Make this your homepage.

http://pruned.blogspot.com/

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 Moving towards and into developed areas, the moisture-enriched peat has been replaced by less-permeable asphalts and concretes.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. 

transects_variation

The image on the top is a transition from the road/udb line into the site. With this transect I wanted to see the difference between the road and nature and how the two interact. I found the major difference to be in the change of species growing.

From the image above, I created the second transect as a continuation of the study. Instead of diagramming the space from West to East, I diagrammed from North to South. I looked at the difference between the Miccossukkee Casino and the forests of melaleuca. The further I got from the casino, the more I found, the more variety of species. I found more clarity in the space, the concentration of pollution was not as great as next to the casino.

Transect Investigation

Top:
This is a Macro analysis of the site where we can identify various different conditions, however the threshold edges seem very stark and definite.

Bottom:
This is a Micro analysis of the site where upon closer inspection we come to the conclusion that these edges are very blurred and layered with various other conditions.

Puzzling Features

From a top view one can visualize characteristics that could be explained by just viewing at them. These characteristics can include grass, rocks, water and trees and one can anticipate the textures and feeling of these materials from everyday life experience. While some could be hard (rocks) and some could be abrasive (saw grass) the feeling of an underwater environment can be puzzling. As a first guess, one could anticipate that from flat land, to a land that is underwater you would normally find a descending slope that continues until an unknown depth. As a result of personal experience this anticipation was found to be erroneous the elevation happened without notice causing a sense of confusion and misunderstanding of the land features.

Photo Montage

Here I wanted to display the quality of the water through a latitudinal and longitudinal perspective. Through them one can see that the water has an unidirectional flow, weaving through the melaleuca, grass, and debris. In the longitudinal perspective (right) the road represents something stark and unchanging in contrast with the fluid and ever-changing water flow.

Transect Montage_Dissolve_&_Merge

The first qualitative montage demonstrates the different layers of vegetation that occur in the site and how they all dissolve to leave room for different vegetation. The second montage demonstrates the same effect in a more micro perspective way, and you can appreciate how one layer breaks into other layers.

Transect Montage_Interconnections/Traversing the Layers

When observing the site, one can obtain a sense of visual continuity: on a micro scale, plants are interconnected through simple lines and curves, while at the same time on a macro scale, plants are connected through the surrounding deadwood and branches.

Although the entire site is flooded with water, traversing the site can be difficult at times because of different layers of sediment, muck, and other thick buildup that lead into dense melaleuca.

Transect Montage_Saw grass Density and Malaluca Boundary

As you move through the site the density of the saw grass drastically changes. Near the road, there is a low density of saw grass but toward the canal that density increases.
Along one end of the site there is a strong border created by the malaluca trees. This boundary seems very strong and impenetrable when seen from far away. Yet when a person gets close to the boundary, it can be seen that the trees are a permeable boundary.

Montage Con Vogue #2

upload image

Montage Con Vogue

These two imitate the flow of the site in a collection of photos that not only portray the physical appearance of the ground below, but also the noticeable qualities that seem  important. The first one shows the simple flowing process of the film of the water, where runoff from the road produces a simple and continuous soft feel. The other diagram presents a rugged, and more hash view while looking down. This diagram demonstrates a texture that is almost distracting and not smooth in most ways.

Elevation Changes Cause-Effect

Elevation Changes Cause-Effect

Elevation changes Cause-Effect

Qualitative Transect Montage_Visceral Exploration

Above, the montage expresses the varied qualities of the CLUI_SFL site.  The montage highlights a certain level of ambiguity that is eminent on the site in terms of the correlation between the site and the bordering road (Krome Ave.) on the east side of the site.

Above, the montage expresses the diverse qualities of the CLUI_SFL site and highlights the natural grain of the area.  The montage concentrates on the natural multifaceted element and intricacies which the site exhibits. 

Transect Montage-Micro Study

This montage is more focused on the micro aspects of this study. The topographic features of the site give one a different experience once you walk into it. The unstableness of the soil, the unexpected drops in elevation and the different sorts of tactile relationships gave me the ability to document this experience and further expand the areas of study. 

Transect Montage-Macro Study

East

West

 This montage shows on a macro level how the city's density changes from a denser Urban composition to a Rural less dense area by using the path of SW 8th Street from the Easternmost part up to our site of study.

The Adventure

THE CREW

Couple more interesting reads.

Genotypes and Phenotypes
http://www.probelog.com/texts/Langton_genotypes.pdf


Lindenmeyer systems "Branching"
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/gre_ls01.pdf


and best of all

Manuel Delanda - Species and Ecosystems
http://www.probelog.com/texts/Delanda_species.pdf

Greg Lynn - Intricacy

Some Light reading.

Greg Lynn
http://web.arch.usyd.edu.au/~marcaurel/desc9019/tutorials/Readings/lynn-intricacy.pdf


Biothing (pretty cool NYC firm)
http://web.arch.usyd.edu.au/~marcaurel/desc9019/tutorials/Readings/other/piaEnieBrown_All-over-Over-all.pdf

Musings on the UDB

Excerpts and impressions concerning Miami's Urban Development Boundary [UDB], the city and the Everglades...

The Urban Development Boundary is, in theory, a very strong unrelenting force separating nature and man-made development. The unique feature of this boundary is that it is completely traversable, as well as, invisible. At no point along the line is there a physical barrier of any kind. It is the type of limit that can only be felt through experience. 

The intent of UDB is to contain development, protect the Everglades, and provide a seamless transition between the two. However, as population increases due to the allure of city life, urban development encroaches ever closer to the preconceived perimeter. This expansion is beginning to make the transition less subtle and much more tangible. With the continuation of this trend, the boundary will give the appearance of a rubber band attempting to constrict a rebellious volume of urban expansion. 

