2004 Fellow: Julie Bargmann
Julie Bargmann is the founding principal of D.I.R.T. (Design Investigations Reclaiming Terrain or Dump It Right There) in Charlottesville, Virginia. Since 1992 D.I.R.T. has worked with architects, artists, engineers, historians, and scientists in abandoned industrial sites to revitalize manufacturing operations (Ford River Rough Plant, US Steel South Works) and urban infrastructures (Hudson Yards, the High Line). Rather than simply cleaning and covering up toxic areas, Bargmann restores them so that they heal themselves, producing clean air, water, and soil while retaining visual links to their industrial pasts.
Scapes 3, Fall 2004 (Full Edition PDF)
Fellowship Awards
Parsons Student: Kassia Walker, Centralia Park, Centralia Pennsylvania
Coal mine fires have been burning in Centralia, Pennsylvania for over 40 years. At a time when manicured and generic solutions for sites of destruction are prevelant, Kassia proposed Centralia Park, a smart park and public space to be used as a model for learning from disaster sites by using the destruction itself as the vehicle of expression and learning.
Parsons Faculty: Michael Morris + Yoshiko Sato, Living House
MorrisSato performed extensive research of the use of bamboo as a potential primary resource material in order to fabricate an environmental-beneficial furniture prototype. Research was used as a guiding tool in the design of the a model house, part of Nissan’s 2006 Gifu Housing Exposition in Japan. The design draws upon the region’s resources and traditions of wood construction and crafts in order to propose a dynamic and sustainable ‘Living House’.
Outside Student: Elizabeth Taylor, Columbia University, Wind Turbine Research
Elizabeth studied the use of wind turbines in urban settings. Case studies were performed in London, Delft, and Amsterdam. Her findings were documented into pamphlet and web form as ideological context, technical possibilites and emerging architectural uses of wind turbines.
Outside Practitioner: Jennifer Magee, Sustainable Practices
Jennifer participated in a four-week educational workshop focused on building urban centers within remote ecosystems without endangering or compromising the natural environment. She has informed her architectural firm with her findings of best sustainable development practices and has written an article based on her findings.
Outside Practitioner: Molly Hogle, Industrial Architecture Research
Molly studied the reclamation and revitalization of industrial architecture and its surrounding landscape in Emscher Park in the Ruhr Valley of Germany because here practical programmatic needs as well as a new aesthetic have been cultivated. Her research findings have produced design proposals for grain elevators in her hometown of Buffalo, New York.