Introduction

 

Unit:

AA Landscape Urbanism is a graduate research unit under the tutelage of Mohsen Mostafavi and later Eva Castro, Alfredo Ramirez (GroundLab) & Eduardo Rico (Relational Urbanism) who had taught in AA Diploma Unit 12 and Harvard GSD. The paradigm reads the contemporary post-industrial urbanization as the multi-scalar environmental, political, social issues, far-reaching but interconnected trans-disciplinary praxis of landscape, infrastructure, urban and architecture. Through the indexing of the various forces within the focus emerging 'territory' in form of simulation, mapping, GIS cartography. Data is manipulated and developed into the topographical prototypes of space via parametric design and digital fabrication techniques. The goal of which is to construct forms of knowledge and projective scenarios that operates political, social, economic and cultural processes that adopt a ‘machinic’ ethos of technical practice leading to the hybridized artificial-environmental model of landform-driven urban and architectural design.

 

Project:

Started by investigating the issue that may reshape the European Landscape Convention, the project focuses on the area of Aral Sea, a remote territory for Europe's cotton production for many years. The long term overexploitation has now caused serious environmental impact including drying lake and shifting sand that not only affects the local community but also the sand storm back to the far-reaching European Territory several thousand miles away.

 

Objectives:

The project is intended to investigate and formulate knowledge of:

1. The conflict between natural dynamic of the landform (shifting sand) and the economic, political and social structure in actual urban condition and the possibility to negotiate them locally and territorially. This is represented in form of a guideline/ manual in territorial scale, a design implementation in urban scale and finally and the feedback that remap the European Landscape Convention.

 

2. To raise the awareness of the people to the issue of trans-territorial landscape and its influence in the condition of globalization, especially the crisis of Aral Sea and the life of the Karakalpakstan people in Uzbekistan.

 

Methodology:

The research-lead design approach has been divided into different sections and in different scale, ranging from European territory down to building scale; from research cartography of the natural dynamic to the architectural design. Different software and technique are used throughout the process, including GIS, python scripting, Rhino, Grasshopper, Vasari, Flow Design and Model Making are deployed to simulate the site condition and sand dunes movement. Research on literature and technical essay writing are also included to support the understanding of the landform and actual economic, political and social condition in addition to the field trip to the Aral Sea and Nukus in Uzbekistan. All of them are interconnected together by production of a series of radical cartography, documentary video, and final design and concluded in feedback.

 

Stage:

Research

Stage 1- Territorial Radical Cartography Territorial Scale: 1:50000 above

 

Strategy Plan

Stage 2- Cartogenesis (Territorial Master Plan/ Manifesto) City Scale 1:10000 above

Stage 3- Tectonic/ Manufactured Ground (Site Formation Manual/ Strategy) District Scale 1:5000-10000

 

Design

Stage 4- Hybrids Spatial Design (Landscape, Urban and Architecture) Urban Scale 1:500-5000

 

Feedback

Stage 5- Conclusion of the Strategy Territorial Scale: 1:50000 above

 

Keyword:

Issue: Political, Social, Economic, Cultural, Land Administration, Environment, Geomorphology

Scale: Territory, Multi-Scalar, Trans-Disciplinary,

Representation: GIS, Cartography, Simulation, Indexing, Process, Time, Video, Animation, Website

Tool: Parametric Scripting, Digital Fabrication,

Technique: Machinic Landscape, Prototypical Infrastructure, Landform Building, Hybrids, Scenarios

Site: Uzbekistan, New Silk Road, Aral Sea Crisis, Shifting Dune, European Landscape Convention, Soviet Legacy