ALICIA AHONEN
Third Coast Pollution
Third Coast Pollution
In this studio, students will be expected to develop a critical approach to architectural design and production. Students will be confronted with complex design problems which require a close examination of both the conditions that underlie the practice of architecture (including the students’ own assumptions and beliefs) and the contexts within which and on which architectural practice acts. The development of an architectural response to these conditions and contexts, using ethical and professional judgment as well as techniques of critical analysis, will be the key objective of the studio.
The objective of this assignment is to array one’s own architectural convictions [via subjects/actors/agents] among an architectural territory (geo graphical or otherwise) while critically engagingand disengaging institutional stratifications via what have been called lines of flight. And: to represent this research in the form of design at the same time as showing design as a research path. The work will engage in a critical discussion that is crafted individually and curated collectively.
The Port of Hamilton is linked to two major Great Lakes
shipping routes, the Welland and the Burlington Canal. Naturally, this place
became a prized settlement for the community and gained substantial commercial
development. The growth caused pollution to flood the water and become one of
the most contaminated sites. Hamilton’s waterfront and steel plant are a
cultural asset. Natural beauty and industrial aesthetic must co-exist in
harmony. Working on recovery must be continuously improved to demonstrate how
people, wildlife and businesses could share a natural resource efficiently.
Revealing a lake like no other!
Forcing the reconnection through the steel manufacturing plant, with the expansion of Hamilton’s Waterfront Trail, to the furthest water edge of the pier. Entering the steel reflection tunnel will show the history of the uprising and industrial recession to the future of cohabitation. This location will host a site specific biodome with native plants and fish that are near extinction, such as the bloater fish, that will eventually be released back into the harbour to flourish the deprived ecosystem. An underwater glass path will lead you into the lake to show the devastation and lack of wildlife. The same path will bring you under the biodome’s aquarium, to bring awareness of what the lake once resembled from a more prosperous time. Inside the viewer can see a 360-degree view of the industrial city and Lake Ontario, to embed that they can co-exist once again. Pier 16 will celebrate the past while embracing a greener future.
Forcing the reconnection through the steel manufacturing plant, with the expansion of Hamilton’s Waterfront Trail, to the furthest water edge of the pier. Entering the steel reflection tunnel will show the history of the uprising and industrial recession to the future of cohabitation. This location will host a site specific biodome with native plants and fish that are near extinction, such as the bloater fish, that will eventually be released back into the harbour to flourish the deprived ecosystem. An underwater glass path will lead you into the lake to show the devastation and lack of wildlife. The same path will bring you under the biodome’s aquarium, to bring awareness of what the lake once resembled from a more prosperous time. Inside the viewer can see a 360-degree view of the industrial city and Lake Ontario, to embed that they can co-exist once again. Pier 16 will celebrate the past while embracing a greener future.
Reconstructing the Community
There are six different tiers that cascade down the silo, each representing common themes for each actant. The hierarchy goes: History & Culture, Environment, Agriculture & Food, Practices, Political & Social and then Location. Alicia Ahonen’s represented in this instillation by the string and how her stances are not fully formed yet but tie the paths together. She has interest in each tier and her identity encompasses the top three the most. The artwork resembles her true passion of reusing and recycling material. Her cultural Italian background has developed from the experience gained over centuries, environmental farming and tradition was transmitted orally from generation to generation. There are no labels for this reason. All ideas recycle and mix, all working on the common goal of a culturally rich and sustainable future.
Come. Gather. Join us. Walk and observe the sacred water. Escape the busyness of contemporary life. We are cut off from our lakes and we need to renew this bond. Evoke the spirit of respect for water. Water is the interconnection among all living beings. Water sustains us, flows between us, cleanses not only herself, but all living things. It provides a habitat for plants and animals. Our spirit flows back into the water at the end of our life’s journey.
Become aware of the threats that endanger water. Our global water supplies are drying up and becoming polluted from industrial development, contamination, and water consumption. Acknowledge the forgotten Indigenous tribes.
Inspire action to protect water. The Indigenous seek to restore the traditional ways of protecting the health of water and to share these ways with the world. You are part of this. Reflect what we can do individually and collectively. Without clean water all life will perish. Water is the giver of life. It’s a gift.
This site keeps industrial roots while also embracing culture, diversity, and creativity. To finalize with Dofasco’s corporate slogan, “Our product is steel. Our strength is people.”
And. Our future is biodomes.