exolgan logistics facility; they appear to be horse-head jib cranes, about 120’ high and with a 75’ operating radius; they are equipped with hooks right now.

They might be moved or left in place and equipped with a clamshell bucket to operate as a primary dredger as well as being used in the gathering of the hyacinth biomass used in the filtration gardens and composted in the city yards or along the tow path in specific locations.

1 year ago  View high resolution

These cranes are existing on site at the Exolgan logistics center.  They appear to be toplis level-luffing cranes used for handling bulk cargo and possibly containers and are underused on this site; they are definitely tow models, the one on the left seems to be 90’ high at the top of the housing with a 100’ crane anchored at about 60’ high; the larger one on the right is likely 110’ high with a 120’ crane anchored at about 70’ high; they might be outfitted with a clamshell bucket and repurposed in placed, or moved to a new location, as stationary dredgers capturing contaminated sediments so they can be treated for reuse.

These cranes are existing on site at the Exolgan logistics center.  They appear to be toplis level-luffing cranes used for handling bulk cargo and possibly containers and are underused on this site; they are definitely tow models, the one on the left seems to be 90’ high at the top of the housing with a 100’ crane anchored at about 60’ high; the larger one on the right is likely 110’ high with a 120’ crane anchored at about 70’ high; they might be outfitted with a clamshell bucket and repurposed in placed, or moved to a new location, as stationary dredgers capturing contaminated sediments so they can be treated for reuse.

1 year ago  View high resolution

The Riachuelo landscape is a connection to the Rio de la Plata hydrologically, but also by spatial type.  Because of the 200 foot wide channel, wide setbacks along the towpath, and low-slung warehousing and industrial buildings it offers broad panoramas that can’t be found else where in this dense part of the city. This panoramic feeling, and the existence of a landscape that is not scaled to the human body, should be maintained.

The Riachuelo landscape is a connection to the Rio de la Plata hydrologically, but also by spatial type.  Because of the 200 foot wide channel, wide setbacks along the towpath, and low-slung warehousing and industrial buildings it offers broad panoramas that can’t be found else where in this dense part of the city.

This panoramic feeling, and the existence of a landscape that is not scaled to the human body, should be maintained.

1 year ago  View high resolution

this is a phasing diagram for the project Tierra Plastica showing the geographical enlargement of the project, taking the working plan of ACUMAR for clearing the channel of the Riachuelo and the Tow Path (camino de sirga) as a starting point and building opportunistically on adjacencies and limits as phases 2 and 3 are implemented.  In addition to the elongation of tierra plastica along the tow path, beginning with a 1.5 stretch and growing to 4 miles, four other parcels are incorporated; the “lagoon” and the “portage” are new landscape types that abut the tow path; the portage is an existing but ill-defined green space in the city existing at the last remaining oxbow, it is the site of an important rail and pedestrian connection across the river and a private recreational facility with soccer fields; the unique geomorphological characteristics will be taken advantage of as a limit of the project; the “lagoon” is currently the site of an underused logistics facility owned by Exolgan who operates the container facilities in the port; the Kroonen report- a document fundamental to this project- calls for this area to be turned over to the city and in the interest of consolidating port facilities in the interest of safety and economy; currently sand mining and some container storage occurs here. The other two parcels are labeled “city yards” in the respective municipalities of Buenos Aires and Avellaneda; they are connected by a rail line and created in the residual space created by the rails; these are chosen because they are adjacent to existing city parks; they will not be a park expansion but may compliment the program of a traditional city park, such as through the establishment of a nursery or composting facility.

