Fresh Kills
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Contents |
Introduction
Fresh Kills is located in New York on Staten Island. The site had served as New York City's rubbish dump for more than 50 years. Fresh Kills was closed in March 2001, following years of citizen and political pressure, including a lawsuit about air pollution. Shortly after a two stage international competition asked for proposals " generate ideas and innovative desgins to meet the needs of the city's communities and that responsds to the natural and constructed nature of the site".
Context
Approximately half the 2,200 acre landfill is bounded on the west by Arthur Kill, a heavily trafficed shipping lane. The Manhattan skyline is visible across the site's salt marshes/ the site is an ancient glacial lake bed, and most of it was once covered by salt marshes. At the time of the landfill's construction, the critical role that the marshes contribute to the health of the site's ecology (aeration, filtration and erosion control)was not widely recognised. At that time marshes were often viewed as swamps - unsightly places that fostered mosquitoes.
The Fresh Kills Landfill site still contains some forest, salt marsh, and freshwater wetlands. The Isle of Meadows, located at the mouth of the Fresh Kills Estuary, is on the Atlantic Flyway and provides an important place of heron habitat.
The landfill's articifical topograpghy consists of four mounds. The mounds were capped in March 2001 but were then re-opened six months later on an emergency basis as a dump site for rubble from the World Trade Centre disaster. The park is now a memorial for 9/11 as well as creating an educational public recreation space.
Although Fresh Kills Landfill is not a wholly natural environment, the site has developed its own unique ecology. Today, even with four large landfill mounds on the site, forests, tidal wetlands, and freshwater wetlands still exist. One of the fundamentals of nature, ADAPTATION, is demonstrated in the evolution of these natural features in an unnatural context.
The potential exists for these areas, and eventually, the mounds themselves, to support broader and more active uses. With effective preparation now, the city can, over time, transform this controversial site into an important asset for Staten Island, the city and the region.
Programme
Process of creating Fresh Kills public ground 30 year plan
- year 1 :Mound-scape -engineering ground
- year 3 :field-scape -manufacturing soil and habitat
- year 6 :Open-scape -initiating acces and activity
- year 10 :Place-scape -building spaces
- year 20 :Event-scape -diversifying ecologies and uses
- year 30 : Life-scape -growing new life
Systems
This system of planning is a good example of the process that could be implemented at Owhiro Bay. The process of evolving, time-based design, looking to the future and future programmes.
- wetlands <-- enhance water quality into sea
- conserve whats already going on in the site.
- e.g native flora and fauna
- regeneration of grasses etc.
External links
Link to this site and scroll to the bottom, click to see panoramas of fresh kills
Overview of project with images
Original Schtuff Page
This page was migrated from Schtuff by the Collaborative Landscape administrator.