 This influx has made some developers believe the best solution is to, once again, move the line further into the Everglades. This would allow high density residential and community properties to be built pass the current line to alleviate the lack of available housing. However, this proposal stirs up questions such as: why implement a boundary on urban development if it will constantly give way when more development is proposed?

This question has brought about a debate throughout the community on whether to hold the line or make away for expansion. With valid arguments on both sides it becomes a choice between building new structures for human inhabitants or preserving what is there for the natural inhabitants."    

-Meredith Lambert, Kevin Banagon, Luis Jimenez, Thiago Menezes

---

"The Urban Development Boundary designates a division mediated by man to control sprawl and challenge existing infrastructure to revitalize itself within its present area. Only an imaginary curtain prevents intersection of these independent subjects. This area is formed to offer better alternatives, where the line regulates access and interjection. The irregular line sets back the Everglades and other natural reserves from the developed area. Not only does this boundary give protection to future sprawl, it acts as a division line between the   metropolis/suburban and areas that need to be restricted from further destruction. 

Although this line is a more practical solution to manage continuing growth, compared to other areas, Miami is still within a predicament. The lower South Florida region is squeezed between two natural barriers (ocean, and everglades) initiating a point of uncertainty. This shell leaves man to design new ways to proceed forward without hurting more of the reserves. Alone, the destruction is devastating to the land, but eventually it becomes economically devastating to the developed areas. Following this guideline, South Florida’s landscape is proposed to become a starting and ending point with this boundary, changing only rarely and practically with growing pressure."

-Cecilia Hernández, Gerry Cabrera, Monica Chirinos, Brennan Baxley

-----

"Boundary, by definition, is set to be something whether physical or not, to divide or set a separation between two realms. It can be the beginning of something as well as the termination of another. As part of our analysis of the Urban Development Boundary, we have acknowledged that this boundary, though imaginary, is noticeable to those in the State of Florida. We can clearly see that two realms are being kept apart from each other, one being the Everglades and the other being the City. 

The goal that was set for the Urban Development Boundary was to keep a control of the environmental impact on the everglades from having people build within its proximity. As part of our analysis, our group developed a concern of whether or not extending the Urban Development Boundary in the western part of Miami-Dade County is necessary. Who really benefits from this? Was there an [effective] boundary ever set at all?

...our analysis makes us to believe that a movable a boundary, that is supposed to control these two realms from intertwining with each other, is that their never was ever boundary set at all."

-Andres Pineda, Ricky Hernández, Alex Pérez, Joel Corbea

-----

"Over the years the urban boundary line has been moved constantly for what developers call “low income housing” when in reality it is anything but low income. As a result of the construction it has slowly impeded into the boundaries of what was the everglades and its natural habitats. The urban boundary line is clearly visible. It can be seen throughout Florida. Along SW 8th Street towards the Everglades, new developments are bein created amongst forests of melaleuca trees. 

Population growth has been used as an excuse for the expansion of the boundary line. Such groups as the Lennar Corp have been buying out areas beyond the boundary line for speculation. As a result more people are also buying outside of the boundary line in hope of investing in a higher land value. This is conflicting with ongoing efforts to restore the Everglades such as the Everglades Restoration Plan. Amendments are only considered every odd year. Despite submissions of plans to the county and South Florida Regional Planning Council, developers continue to build outside the boundary line. 

Through our research we have found that the root of the constantly changing boundary line resulted from politics and money related issues. This is not a modern problem; but a problem that started since the earliest development of the state of Florida. Despite state legislations to save and protect the everglades, the boundary line continues to move."

-Devin Cejas, Sefora Chavarria, Daniella Motro, Ashley Pumares

-----

"The Miami Urban Development Boundary (UDB), located between Everglades National Park and Biscayne Bay National 

Park, was created to distinguish the area where urban development may occur from areas that it should not occur.  Since its first denotation on the Land Use Plan, several means of fulfillment have been created to ensure the UDB’s continued survival.  

Some of the strategies in place to support the current boundary include emphasizing concentration and intensification of development around centers of activity, requiring all new development and redevelopment along transit corridors to be planned and designed to promote pedestrian and transit use, revising development regulations to provide density bonus for strategic design within certain zoning districts, allowing for mix of housing types, promoting energy conservation and adaptive redevelopment, adopting financial and regulatory incentives for infill and redevelopment opportunities, and developing specific strategies to promote infill within targeted urban areas.  

The UDB has successfully allowed for the containment of development and has created opportunities for future transit corridors and infill developments.  The Miami Dade County has also benefited from the UDB due to the increased direction of public service and investment within the boundary, the maintenance of agricultural areas for farming, and protection of environmentally sensitive areas and wetlands from urban encroachment.  With the increased neighborhood support to maintain the boundary, there is great potential for increased density in eastern areas.  The Miami Urban Development Boundary has continued to accomplish its goal in organizing and controlling urbanism."

-Chelsi Rome, José Fonseca, Chris Garcia

Qualitative Measures_Converging Lines

I began with the study of how the UDB line is converging with the everglades and how one affects the other. Furthermore I studied the interaction of the UDB line converging with the city limits of Homestead as defined . I found it interesting how development takes place within the line and how the line shapes the city. The UDB line not only converges with the everglades, but the Atlantic Ocean. At the site of the Homestead Air Force base, development is inching towards the ocean. Abstracting the spaces allowed me to see different relationships within the spaces than I had not previously noticed. It gave me a different perspective on the land.