this is a phasing diagram for the project Tierra Plastica showing the geographical enlargement of the project, taking the working plan of ACUMAR for clearing the channel of the Riachuelo and the Tow Path (camino de sirga) as a starting point and building opportunistically on adjacencies and limits as phases 2 and 3 are implemented.  In addition to the elongation of tierra plastica along the tow path, beginning with a 1.5 stretch and growing to 4 miles, four other parcels are incorporated; the “lagoon” and the “portage” are new landscape types that abut the tow path; the portage is an existing but ill-defined green space in the city existing at the last remaining oxbow, it is the site of an important rail and pedestrian connection across the river and a private recreational facility with soccer fields; the unique geomorphological characteristics will be taken advantage of as a limit of the project; the “lagoon” is currently the site of an underused logistics facility owned by Exolgan who operates the container facilities in the port; the Kroonen report- a document fundamental to this project- calls for this area to be turned over to the city and in the interest of consolidating port facilities in the interest of safety and economy; currently sand mining and some container storage occurs here.

The other two parcels are labeled “city yards” in the respective municipalities of Buenos Aires and Avellaneda; they are connected by a rail line and created in the residual space created by the rails; these are chosen because they are adjacent to existing city parks; they will not be a park expansion but may compliment the program of a traditional city park, such as through the establishment of a nursery or composting facility.

1 year ago  View high resolution

reductive diagrams isolating significant material flows in the riachuelo; from left to right, sewer overflows, deposition of clastic detritus, the bulk cargo infrastructure now overlaying the canal itself (rails, highway, and port facilities in grey), and major streets that work through the industrial corridor and reach the tow path.  

reductive diagrams isolating significant material flows in the riachuelo; from left to right, sewer overflows, deposition of clastic detritus, the bulk cargo infrastructure now overlaying the canal itself (rails, highway, and port facilities in grey), and major streets that work through the industrial corridor and reach the tow path.  

1 year ago  View high resolution

this photo is taken from the mouth of the Riachuelo where it empties into the Rio de la Plata; the turning basin that will be reimagined as a primary sediment trap is in the center of the photo.

this photo is taken from the mouth of the Riachuelo where it empties into the Rio de la Plata; the turning basin that will be reimagined as a primary sediment trap is in the center of the photo.

1 year ago  View high resolution

The watershed of the Riachuelo river overlaid on the footprint of Buenos Aires.  The blue shapes are the newly constructed reservoirs intended to minimize flooding downstream as part of the new drainage strategy for the basin implemented by ACUMAR.  In the urbanized areas where space for reservoirs is not available a similar strategy is called for on a micro scale.  The project site is indicated by the red circle and is in the most densely urbanized zone.

The watershed of the Riachuelo river overlaid on the footprint of Buenos Aires.  The blue shapes are the newly constructed reservoirs intended to minimize flooding downstream as part of the new drainage strategy for the basin implemented by ACUMAR.  In the urbanized areas where space for reservoirs is not available a similar strategy is called for on a micro scale.  The project site is indicated by the red circle and is in the most densely urbanized zone.

1 year ago  1 note View high resolution

These sections are to-scale through the Riachuelo in the project zone.  The labels on the left indicate the historical depths of the canal as achieved by different port dredging initiatives, with the white layer indicating sediment that has accumulated since cessation of dredging operations.  On the right the labels indicate the water levels due to tidal and sudestada events.

These sections are to-scale through the Riachuelo in the project zone.  The labels on the left indicate the historical depths of the canal as achieved by different port dredging initiatives, with the white layer indicating sediment that has accumulated since cessation of dredging operations.  On the right the labels indicate the water levels due to tidal and sudestada events.

1 year ago  1 note View high resolution

This image indicates the different salinity zones of the Rio de la Plata estuary.  The water is considered fresh at the city of Buenos Aires.  However, during sudestada weather events southeasterly winds push a wall of ocean water up the estuary, backing up the rivers and flooding saltwater into the waterways.

This image indicates the different salinity zones of the Rio de la Plata estuary.  The water is considered fresh at the city of Buenos Aires.  However, during sudestada weather events southeasterly winds push a wall of ocean water up the estuary, backing up the rivers and flooding saltwater into the waterways.

1 year ago  View high resolution

This map shows how the Riachuelo and the port are related through contaminated sediment.

This map shows how the Riachuelo and the port are related through contaminated sediment.

