Project entry 2020 for North America
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Performative Landscapes in Florida
Symbiotic Landscapes: To limit material requirements, the installed equipment (bioreactors, ponds) are structurally integral, requiring limited additional structure. These instruments define primitive geometries that are situated within the landscape. Playful landforms are constructed by fortifying the reactors with existing soil, providing a barrier and structural support that articulates the underlying geometries of the system. These bioreactors collect over 90% of C02 produced by the station.
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Performative Landscapes in Florida
Ash and Aquaculture: The existing Manatee Viewing Center looks out over the proposed Harvesting Center, perched above the warm water discharge that feeds into the nature preserve. This facility is the heart of the post-human agricultural infrastructure, operating almost entirely through autonomous processes and self-regulation. The collected biomass is dried, gathered, and packaged for shipment along the existing rail lines. A constructed hillside fortifies the facility from the power station.
Last updated: June 15, 2021 Tampa Bay, FL, USA
Closing the loop of Big Bend’s material and ecological flows
The state of Florida suffers from consistent toxic algae blooms along its coastlines, a product of phosphate and agricultural runoff. This project redirects these vectors at their source, containing the algae growth within an industrialized process to utilize its potential while eliminating the harms of its unmitigated spread. The most energy-intensive requirements of this new agriculture facility are provided as by-products of the existing power station: neighboring phosphate mine for nutriment, wastewater, and the heat for drying and harvesting processes. The project’s context, its Place, are the ingredients for its success. All additional energy consumed by the new facility is produced by an array of PV panels atop the bioreactor field.
Symbiotic infrastructures for carbon capture
Utilizing recent advancements in the fields of microbiology and agriculture, the harmful by-products of the existing power plant are mitigated and utilized in new processes. While these technologies are currently in use within their respective industries, this project orchestrates them as a collective (bio-reactors for CO2 sequestration, raceways for ag-production and waste treatment, biomass harvesting, wetlands) at the scale of integrated urban strategy. These strategies could be applied at any number of coal and natural gas power plants across the world, helping to limit the harmful effects of these methods of energy production during a global transition to clean energy. Emerging economies that rely on carbon-intensive energy sources would particularly benefit, promoting progress.
A 21st century agriculture: Produce and performance
The redevelopment of the station is monetarily incentivized by a new agricultural industry. Two forms are produced: high-quality products from the controlled bio-reactors for fuels and nutrition, and feed-grade products from open-air raceways, a critical component of 21st-century sustainable agriculture. Once the station is phased out, the reactors can be removed and deployed to other remedial sites. Additionally, low-income and minority groups are the most likely to be impacted by harmful industrial facilities within communities, which diminishes local air and water quality. This project not only serves to advocate for climate justice but also provides new public green space for these underserved communities, addressing the concerns of People and Place.