Salmon-Safe SoWa

I've riffed a bit on SoWa previously on Landscape+Urbanism as filled with potential but needing some time... A recent report by Dyland Rivera from the Oregonian and picked up on Jetson Green as well, that the 35-acre area in the South Waterfront area in Portland has acheived Salmon Safe Certification, the first urban neighborhood to do so. Salmon Safe is a program that aims to which minimizes impacts to native fish habitat in urban areas and agricultural zones by providing certification of best management practices.


:: image via Jetson Green

From the article - the benefit in SoWa is from the cumulative strategies that together protect waterways even in dense urban areas: "...the developers and city planners included water-treating ponds, green roofs and other elements that would slow and clean storm water that might otherwise poison salmon and pollute the Willamette River. Residents have agreed to restrict the use of chemical fertilizers there, too. ...Result: The runoff will be comparable to what the area would have produced in its pristine state a century ago, as if the development hadn't happened at all, according to Salmon Safe, a Portland nonprofit tracking waterway influences."

From the SoWa website - there is definitely a bunch more development that is slated to happen. The OHSU Center for Health and Healing (LEED Platinum) and the Condominums at the Meriwether (LEED Gold), The John Ross (LEED Gold) and Atwater Place (LEED Silver) - along with the new addition, The Ardea (LEED Silver). The other part is the Willamette River Greenway - which I will get to in a bit.


:: image via South Waterfront

The other big development down in the SoWa is the Aerial Tram... seen below, with the existing buildings and Mount Hood in the distance.


:: image via Portland Bridges

Back to Salmon-Safe... some further info from the Oregonian: "Certification means South Waterfront’s 17-block central district exceeds state and federal regulatory commitments to protect the Willamette River and its urban tributaries and is a leader in river restoration. The designation commits the neighborhood to sustain its environmental stewardship over time, including the district-wide elimination of pesticides that are harmful to salmon and other aquatic life. ...To date, Salmon-Safe's inspection team has certified more than 65,000 acres of farm and urban lands in Oregon and Washington, including 140 vineyards that represent a third of Oregon's total vineyard acreage."


:: Full Build-out SoWa - image via Lazenby Consulting

A couple of local development heavy-weights are quoted via the O, as well, starting with Dennis Wilde, a principal at Gerding-Edlen Development: "...Recognizing the ecological sensitivity of this site and its direct connection to the Willamette River, Gerding-Edlen and all of our partners committed to building the nation’s most sustainable neighborhood, particularly with respect to managing stormwater runoff." And Homer Williams from Williams & Dame Development: “By expanding its already robust environmental program and committing to Salmon-Safe development and practices at this ecologically important site, South Waterfront is leading the way a healthier Willamette River."

And the tag line for the event was pretty good as well... Live.Eat.Shop.Spawn...


:: image via South Waterfront

So it's all good, and I am a big fan of the project characteristics and elements, as well as the pledge for eco-friendly maintenance. The new buildings, rooftop spaces, bioswales, and the upcoming Neighborhood Park will add many facets to this emerging neighborhood. I just have one, big question...




:: images via Portland Bridges

When, with all of this money spent on neighborhood development and expensive condos, will the investment be truly made that will result in the vibrant and viable (and dare I say) truly Salmon-Safe South Waterfront Greenway ... to replace the blank grassy edge that currently occupies the river edge (above) and turn it into the habitat-friendly corridor seen in images (below)?

:: image via Portland Parks and Recreation

The certification is a great step. And once the Greenway planting is in, this neighborhood can really say that it is truly Salmon Safe...

What I did on my Summer Vacation - Pt.2

Again, I have a lull due to the joy of taking a bit of time off and visiting family... For round two of my summer break, I have recently returned from a trip to North Dakota to visit my dad. Starting in Minot, and traveling a good portion of the state over four days along with my girlfriend - and coming back with some interesting news from the 'land of which you do not speak the name Obama'... :) [all images via Landscape+Urbanism]

I mentioned this previously, but one of my favorite things about the Great Plains that I often miss is the uniterrupted distant horizon, the patterning of agriculture of irrigation and dryland, the rows of shelterbelts and the green bands surrounding potholes and rivers. And, as you can tell - it was wheat harvesting time - which is pretty cool as well.



I posted about North Dakota a bit a few months back, including the fantastic installations from the Safeguard missle defense system that was briefly in operation in Nekoma. I showed some HABS/HAER historical photos that Mr. Trevi at Pruned had posted. Having spent a good portion of my life in North Dakota, I had never seen the installations. Here's a few pics from the trip - kind of a pilgrimmage of sorts.