1 year ago  View high resolution

Sketches and Questions:  To start the project; a speculation on the potentiality of the canalized portion of the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The project proposes that the environmental remediation operations necessitated by the federal court “Mendoza” decision of 2008.  The operations are to intended to be carried out by the river basin authority, ACUMAR. This speculation proposes the humble water hyacinth and the rumbling dredge to generate a series of ephemeral landscapes in the canal and at the mouth of the river.  The intent is to use the speculation as a method for bringing up the right questions. The operations would happen at various scales- picking hyacinth, operating a dredger, conveyor belt systems, sedimentation- over decades.  The plan set would necessarily be secondary to continual maintenance and construction processes. This image is imagined as the year 2100.  The manufactured soils created from the spoiled industrial residue of the canal combines with the rich biome of the estuary to create a new urban nursery for reforesting the city; new public-industrial landscapes are created through continual remediation, recreation, and industrial operation along the canal This brings up several key questions useful to the current thesis regarding the material practice of instrumentality (a list in the thick of the editing process): 1. How would people (workers and recreational users) access the canal? 2. What instruments are needed to tend, harvest, transport, and compost the hyacinth? 3. What are the instruments used in dredging?  a) How frequently are they operating?  b) how is the loading and unloading best achieved?  c)  what is the best way to stockpile the volume?  d) how is the contaminated sediment treated and what are the necessary instruments in this process? 4) What are the space and machine requirements needed to produce manufactured soil?

Sketches and Questions:  To start the project; a speculation on the potentiality of the canalized portion of the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The project proposes that the environmental remediation operations necessitated by the federal court “Mendoza” decision of 2008.  The operations are to intended to be carried out by the river basin authority, ACUMAR.

This speculation proposes the humble water hyacinth and the rumbling dredge to generate a series of ephemeral landscapes in the canal and at the mouth of the river.  The intent is to use the speculation as a method for bringing up the right questions.

The operations would happen at various scales- picking hyacinth, operating a dredger, conveyor belt systems, sedimentation- over decades.  The plan set would necessarily be secondary to continual maintenance and construction processes.

This image is imagined as the year 2100.  The manufactured soils created from the spoiled industrial residue of the canal combines with the rich biome of the estuary to create a new urban nursery for reforesting the city; new public-industrial landscapes are created through continual remediation, recreation, and industrial operation along the canal

This brings up several key questions useful to the current thesis regarding the material practice of instrumentality (a list in the thick of the editing process):

1. How would people (workers and recreational users) access the canal?

2. What instruments are needed to tend, harvest, transport, and compost the hyacinth?

3. What are the instruments used in dredging?  a) How frequently are they operating?  b) how is the loading and unloading best achieved?  c)  what is the best way to stockpile the volume?  d) how is the contaminated sediment treated and what are the necessary instruments in this process?

4) What are the space and machine requirements needed to produce manufactured soil?

1 year ago  3 notes View high resolution

This image is the final iteration of the action map drawings I’ve been working with for a while here.  A few small changes, such as using a circle cut-out of the background aerial to indicate commercial/residential centers (as opposed to industrial), have helped to make the map clearer.  The industrial areas are lighter zones on the aerial, the surface infrastructures are darker aerial zones.  Brown indicates parks and plaza space in the city. Green are the areas of extension strategically important to the Riachuelo design.  Pink is the canal itself as well as the 40 meter setback on either side.  Blue lines indicate the new Buenos Aires bicycle network; dashed is existing, solid is proposed as part of this project. The little tick marks by the labels over at the mouth of the river indicate depths, each tick mark is 1 meter.  Orange lines in the pink zone are boat crossings, blue lines are bridge crossings; for each, dashed is existing and solid is needed. I’ve also added phasing to this drawing and eliminated the operations diagrams from this drawing.  It was too messy and confused two different (albeit it related) issues:  connections existing and needed, and spatial implications of material operations of contamination remediation.  For the second set of issues, I’ve ended up creating a separate, related drawing called an “operations map”.

