RIFT Greenway
Model Making, Rendering, Sketching, Collage
Konza is a ‘Techno City’ proposed an hour from Nairobi that plans to utilize a newly installed fiber optic network to become Kenya’s technology powerhouse. Through model making I developed a portion of their newly proposed green way by drawing inspiration from group work earlier that semester. I focused on the uniting the contrast between the nearby life giving Great Rift Valley with Konza’s technological role. The current master plan creates ‘stitches’ which operate as separate super blocks focused on specific land uses. The green way is meant to serve as the public transportation backbone as well as hold many other programmatic elements.
Cut & Fill
Model Making, Photography, Drawing, Sketching, Mix Media
Many first world countries are changing production from industry to technology, leaving polluted industrial sites open for remediation and design: a prime example I drew from was Gas Works park in Seattle. This post-industrial space ten miles north of Denver features an derelict aggregate mining operation which has become known as the 88th Avenue Open Space. The city of Thronton is looking to improve the area for the developing suburbs, but the site has regenerated from its industrial past in a way that is atypical to Denver’s climate. It features some of Denver’s only riparian areas, so the ‘new’ green vegetation contrasts nicely with the tannish-yellow short grass prairie along the Platte Rivers periphery.
Riparian areas are scarce in Denver, as most rivers are channelized to remove storm water. I chose to activate an interpretive series of moments along a path system to recall the sites industrial history.
The open space is located along the South Platte River, which is one of Denver’s two joining water bodies. Through model making I explored the dredge mining process which aided in the construction of Denver proper and these unlikely new riparian areas.
Grafting Utopia
Model Making, Rendering, Water Color, Mix Media
