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The top Montage is a Macro view of the site and of its surrounding landscape. The Montage depicts the change in pourosity level beginning with the Everglades in the west, moving east through the site, and continuing east towards development. The majority of the soil composition in the Everglades is extremeley porous, and this trend continues on into the site. Moving towards and into developed areas, the moisture-enriched peat has been replaced by less-permeable asphalts and concretes.

The Montage below the first shows the varying soil porosity that currently exists in the site. The peat found here can be very different from one step to the next, varying in depth, moisture, and texture. These changes in soil composition affect what life is able to grow above, below, and around the site.

Transect Montage

My transectional cut was alongside the canal in the North Western part of the site. The first top image shows the area at an eye level view facing west. I noticed that on both sides the density of the Maleuluca was so high that you could only see a few feet in. Even though i could not physically get into the Maleuluca area, I could get a sense of what was going on. The elevation was somewhat higher and there was a dense pattern. The bottom montage focuses on a section of the top image and i began to analyze now in a ground level. Maleuluca has a very complex and dense root system, which was visible from a few feet away. It then merges into the swamp area where I now felt like I knew what was going on from a top, but it felt very ambiguos when i walked through it; not knowing the elevation under me. I felt unsecure with every step.

Transectional Montages...

In the Transectional Section cuts I am showning the strand of malelouca which lays at a higher elevation due to the dryer land. As you go further south you end up walking through the swamp. As you walk through you get to the experience the different elevations within the swamp. Certain areas you would end up at neck high water, while other areas you end up walking on dry land. This site is mixed with several different elevations as the land has many cuts. The higher the elevation the more land is visible and filled with more plants. As you go further in the site the ground is submerged in the water.

I made this for fun!

Transect Montage_

While traversing the site in a E to NW direction, I noticed a change in atmosphere and comfort levels. The expansive sea of sawgrass had a very open and soothing atmosphere, while the dense melaleuca forest had an enclosing, almost claustrophobic one. It also became apparent to me that the site was at one point entirely overgrown with melaleuca trees, the leftover stumps and wood chips show up randomly as evidence. I also found it very interesting that the further I got from the edge of the road, the clearer I could hear the sounds of the gun range from across the street as well as bird calls.

The second transverse section I cut through the site was in a W to E direction, starting off where the canal and the sites edge meet and terminating at the edge of the road on Krome Ave. The most apparent distinction I noticed on the canals edge was the movement of water flow seeping in from the canal onto the site and how this changes into a stagnated mat of algae as you get deeper into the site towards the center where there is no water flow. The amount of water flow also seems to correlate with the amount of diversity in aquatic plants and the opacity of water.

Interlace

The interspersed infrastructure and non-native life in and around our site has imprinted their materiality in a juxtaposed fashion obstructing the Darwinian process from the Everglades River. Surprisingly, in my micro analysis through the center of our site I observed an interesting interlacing composition. The area now encapsulated by barriers and drowned by stagnant water revealed a symbiotic courtship between the natural and implemented landscape. My montages represent a macro analysis of the area including the juxtaposed implementations and a micro analysis revealing the interwoven nature of the sites materiality.