This image is the final iteration of the action map drawings I’ve been working with for a while here.  A few small changes, such as using a circle cut-out of the background aerial to indicate commercial/residential centers (as opposed to industrial), have helped to make the map clearer.  The industrial areas are lighter zones on the aerial, the surface infrastructures are darker aerial zones.  Brown indicates parks and plaza space in the city. Green are the areas of extension strategically important to the Riachuelo design.  Pink is the canal itself as well as the 40 meter setback on either side.  Blue lines indicate the new Buenos Aires bicycle network; dashed is existing, solid is proposed as part of this project. The little tick marks by the labels over at the mouth of the river indicate depths, each tick mark is 1 meter.  Orange lines in the pink zone are boat crossings, blue lines are bridge crossings; for each, dashed is existing and solid is needed.

I’ve also added phasing to this drawing and eliminated the operations diagrams from this drawing.  It was too messy and confused two different (albeit it related) issues:  connections existing and needed, and spatial implications of material operations of contamination remediation.  For the second set of issues, I’ve ended up creating a separate, related drawing called an “operations map”.

This is an initial draft of a 1”=100’ site map of the first phase of tierra plastica.  It shows a new sediment basin located in the lagoon site, opposite the existing Rocha Turning Basin. The red indicates pedestrian and small vehicle circulation within the towpath and extending up the side streets, through the industrial zones and into the neighborhood; the industrial zones are indicated with an aerial photo, slightly masked with a white tone; green rectangles suggest small soccer fields, yellow areas are tree groves, the white rectangles within the black canal are barges and the very long, lattice rectangles in the canal suggest the “dredge-bridge”.  The grey zones in the black canal suggest a channel network for transit boats, with a central channel and smaller connections joining points on land where important streets hit the canal.  The brown spots throughout the city are existing open spaces, some are parks, most are little plaza areas.  The black zones in the canal are the hyacinth gardens. There are serious issues with this design- the dredge bridge does not seem efficacious yet in terms of taking out sediment, but it is also not generating recreational or industrially productive space, and the rest of the landscape is diagrammatic at best.  Nonetheless, the idea that dredgers might be affixed to armatures or stay in place altogether and do their work, generating a landscape in which people and sediments and water and hyacinth bubble and weave all around them according to specific dimensions and rhythms is suggested, and intriguing.

This is an initial draft of a 1”=100’ site map of the first phase of tierra plastica.  It shows a new sediment basin located in the lagoon site, opposite the existing Rocha Turning Basin. The red indicates pedestrian and small vehicle circulation within the towpath and extending up the side streets, through the industrial zones and into the neighborhood; the industrial zones are indicated with an aerial photo, slightly masked with a white tone; green rectangles suggest small soccer fields, yellow areas are tree groves, the white rectangles within the black canal are barges and the very long, lattice rectangles in the canal suggest the “dredge-bridge”.  The grey zones in the black canal suggest a channel network for transit boats, with a central channel and smaller connections joining points on land where important streets hit the canal.  The brown spots throughout the city are existing open spaces, some are parks, most are little plaza areas.  The black zones in the canal are the hyacinth gardens.

There are serious issues with this design- the dredge bridge does not seem efficacious yet in terms of taking out sediment, but it is also not generating recreational or industrially productive space, and the rest of the landscape is diagrammatic at best.  Nonetheless, the idea that dredgers might be affixed to armatures or stay in place altogether and do their work, generating a landscape in which people and sediments and water and hyacinth bubble and weave all around them according to specific dimensions and rhythms is suggested, and intriguing.

Before the proliferation of cobra head street lamps and human scaled promenade poles, cities used to be lit by arc light arrays mounted at the top of buildings or on huge, high poles; here the New Orleans levee at night.  Because of their height and brightness they were good for industrial work and created a sort of magical, ethereal exaggerated night, a lunatic landscape not scaled to the human body.  The city of Austin, TX still maintains their arc lighting systems. Here a lighting system (possibly not arc lights but those used to light sports fields at night) might be affixed to the top of the dredging cranes; when their work is done for the day they move in to position and the lights turn on.

