Mimi Zeiger on Rising Currents

apr 9, 2010

TWO FEET HIGH AND RISING:
ON OPTIMISM, SPECULATION AND OYSTERS
By MIMI ZEIGER
Published: April 08, 2010 / The Design Observer Group

"Rising Currents: Projects for New York's Waterfront, the latest exhibition to open in the architecture and design gallery of the Museum of Modern Art, begins with a grim premise: that global climate change is making sea levels rise and powerful storm surges more frequent. Watch out, we’re gonna get wet. If we don't take action, we're in for catastrophe, with floods wiping out parts of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and northern New Jersey..."

"...the real crowd-pleaser is the stunning, web-like model for Zone 4: Oyster-tecture, created by the landscape architecture/urban design studio SCAPE. It's an approximation of the “fuzzy rope” oyster nets that SCAPE proposed for the shallow waters just south of Red Hook, Brooklyn: with these ropes the oysters not only naturally filter contaminated harbor water, but their netting also slows waves and protects the shoreline. The team worked with students and faculty from the New York Harbor School as well as with Katie Mosher-Smith, manager of the New York Oyster Program for New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, to gain hands-on understanding..."

"When asked about whether the project was speculative, team leader Kate Orff rejected the term outright. “I don’t see [this proposal] as speculating,” she said at the opening, “It’s a chance to get in front of policy makers and a mass audience.” The concept may border on the fantastic, but in the gallery at least its feasibility as infrastructure was convincing (even if Brooklyn foodies have to wait decades for an edible local oyster). Ultimately, Oyster-tecture it is rooted in the real world and in existing and relatively low-tech solutions. And that is optimistic."

continue reading "Two Feet High and Rising: On Optimism, Speculation and Oysters" at DesignObserver.com