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Though easily forgotten and often misunderstood, the infrastructures of wastewater treatment are inextricably linked with the pulse of our modern cities. Invisible Works is a public introduction to the dynamic life of wastewater treatment in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is a chance for people to engage in the active nature of treatment and simultaneously uncover its mysteries through experience. The intent is to transform the wastewater treatment plant from a marginalized system into a place that all can enjoy, acknowledging its importance as part of the public realm.

Three questions drive the design:

1. How can the public realm be stitched back into this public works? 
2. How can the metabolic process of wastewater treatment be revealed in material and site scales? 
3. How can this new typology for public space cultivate dynamic thinking?

This project is worthy of consideration because of its potential to expand the role that landscape architects play in celebrating and exploring the hybrid systems that support us, and in evolving the scope of the profession.

Since the passing of the 1972 Clean Water Act, the United States has been fairly successful at reducing point source contaminant loads in our nation’s water resources. However, despite our relative success, progress needs to be made to ensure water quality. Non-point sources are generally unregulated and continue to adversely affect water quality efforts. Agricultural runoff accounts for the majority of non-point source discharges. Unfortunately, the fertilizers that usually ensure crop health ultimately place distress on aquatic systems. The state of Illinois is one of the leading contributors of fertilizer contaminant loads to the Mississippi River, and in turn the state has a tentative goal of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus loads by 45%. By framing agricultural strategies in the context of landscape architecture, the project aims to provide thoughtful solutions to agricultural issues while keeping the well being of farmers in mind. Instead of completely changing the science behind agricultural practices, the suggested series of interconnected projects offer complementary design strategies such as constructed wetlands to reduce the detrimental effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers.

HydroLIT is a manual that proposes innovative strategies for improved water quality in the southeast Tennessee region. These strategies acknowledge the ability of watershed boundaries to offer a framework for merging visions of urban development and ecological health. They coalesce the roles of economic prosperity and natural resource health in shaping urban life as well as the relationship between designed interventions and their surrounding biophysical flows. These proposals function at multiple scales and offer tactical interventions as economical first steps for local communities to begin implementation. HydroLIT is a pioneering toolkit that aims to empower citizens and policymakers with knowledge of water quality stewardship that can affect change across the region.

RISE, Goose Island State Park ís new observation platform, overlooks a coastal marshland known for attracting migratory birds, notably Whooping Cranes that come to feed on blue crab. The platform is intended to provide a venue for bird watching and environmental engagement programs in an area of the park previously inaccessible due to a slough and invasive wetland scrub.

The six-foot high platform is accessed by a 70-ft long ramp and concealed by a 90-ft lumber screen-wall. Composed of narrow vertical slots of varying widths, the screen-wall offers separation from the adjacent parking lot and provides a visual backdrop for the native bluestem grasses important to the local ecology, which the environmental educators plan to discuss. Passing through the entry portal, the wetland partially comes into view and reveals more of itself as the visitor moves up toward the observation area.

Despite its vertical presence, RISE is horizontal in spirit - it establishes a relationship with the distant horizon and acts as register for the immediate topography and the grasses that spring from it.

As urbanization grows, the value of public open spaces becomes more vital. The City of San Francisco contains more than 1,500 vacant lots that total an area approximately half the size of Golden Gate Park. Social and biotic values of these scattered and down-trodden sites are underutilized, thus leaving voids in underserved communities.

The Ridge Lane project is a revitalization of one of these vacant lots that has adapted a grass-roots strategy with the goal of empowering the community to become involved in all phases of the project from visioning to implementation, giving them a sense of pride and ownership of their neighborhood.

Meticulous analysis and incorporation of the neighbors’ feedback resulted in a design that celebrates their shared appreciation of Ridge Lane’s unique ecological and social factors.

The metamorphosis of Ridge Lane from an abandoned wasteland to a community gem interweaves ecology, design, and social factors resulting in a beneficial environment for all of its inhabitants.