Before the proliferation of cobra head street lamps and human scaled promenade poles, cities used to be lit by arc light arrays mounted at the top of buildings or on huge, high poles; here the New Orleans levee at night.  Because of their height and brightness they were good for industrial work and created a sort of magical, ethereal exaggerated night, a lunatic landscape not scaled to the human body.  The city of Austin, TX still maintains their arc lighting systems.

Here a lighting system (possibly not arc lights but those used to light sports fields at night) might be affixed to the top of the dredging cranes; when their work is done for the day they move in to position and the lights turn on.

These cranes also existing on the site of the Exolgan logistics facility; they appear to be horse-head jib cranes, about 120’ high and with a 75’ operating radius; they are equipped with hooks right now. They might be moved or left in place and equipped with a clamshell bucket to operate as a primary dredger as well as being used in the gathering of the hyacinth biomass used in the filtration gardens and composted in the city yards or along the tow path in specific locations.

These cranes also existing on the site of the Exolgan logistics facility; they appear to be horse-head jib cranes, about 120’ high and with a 75’ operating radius; they are equipped with hooks right now.

They might be moved or left in place and equipped with a clamshell bucket to operate as a primary dredger as well as being used in the gathering of the hyacinth biomass used in the filtration gardens and composted in the city yards or along the tow path in specific locations.

These cranes are existing on site at the Exolgan logistics center.  They appear to be toplis level-luffing cranes used for handling bulk cargo and possibly containers and are underused on this site; they are definitely tow models, the one on the left seems to be 90’ high at the top of the housing with a 100’ crane anchored at about 60’ high; the larger one on the right is likely 110’ high with a 120’ crane anchored at about 70’ high; they might be outfitted with a clamshell bucket and repurposed in placed, or moved to a new location, as stationary dredgers capturing contaminated sediments so they can be treated for reuse.

These cranes are existing on site at the Exolgan logistics center.  They appear to be toplis level-luffing cranes used for handling bulk cargo and possibly containers and are underused on this site; they are definitely tow models, the one on the left seems to be 90’ high at the top of the housing with a 100’ crane anchored at about 60’ high; the larger one on the right is likely 110’ high with a 120’ crane anchored at about 70’ high; they might be outfitted with a clamshell bucket and repurposed in placed, or moved to a new location, as stationary dredgers capturing contaminated sediments so they can be treated for reuse.

The Riachuelo landscape is a connection to the Rio de la Plata hydrologically, but also by spatial type.  Because of the 200 foot wide channel, wide setbacks along the towpath, and low-slung warehousing and industrial buildings it offers broad panoramas that can’t be found else where in this dense part of the city. This panoramic feeling, and the existence of a landscape that is not scaled to the human body, should be maintained.

The Riachuelo landscape is a connection to the Rio de la Plata hydrologically, but also by spatial type.  Because of the 200 foot wide channel, wide setbacks along the towpath, and low-slung warehousing and industrial buildings it offers broad panoramas that can’t be found else where in this dense part of the city.

This panoramic feeling, and the existence of a landscape that is not scaled to the human body, should be maintained.

