Building an Urban Wilderness: Progress Report 1

A Design Research Project

The fact that wilderness can be literally built, like an artificial reef, is a profound one, especially in this era of ecological crisis. Wild plants and animal species are rapidly being lost due to climate change and loss of habitat, provoking some architects to craft visionary proposals that include wildlife within urban areas. What if wildlife were built into the fabric of the city? What if the city, often regarded as the antithesis of wilderness, nurtured a variety of plant and animal life in the midst of dense urban centers?

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Progress Report 1

The project is off to a good start, getting this blog up and running is the most visible accomplishment this week. I found a way of allowing readers to download documents from this blog, including a revised project statement aimed at summarizing the project for possible collaborators and guest jurors. In the long run, I may switch to a website of my own, rather than this blogging platform, to enable better file hosting, flexibility, and long-term integration with an online portfolio. In addition to the revised project statement, readers can download my current reading list, for editing, feedback, or anything else one might want to do with a reading list. Any feedback on the blog is completely welcome.

I’ve given myself a crash course in OmniPlan and OmniFocus, project management and task management software, respectively. With OmniPlan I’ve begun a detailed list of different tasks that is prioritized and carefully scheduled, and which allows me to coordinate the help of others. Displayed here are screen shots of my OmniPlan project. The ability to designate long, convoluted

chains of dependency, and then have my tasks prioritized to account for these dependencies has proven invaluable. This will save me a lot of inefficiency and headaches throughout my project.

I visited the GIF yesterday, and with the help of Jeremy Freund, obtained a student license for ArcEditor, a GIS software, and access codes for three GIS training courses: Learning ArcGIS Desktop, Basics of the Geodatabase Data Model, and Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning Using ArcGIS 9. I will begin these courses in about two days, as soon as I finish removing a virus from part of my computer and get a few other tasks done.

To make my process and inquiry as transparent as possible, the outline for this project will be a large diagram, 24” x 36”, consisting of many specific written questions, grouped by topic. I wanted to be able to bring this diagram to my presentations so that I can get feedback on my approach to the project. Below is a small snapshot of the diagram in its current state, based on my most recent brainstorm of questions. In this most recent brainstorm, I sought to be as specific as possible, as well as to focus my questions on what is currently the case.