:: Nekoma Pyramid (Safeguard ABM array)

My father, whom was involved in working with the Nuclear (that's nu-kle-ar GW!) Warhead array throughout NoDak in the height of the Cold War, did know a bunch of interesting facts - but I will refrain from posting any of it - as he'd probably have to kill me :) Kidding... find out a great bit of info from Wikipedia on the Safeguard ABM program of which Nekoma is part. Adjacent to the Nekoma installation was a very significant wind turbine installation from the Langdon Wind Farm.

The wind generating potential of the Plains is signficant, and it was good to see more visible usage of this resource. An old resource was being exploited like never before in the plains, with a TON of new drilling happening all over the state - a product of $140 a barrel oil perhaps...

No trip to NoDak is complete with heading to the badlands and the Teddy Roosevelt National Park... in this case the North Unit. For those unfamiliar with the connection of North Dakota and it's influence on this president, here's a very poignant quote, via the NPS site: "I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota." Some photos and highlights.

That is actually topography in the state, a product of ancient weathering, along with being spared the land flattening of the glaciers over 11,000 years ago. One of my favorites above is the picturesque CCC overlook - with the distant Little Missouri river in the background. And the variety of wildlife spotted... including a good sized herd of Bison, a very tame grazing Mule Deer, and a tight grouping of the elusive Bighorn Sheep (which is a new one for me, as I've yet to see them in the park)...

A few more pics in this order - 1) the full on Missouri River widened by the Garrison Dam... I'm fascinated by this idea of the displacement of history, culture and ecology with the flooding of areas due to dam-building. I'm planning a post on the Lake Sakakawea phenomenon soon, so look forward to that.

The wiggly and French-named Souris (Mouse) River that cuts through the northern section of North Dakota - traveling south from Canada and back northward again.

And the more flood prone and manipulated Souris as it flows through Minot's Oak Park - one of the best bird-watching spots as well.

Oddly enough, we had the chance to zoom through the Minneapolis airport during the tail end of the Republican National Convention... the worst of which included people really thinking Sarah Palin is 'neat' as well as being subjected to Rudy Guliani speaking while awaiting a plane back to Portland. You can't really come home again - and sometimes that's a good thing.

Coming from the Center - veering comfortably back to the Left, has never felt so right. :) So stay tuned for some more posts... lots coming soon... and thanks for the comments and dialogue - keep it coming!

Digging in with SO-IL

This one caught my attention today by combining the love of urban agriculture and rooftop gardening in one visually stimulating package. Spotted via Dezeen: "Brooklyn architects Solid Objectives - Idenburg Liu (SO-IL) have designed a rooftop landscape of allotments to showcase green roof technologies on an industrial building in Queens, New York City."




:: images via Dezeen

The work was commissioned by green roof manufacturer, Garden City Roofs. A little more detail from Dezeen: "Roofs are underused in New York City. Garden City Roofs, a startup company headed by Beth Lieberman, caters to a growing need for technical expertise and access to green roof systems. Garden City Roofs is converting the unused roof of a large industrial building into a showroom and knowledge-center for green roof systems. SO-IL has been asked to evaluate access, layout the roof systems and hard-scapes and design a sales- and learning center on the roof."




:: images via Dezeen

A favorite image of mine, evoking some of the swoopy artistry of a Thomas Church sketch from the 1950's replete with egg-like sun...

:: image via Dezeen

It's interesting to see the 'object' that appears on the roof... The reason? Not sure. The purpose. Um, use the word Truncated Octohedron? Turns out it's a "...structure will be a showcase of materials that are either completely biodegradable or recyclable."






:: images via Dezeen

More like architects that couldn't resist the urge to plop some structure on top of a structure in order to give it resonance as a 'project'. You'll see the hexagonal patterns applied on the farming production surface as well, which work well for nested spaces with interior pathways - a good garden layout. Probably the least successful part of all of this is the bad acronymic name, which I first thought was just random, then realized spelled an elongated SO-IL... uh, ok... well cool project anyway. :)

Water Power

It was interesting, in some research for a project at work, I looked up the cost of water in Portland to calculate the additional cost of irrigation for expanded landscape area on a rooftop. The idea was that we needed to factor in the additional cost of 20000 gallons of water to be used for irrigation for a season... which to my surprise, came to around $500 per year (total commercial cost)... a pittance for that quantity and quality of water found here in Portland.

Changing gears a bit from the economics of this resource... let's take the idea of our waterways and think of them as a very, renewable resource... not for regenerating water via the hydrological cycle - but, say for generating energy. From the small, medium, large, and perhaps citywide... there are options. First, a small-scale version of an aerating fountain - with a range of potential options on site scale:


:: image via Sunmotor

A pair by Inhabitat... Solar Lily and Floatovoltaics - offers some expanded possibilities for water-borne electrical generation... think of the oceans... wave generation on the bottom, wind and solar on top... and all that square floating footage... First the Far Niente winery from Napa - with floating solar panels on pontoons.