this is a phasing diagram for the project Tierra Plastica showing the geographical enlargement of the project, taking the working plan of ACUMAR for clearing the channel of the Riachuelo and the Tow Path (camino de sirga) as a starting point and building opportunistically on adjacencies and limits as phases 2 and 3 are implemented.  In addition to the elongation of tierra plastica along the tow path, beginning with a 1.5 stretch and growing to 4 miles, four other parcels are incorporated; the “lagoon” and the “portage” are new landscape types that abut the tow path; the portage is an existing but ill-defined green space in the city existing at the last remaining oxbow, it is the site of an important rail and pedestrian connection across the river and a private recreational facility with soccer fields; the unique geomorphological characteristics will be taken advantage of as a limit of the project; the “lagoon” is currently the site of an underused logistics facility owned by Exolgan who operates the container facilities in the port; the Kroonen report- a document fundamental to this project- calls for this area to be turned over to the city and in the interest of consolidating port facilities in the interest of safety and economy; currently sand mining and some container storage occurs here. The other two parcels are labeled “city yards” in the respective municipalities of Buenos Aires and Avellaneda; they are connected by a rail line and created in the residual space created by the rails; these are chosen because they are adjacent to existing city parks; they will not be a park expansion but may compliment the program of a traditional city park, such as through the establishment of a nursery or composting facility.

this is a phasing diagram for the project Tierra Plastica showing the geographical enlargement of the project, taking the working plan of ACUMAR for clearing the channel of the Riachuelo and the Tow Path (camino de sirga) as a starting point and building opportunistically on adjacencies and limits as phases 2 and 3 are implemented.  In addition to the elongation of tierra plastica along the tow path, beginning with a 1.5 stretch and growing to 4 miles, four other parcels are incorporated; the “lagoon” and the “portage” are new landscape types that abut the tow path; the portage is an existing but ill-defined green space in the city existing at the last remaining oxbow, it is the site of an important rail and pedestrian connection across the river and a private recreational facility with soccer fields; the unique geomorphological characteristics will be taken advantage of as a limit of the project; the “lagoon” is currently the site of an underused logistics facility owned by Exolgan who operates the container facilities in the port; the Kroonen report- a document fundamental to this project- calls for this area to be turned over to the city and in the interest of consolidating port facilities in the interest of safety and economy; currently sand mining and some container storage occurs here.

The other two parcels are labeled “city yards” in the respective municipalities of Buenos Aires and Avellaneda; they are connected by a rail line and created in the residual space created by the rails; these are chosen because they are adjacent to existing city parks; they will not be a park expansion but may compliment the program of a traditional city park, such as through the establishment of a nursery or composting facility.

reductive diagrams isolating significant material flows in the riachuelo; from left to right, sewer overflows, deposition of clastic detritus, the bulk cargo infrastructure now overlaying the canal itself (rails, highway, and port facilities in grey), and major streets that work through the industrial corridor and reach the tow path.  

reductive diagrams isolating significant material flows in the riachuelo; from left to right, sewer overflows, deposition of clastic detritus, the bulk cargo infrastructure now overlaying the canal itself (rails, highway, and port facilities in grey), and major streets that work through the industrial corridor and reach the tow path.  

this photo is taken from the mouth of the Riachuelo where it empties into the Rio de la Plata; the turning basin that will be reimagined as a primary sediment trap is in the center of the photo.

this photo is taken from the mouth of the Riachuelo where it empties into the Rio de la Plata; the turning basin that will be reimagined as a primary sediment trap is in the center of the photo.

The watershed of the Riachuelo river overlaid on the footprint of Buenos Aires.  The blue shapes are the newly constructed reservoirs intended to minimize flooding downstream as part of the new drainage strategy for the basin implemented by ACUMAR.  In the urbanized areas where space for reservoirs is not available a similar strategy is called for on a micro scale.  The project site is indicated by the red circle and is in the most densely urbanized zone.

The watershed of the Riachuelo river overlaid on the footprint of Buenos Aires.  The blue shapes are the newly constructed reservoirs intended to minimize flooding downstream as part of the new drainage strategy for the basin implemented by ACUMAR.  In the urbanized areas where space for reservoirs is not available a similar strategy is called for on a micro scale.  The project site is indicated by the red circle and is in the most densely urbanized zone.

These sections are to-scale through the Riachuelo in the project zone.  The labels on the left indicate the historical depths of the canal as achieved by different port dredging initiatives, with the white layer indicating sediment that has accumulated since cessation of dredging operations.  On the right the labels indicate the water levels due to tidal and sudestada events.

