In a culture of the windshield view, the true nature of things is too often fed to us or approached, like highway signs. The Great Lakes themselves, all the water, dunes, and ships, are unfortunately reduced to icons, or surfaces on which we fix our gaze. From the very beginning of our studio’s research into Glerl’s activities and the Lakes, I’ve sensed a need to educate about the fundamental qualities of Water and our environment.
Therefore, my project’s emphasis is the “poetics of water,” its ephemeral characteristics. Calvino writes, “one tries to make language into a weightless element that hovers above things like a cloud or better, perhaps, the finest dust, or better still, a field of magnetic impulses. The other tries to give language the weight, density, and concreteness of things, bodies, and sensations...” which suggests qualities hardly discussed by Glerl or current environmental politicos. I’ve tried to work with the site in my proposal, offering a solution, attuned to the rhythms and elements of its location, and elaborating on its whims and performances.
Pervasive computing, satellite spectra (Leo, Meo, etc..), and other information networks are a feature of today’s world, and something that cannot be escaped. I think it is important to recognize how architecture might tap into these “resources,” especially considering architecture’s urban and societal responsibilities. I propose some surveillance techniques in order that the structure has some knowledge or capacity to affect and conglomerate people for educational and social purposes. If we are to achieve a sustainable ethic, than people need face time in the form of town-hall meetings, poetry slams, etc... Therefore, Architecture is both the stage and the performance.