conclusion

Along the shoreline of Prudence Island, on the site of a former United States Naval Base, a series of abandoned bunkers form a cultural infrastructure within a larger ecological network of coastal wetlands. An initial question of what remains intact and what is compromised by the dynamic edge of a changing shoreline was approached by investigating the layering and intersections of multiple systems so as to monitor and defend them. Upon closer investigation of these processes two distinct edge conditions emerged, each with a particular scale of time and space: the tidal edge and the fresh/saltwater edge. A range of interventions specific to these distinct conditions were designed in order to frame larger issues in local contexts. By following the path across the park the three interventions at the bunkers, wetlands, and beach are linked into a narrative that traverses a range of scales and illustrates the concept of the fluid zero contour and behavior of systems at that edge. Analysis of cultural and ecological systems as well as an understanding of conceptual frameworks was critical to this process. Landscape in this context becomes an active field addressing both transitory and bound conditions. Ultimately, in order to defend the cultural and ecological habitats present on site, topographical interventions reinterpret the traces of the Naval Base as a cultural structure to facilitate the framing of edge conditions on multiple scales.

Through my work I have sought to activate landscape architecture as a tool to integrate science and design. In the instance of the first intervention, the study of tides was contextualized by using water as a mark-making device; in the second intervention, hydrology meets design typologies of wall and landform; and in the third intervention, ecology is defined along a cultural spine. I strongly believe that by utilizing multiple ways of thinking, we can more effectively and innovatively address global issues, such as water scarcity and rising sea levels. It is my hope that this scholarship can support coastal cultures in their efforts to adapt to a changing environment by creatively addressing the dynamic condition before them.