These sections are to-scale through the Riachuelo in the project zone.  The labels on the left indicate the historical depths of the canal as achieved by different port dredging initiatives, with the white layer indicating sediment that has accumulated since cessation of dredging operations.  On the right the labels indicate the water levels due to tidal and sudestada events.

This image indicates the different salinity zones of the Rio de la Plata estuary.  The water is considered fresh at the city of Buenos Aires.  However, during sudestada weather events southeasterly winds push a wall of ocean water up the estuary, backing up the rivers and flooding saltwater into the waterways.

This image indicates the different salinity zones of the Rio de la Plata estuary.  The water is considered fresh at the city of Buenos Aires.  However, during sudestada weather events southeasterly winds push a wall of ocean water up the estuary, backing up the rivers and flooding saltwater into the waterways.

This map shows how the Riachuelo and the port are related through contaminated sediment.

This map shows how the Riachuelo and the port are related through contaminated sediment.

Sketches and Questions:  To start the project; a speculation on the potentiality of the canalized portion of the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The project proposes that the environmental remediation operations necessitated by the federal court “Mendoza” decision of 2008.  The operations are to intended to be carried out by the river basin authority, ACUMAR. This speculation proposes the humble water hyacinth and the rumbling dredge to generate a series of ephemeral landscapes in the canal and at the mouth of the river.  The intent is to use the speculation as a method for bringing up the right questions. The operations would happen at various scales- picking hyacinth, operating a dredger, conveyor belt systems, sedimentation- over decades.  The plan set would necessarily be secondary to continual maintenance and construction processes. This image is imagined as the year 2100.  The manufactured soils created from the spoiled industrial residue of the canal combines with the rich biome of the estuary to create a new urban nursery for reforesting the city; new public-industrial landscapes are created through continual remediation, recreation, and industrial operation along the canal This brings up several key questions useful to the current thesis regarding the material practice of instrumentality (a list in the thick of the editing process): 1. How would people (workers and recreational users) access the canal? 2. What instruments are needed to tend, harvest, transport, and compost the hyacinth? 3. What are the instruments used in dredging?  a) How frequently are they operating?  b) how is the loading and unloading best achieved?  c)  what is the best way to stockpile the volume?  d) how is the contaminated sediment treated and what are the necessary instruments in this process? 4) What are the space and machine requirements needed to produce manufactured soil?

Sketches and Questions:  To start the project; a speculation on the potentiality of the canalized portion of the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The project proposes that the environmental remediation operations necessitated by the federal court “Mendoza” decision of 2008.  The operations are to intended to be carried out by the river basin authority, ACUMAR.

This speculation proposes the humble water hyacinth and the rumbling dredge to generate a series of ephemeral landscapes in the canal and at the mouth of the river.  The intent is to use the speculation as a method for bringing up the right questions.

The operations would happen at various scales- picking hyacinth, operating a dredger, conveyor belt systems, sedimentation- over decades.  The plan set would necessarily be secondary to continual maintenance and construction processes.

This image is imagined as the year 2100.  The manufactured soils created from the spoiled industrial residue of the canal combines with the rich biome of the estuary to create a new urban nursery for reforesting the city; new public-industrial landscapes are created through continual remediation, recreation, and industrial operation along the canal

This brings up several key questions useful to the current thesis regarding the material practice of instrumentality (a list in the thick of the editing process):

1. How would people (workers and recreational users) access the canal?

2. What instruments are needed to tend, harvest, transport, and compost the hyacinth?

3. What are the instruments used in dredging?  a) How frequently are they operating?  b) how is the loading and unloading best achieved?  c)  what is the best way to stockpile the volume?  d) how is the contaminated sediment treated and what are the necessary instruments in this process?

4) What are the space and machine requirements needed to produce manufactured soil?

About:

take a park. excavate a ragged trench in the middle of the pretty lawn. the rocks and pipes and mud that's left and the backhoe ripping in to them? that is landscape instrumentalism.