:: images via Inhabitat

A more poetic (and adaptable perhaps) version - from the International Design Awards and designer Peter Richardson: "In cities all over the world there are disused water ways, canals and rivers.Often they become the focus for regeneration and for most people offer an improved quality of life and environment. Our project proposes to stimulate river activity and change by proposing that the surface is used to harness the power of Solar energy on a large scale. The energy created can be easily transformed and exported to the grid and will reduce the carbon footprint of the city. The idea references large lilypads that are optimised for efficient photosynthesis, so the design is inspired by nature. They can be moved and dismantled and are simply tethered to the river bed, integrated motors can rotate the discs so their orientation to the sun is maximised throughout the day. "




:: images via International Design Awards

The inspiration...


:: images via International Design Awards

Perhaps this can expand beyond this scale, to a citywide iconography, similar to the floating Maple Leaf by West 8 in Toronto... see it as solar, it definitely works. Think about the dual purpose floating icon and solar generator for every town...




:: images via Eikongraphia

Water Worlds

A range of projects featuring water not just as a theme, but a major design element... very disparate in scale and application, but with that common hydrological thread. For starters, one of the typologies of green roofs, discussed previously on L+U, is the concept of 'blue roofs' - which use water to provide cooling atop building structures. A couple of amazing examples of this follow. First, the whimsical version of this is via Treehugger - of some art installations to creat 'Psycho Buildings' one of which includes a rooftop 'lake' replete with boats:

:: image via Treehugger

Some text via Treehugger: "The outside projects include an outdoor lake, created on top of the roof of the museum (pictured). Visitors can line up to take a little row boat ride in this newly made waterway in the sky, with the London Eye and Houses of Parliament in the distance. The water seems to flow over the side of the building. The floating dock for the odd little boats was made from reclaimed timber and junk-store furniture. The handles of the oars came from legs of old chairs with brass castors."

A more elegant version is the Tanatoria Municipal, by Jordi Badia /Josep Val in León, Spain is a stunning example of perhaps not exactly a 'blue roof' in the traditional sense, but a very cool one nonetheless...


:: images via Arch Daily

From Arch Daily: "A completely buried construction, it eludes its volume and its signification in order to camouflage itself in the interstices of a too-close residential area.A sheet of water by way of a roof constitutes the single facade, reflecting León’s sky like an allegory of death. All that emerges from the water are mysterious fingers in search of light for prayer."




:: images via Arch Daily

A few projects that propose floating architecture, reminiscent of the Dutch and their concept of 'amphibious architecture'... starting with a vision of New Orleans via Inhabitat: "Here’s an approach that endeavors to ride the river rather than stem it’s course. Harvard Graduate School of Design students Kiduck Kim and Christian Stayner have conceived of a Floating City that will “rise safely in an Archimedean liquid landscape.”


:: image via Inhabitat

Next - some literal amphibious development - a water-based development via World Architecture News - Waterkwekerij (Water Nursery) in Alkmaar, Netherlands...






:: images via WAN

A third version, via Inhabitat: "A set of zero-carbon floating buildings has been chosen by RIBA as the winning design for the visitor center at the new Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Nature Reserve in Preston, northern England. Nicknamed ‘A Floating World’... Built on an island of floating pontoons over a former 67-acre gravel pit, visitors are reassured with the guarantee of ‘unlimited flood protection’. The connection they experience with nature is greater through close proximity of the café, shop, gallery, education areas, and meeting rooms to the reeds and wildlife of the surrounding wetland environment."




:: images via Inhabitat

Following up this amphibious theme, is the idea of water walls which captures the concept of defining architectural spaces by streaming water vertically along the building perimeter. Via BDonline, the "...MIT building with walls made entirely of water will go on display ... at the Zaragoza World Expo in northern Spain, the theme of which is water and sustainable development." That's hot - and cool...






:: images via BDonline

Finally, this was much covered - and I have been meaning to feature it for a while, to no avail. So here goes - the History Channel's City of the Future Competition, was the winning entry from Iwamoto Scott Architecture - HydroNet.

:: image via History Channel

An excerpt from their entry statement: "Symbiotic and multi-scalar, SF HYDRO-NET is an occupiable infrastructure that organizes critical flows of the city. HYDRO-NET provides an underground arterial traffic network for hydrogen-fueled hover-cars, while simultaneously collecting, storing and distributing water and power tapped from existing aquifer and geothermal sources beneath San Francisco. A new aquaculture zone with ponds of algae and forests of sinuous housing towers reoccupy Baylands inundated by rising sea levels."

:: images via History Channel