Precedent #4 Dune: Arenaceous Anti-Desertification Architecture -Magnus Larsson

From the Holcim Foundation Website, in the words of Magnus Larsson:

"This project investigates adaptive (as opposed to mitigatory)

strategies leading to the creation of a climate-conscious

architecture that responds to the extreme environments

of tomorrow’s globally-warmed world. Highly speculative

yet buildable, the scheme aims to fi nd innovative solutions

to combat desertifi cation in the Sahel region of Africa, where

sand dunes are currently moving southward at a breathtaking

pace of around 600m per year, ruining the land and making

it impossible for the inhabitants of this area to make a

living or even stay in their homes.

The forced migration of desertifi cation refugees is perhaps

more threatening in Nigeria than anywhere else. With a population

of over 140 million people, Nigeria is the most populous

country in Africa, with serious desertifi cation issues

throughout its northern states. It was Nigeria’s former president,

Olusegun Obasanjo, who initiated the anti-desertifi -

cation Green Wall Sahara initiative in 2005. This pan-African

scheme seeks to plant a shelterbelt across the continent, from

Mauritania in the west to Djibouti in the east, in an attempt

to stop the dunes from migrating. The trees are being planted

right now.

An architectural response to this campaign would be to go

beyond the mere planting of a mitigatory shelterbelt. Habitable

spaces can be created in close proximity to the trees. By

cutting through the sand dunes and digging down to fi nd

water and shade, an artifi cial oasis can be formed underground.

The sand is solidifi ed using bacillus pasteurii, a microorganism

with which professor Jason DeJong has turned

sand into sandstone in a mere 1,400 minutes. This technology

of organically cementing networks of sand dunes into

habitable barriers that stop the desert from spreading has

never been proposed before, but on hearing about this project,

the professor was enthusiastic: “I do think the application

you are talking about is possible”.

I’m proposing anti-desertifi cation structures made out of

the desert itself, sand-stopping devices made of sand: a poetic

proposal that simultaneously works in a sustainable

way with local materials and assets. Special emphasis has

been put on fi nding a solution that is high-tech in result

but low-tech in application and construction, with the economical

scenario being hard to pin down as this method is

virgin territory. It is recognized that poor people are highly

vulnerable to the effects of weather, as drought can cause

famine while good rains can cause drops in crop prices. The

architecture presented here could form a stable base from

which to fi ght back against both effects.

http://www.holcimfoundation.org/Portals/1/docs/A08EU/WinnerPoster_AME_A4_ng12_hires.pdf

Precedent #3 Red/Dead Sea - World Bank

From a World Bank feasibility study on the transfer of water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea to remediate decreasing water levels in the Dead Sea. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/EXTREDSEADEADSEA/0,,contentMDK:21827416~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:5174617,00.html

Precedent #2 The Appalachian Trail - Benton MacKaye

"The mountain ridge became the central spine of development, replacing the tall buildings of the metropolis and reversing its dominant pattern of concentric growth. An infrastructure of land or “super national” forest and a network of compact communities and industries would crystallize around the footpath to replace the suburbs. The interstate geological formation of the Appalachian ridge would function as a kind of public utility or reservoir of natural resources, organizing transportation and hydroelectrical networks while locating industry and community. The trail idea proposed no master plan but rather an ordering principle for a new economy. It would broadcast a field of influence and a new mechanism for the migrations of population as well as the economies of production and distribution.” images and text from Organization Space, by Keller Easterling

Precedent #1 Interaction Between the Elements - Rietveld Landscape

From Rietveld's website: "Rising sea levels are posing a threat to Terschelling, a North Sea island and UNESCO monument. In 2008, a report addressing this threat appeared, and Rietveld Landscape was asked to advise on the opportunities offered by the report. According to Rietveld Landscape’s vision, the symbiosis between human activity and impressive natural processes accounts for Terschelling’s attraction to inhabitants and outsiders alike – a fact that should guide all attempts at dealing with the rising of the sea level.

Because it is impossible to predict with sufficient certainty when the sea will have what level, flexible strategies for East- and West-Terschelling are needed: interventions that follow the movement of the water and can be adjusted through time. The activity of a huge drifting dune will be stimulated by removing its current vegetation, and the power of the wind will be used to transport its sand. In this way, the growth of the island will outpace the rising of the sea level." http://www.rietveldlandscape.com/en/projects/286

Site Visit

I recently returned from a trip to the Nigerian portion of Lake Chad, where I conducted site research as a starting point for my thesis research and proposal. I found the trip incredibly inspirational, and this was almost entirely due to my gracious host Dr. Paul F. Adeogun, Head of the Department of Forestry and Wildlife at the University of Maiduguri. I would like to extend my thanks to him, his family, and his colleagues. Special thanks also to Garba H. Sambo, a remote sensing specialist, formerly of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, who generously donated so much of his extensive GIS data that I had to buy an external hard drive to take it all back. Thanks also to the director of the Chad Basin Development Authority, and the project managers at the South Chad Irrigation Project and the Baga Polder Project. And of course, none of it would have been possible without funding by the Penny White grant which supported my travels.