This is Not a Solution
Spring 2024
Carnegie Mellon University
Professor Gerard Damiani
Landform/Land Art Studio, led by Gerard Damiani in the Spring of 2024, focused on pushing the limits of conventional representation, scale, and scope of design. The project began with case studies of Land Art around the world, tyring to break down the different values of scale and regionalism with material by artists such as Michael Heizer and Donald Judd and traveling to witness some of this work first-hand. The evolution of studying projects to then proposing some of our own began through transfering what we had learnt from our case studies to narrowing down towns across the United States for our sites. The experimental nature of the studio was furthered by the program; a Direct Air Capture facility, making this a very interesting lens to look at potential sites through.
Beginning the semester with pitches for the projects that most fit our liking, I gravitated towards DnA’s Stage Space set in Jinyun County, China; a historic hand-mined quarry turned into a cultural center for the local communities through small interventions, using the found forms to create special spaces that couldn’t be replicated anywhere else. Not only were the environmental aspects of running a quarry highlighted by creating a curated library of its history, platforms for the local communities to share and preserve their culture were created to foster inter-generational knowledge exchange. Included on this spread are photos from the site, showing different pockets of social programming nestled into what used to be quarries. The case study was presented as a section/plan model drawing and a perspective model shown below.
Case Study Models
Challenging conventional representation, the studio encouraged us to steer away from plotted drawings and explore the three dimensional and a more conceptual method of representation. Combining a part of the plan and section into one interactive model that, when viewed from different angles, could offer different experiences. Reliefs alluding to the quality of the space rather than the realized dimensions were used to present the ideas behind the quarries at different scales in plan and in section, which also referring to the hand-mined texture of the walls through maple that was treated with a rounder edge on an angle grinder.
Shifting gears into the second part of the project, ideas of offering reparations to previously exploited land and peoples and of using the found form were kept in the back of my mind while looking for an appropriate site, project framework, and form. Getting insightful feedback from professors propelled me to harness materials and the experimental nature of the project and models since the setup provided such a wide potential of final product. This project, from start to finish, was such a fruitful undertaking, allowing me to dwell on things that mattered to me, and explore materials and concepts with my hands and through large bodies of text, which was not something I had the opportunity of doing previously in school. The final product for both projects was a cohesive studio exhibition that included presentations and booklets with ideas expressed in words.
Remediating Prudhoe Bay
This project and everything about it is an argument for preservation; of land and of culture. The project proposes an archetype for designing for the future, attempting to mitigate the effects of climate change through the experimental Direct Air Capture technology and explores ways to give back to those indigenous to the land. This project addresses issues with Native land ownership and due remediation to both the environment and cultures lost. Set in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the project questions the need for extracting oil on native territory, returning agency and presence to the rightful inhabitants of the land while attempting to somewhat revive it.
This page includes the complete 70 page booklet, process photos, and documentation of exhibition.
Final Exhibition
Model Making Process
Flipbook
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