ARCH-4980.2 | Jeremy Carvalho, Adjunct Professor

HYDROLANDSCAPE
Collection and Growth of Natural Resources

LIANA MURESAN

The cold deserts of the Arctic Circle are dynamic, altering landscapes that undergo major season material changes and surface re-organizations. The various layers that make up the landscape differ in porosity and materiality, allowing them to be constantly restructuring themselves and causing the topmost surface to fluctuate greatly. This metamorphosis results in the creation of natural vernal pools whose dimensions and locations alter the topography of the tundra. The topography, in turn, also causes the pools to reconstruct. The soil and water form a perpetually churning system of water collection that acts as inspiration for the transformation into usable, natural energy, landscape formation, and direction of natural flows.

The development and evolution of plant adaptations in the extreme deserts are applied to small scale structure and building formation, as well as large scale air, heat, light, and water exchange between the exterior and the interior. Interlocking spaces form pockets of habitation and agriculture, as well as wells, reservoirs, and streams. This makes up the external landscape that is permanently in a state of flux. Water collects and flows on the exterior, works its way into the interior, causing physical transformation of the structural components, allows for the growth of natural resources, and finally exists through the perimeters. Seasonal cycles of the local climate continue to positively affect the hydrolandscape by acting as insulation and nutrient resource for the interior programming. Other natural resources prevalent on the site, such as light and wind, are harvested into various forms of energy, usable not just by the inhabitants of the interior, but also by the surrounding communities. This allows for the formation of an energy hub and a physical and mental recharge station between two cities normally divided by the Taconic Crest on the East and West, as well as hikers travelling North or South along the ridge.