Artful Hort Infra cont.

The inspiration behind the MOMA exhibit I viewed a couple a weeks ago,Rising Currents lies in the work of Catherine Seavitt (my junior independent work at Princeton University professor,in the "Mound Builders" studio),Guy Nordenson, and Adam Yarinksy: the book "On the Water: Palisade Bay". The collaborative work of engineers, architects, landscape architects, planners, and students, the book addresses "soft infrastructure" for the New York/New Jersey Upper Bay area. By developing a series of "interconnected infrastructures and landscapes that rethink the thresholds of water, land, and city," the work utilizes climate change and sea level rise as catalysts for reshaping and enriching the bay. Needless to say, it's a very fascinating work that includes horticultural infrastructure.

In updated news, I found out that material from "On the Water: Palisade Bay" will be displayed in The Venice Biennale, a major contemporary art exhibition that occurs every two years in Venice, Italy. It will be a component of the U.S. Pavilion. Quite an honor!




Visit http://www.workshopping.us/?p=74 for more information.

Peace out.

What's a watershed?

It's this!
...in case you were wondering.




More to come soon. On watersheds.

how to make a wetland: wetland contractors!

Today in the MCG office research was focused on gathering up the names of wetland contractors in the North Carolina area that specialize in developing, creating, and restoring natural wetlands. I was particularly impressed with Carolina Silvics,Inc. http://tiny.cc/i368t, and Restoration Systems LLC, http://www.restorationsystems.com/, two wetland contracting firms based in North Carolina.

Carolina Silvics, Inc. was founded in 1998 and specializes in ecological restoration and resource management. Their environmental services include:
-Planting plan assistance
-Plant material acquisition
-Invasive species removal and control
-Site preparation and repair
-Wetland/BMP planting, including plugs, live stakes, bare roots, containers, relocated material and B&Bs
-Mechanical and chemical competition control
...and they've worked with major environmental groups including, the United States Air Force, the North Carolina Coastal Foundation, and the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program.

The other major contractor I found was Restoration Systems, LLC, which focuses on wetland restoration and management in order to offset further industrial development in these regions. Uniquely, this organization restores and protects wetland regions by purchasing a permanent conservation easement or fee-simple interest from property owners, and physically restoring the waterways, trees and vegetation to duplicate natural function and historic condition as closely as possible. And they have an amazing set of pics of current and past restoration projects (http://picasaweb.google.com/restorationsys). They also have a cool blog. Check it out! (http://www.restorationsystems.com/growing-season/).

On a final and less related note, I also found this wetland plant nursery, the Mellow Marsh Farm. (http://www.mellowmarshfarm.com). Such a cute, marshmellowy name! (but actually quite a legitimate wetland resource).

Artful Hort Infra

Enjoying the sites of NYC this weekend, I ventured to the Museum of Modern Art for the very first time on Saturday. Even there, hort infra couldn’t escape me! Here, I stumbled across Rising Currents, which opened this spring.

MoMa and P.S.1 Comtemporary Art Center teamed up to address one of the most urgent issues facing New York City: sea-level rise resulting from global climate change. Looking at a variety of research, practices, and infrastructural systems the exhibition brought together five interdisciplinary teams to reconstruct the NYC, NJ, and NY Harbor coastlines. A major design component of each team was the consideration of “soft-infrastructure” (education, health, tourism systems, etc…) as opposed to “hard-infrastructure” (roads, bridges, ports, airlines, etc). In this, communities can be changed generationally through the means of social engagement. Horticutural infrastructure (!!) was also mentioned among the means of addressing rising water levels. In the exhibition the installation presented the teams’ proposals and includes a wide array of models, drawings, and analytical materials. Combining engineering, ecology, landscape architecture, and structural architecture, programs were developed to solve a unique and inevitable problem. For more information please visit http://tiny.cc/ubuk4.

Notably, my very own studio professor Catherine Seavitt at Princeton University co-authored the book that launched the Rising Currents MoMa workshop and exhibition, On the Water: Palisade Bay (http://www.palisadebay.org/). On yet another note…many of the lead architects and collaborators on the project are graduates of the Princeton School of Architecture, both graduate and undergraduate. Shout out to my home department Princeton SOA! (http://www.princeton.edu/soa/).

Nice Subway Distraction

I snagged this pic on my way to the Bronx this morning, on a 6 train headed to Hunts Point. ConEdison, one of the largest energy companies in the United States (specializing in electric, gas and steam services in NYC) has embarked on its own campaign of greenness with eye-catching images and fun surveys made for the purpose of educating the average subway rider on energy conservation in the home.

cool.

A New Project! Wetland Restoration

Wetland Restoration- the beginnning
One project that I’m working on with the Majora Carter Group this summer is a wetland restoration program in North Carolina. Evading the hubbabaloo in the Gulf we will, hopefully, be able to restore and implement wetlands along the NC coast in a nationwide large-scale horticultural infrastructure construction. Hort infra strikes again.

What are wetlands?
Wetlands are lands that are wet at least part of the year because their soils are either saturated or covered with a shallow layer of water. Wetlands include a variety of natural systems, such as marshes, swamps, bottomland hardwoods, pocosins, bogs and wet flats. While each wetland type looks and functions differently, all wetlands share certain properties, including characteristic wetland vegetation, hydric soils and hydrologic feature. Along the North Carolina coast, specifically, wetlands thrive, making it a great site for wetlands restoration.

Why restore wetlands?
Wetlands protecting water quality, act as a natural defense to floods and erosion, and help to preserve the natural environments of indigenous species. Wetlands are natural buffers between uplands and waterways. By trapping sediment, removing nutrients and detoxifying chemicals, wetlands act as efficient and cost-effective filtration systems. And by storing and preventing rapid runoff of water, wetlands minimize the danger of damaging floods. To read about wetland benefits, please visit http://tiny.cc/mtjhf.

The Goals of MCG’s project:
Through a wetlands restoration program, we hope to achieve the following goals:
1. Reduce the fiscal liability of the federal government caused by potential catastrophic floods
2. Increase environmental protection of low-income Americans, as a large portion of this economic bracket occupies these regions
3. Protect crucial coastal businesses involved in fishing, energy, and tourism
4. Prevent the loss of further jobs by protecting businesses, while also creating a bracket for climate change adaption careers.

With the aid of ARC GIS maps (maps that evaluate statistical information by converting them into visible imagery), hort infra research, and some groups like the Coastal Plain Nursery http://www.coastalplainnursery.com/, this project is kickin' into action

more to come.

soon.

My new favorite bag....

...it hasn't been carrying much but GRE vocab flashcards and random plastic fork for a few days, but this sustainable messenger is legit a new toting fave. And compliments of the Majora Carter office.

http://tiny.cc/izjny

I can't decide if I like it more for the fact that it's from a San Francisco based custom bag company (I am a dedicated NorCal resident) or because it's entirely made through a waste-free process!

check em out.