PROJECT SYNOPSISThe concept for the Synergy project is to redesign West Park, located in Ann Arbor, MI, into a new ‘central park’ landscape. The design required day-lighting two branches of the Allen’s Creek drainage system. The following concept explore the interplay between cultural perception of landscape and resulting physical form as it changes over time. The design proposes new forms that reunites human infrastructure with natural processes, allowing citizens to participate in the life and stewardship of their local watershed.
The interplay between cultural perception of landscape and resulting physical form changes over time. Part of daylighting is to recognize the sequence of Allen Creek tributaries being open, then closed, now open again, in concert with our changing attitude towards nature. Three concepts, exemplifying the past, present, and future, are unified into a coherent vision that pulls together how we live, where we live, and a sense of place and purpose.
PAST: The emergent nature concept challenges the narrow view of nature we apply across the landscape. Altering ‘nature’ by imposing an idyllic pastoral vision is an illusion ignoring the dynamics and change inherent to natural systems. Rather, we must let nature find its own trajectory and foster our role as a steward.
PRESENT: Imposing the pastoral legacy results in an incongruity: what we see is not what get in the modern landscape. We must expose the causes of environmental degradation to reconcile our continued landscape guilt. The present illusion is revealed by a technological framework that perpetuates across the landscape.
FUTURE: To resolve this conflict, we must integrate natural and human processes. In the synergistic future, nature grows out of a re-calibrated infrastructure, breathing life into the structures we depend on, while they in turn help regenerate injured places.
FINAL SITE PLAN
The final design for this park assembles the three concepts into a spatial storyline, weaving elements of the past, present, and future together. The story is interactive, allowing us to see how water moves from pipes into wetlands, being cleaned and re-circulated along the way. The site reconstructs an existing amphitheatre on-site, providing a venue for performances overlooking the primary wetland treatment area.
In terms of stormwater modeling, West Park is located low in a watershed that is entirely closed (i.e. piped). Backup and overflow problems due to infrastructure limitations are corrected by this park design, which allows stormwater to surface, pool, and slowly return to the storm sewers, all of which allows for cleaning and a reduced impact on water's final destination in the Huron River. Other site amenities include an education center and pavilion located in the center of the main treatment lagoon. A boardwalk and constructed wet meadow system extend through the western portion of the site, cleaning surface water as it enters and cleansing re-circulated water. The built stormwater channel doubles as a raised walkway, allowing people to look below themselves into the water channels that were traditionally hidden from public view.
