WEEK 3: VIRGINIA
Virginia Reaches North: Designing Future Arctic Cities
By Dr. Matthew Jull, Assistant Professor of Architecture, University of Virginia School of Architecture; Founding Director of Arctic Design Group and KUTONOTUK; & Ms. Leena Cho, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Virginia School of Architecture; Founding Director of Arctic Design Group and KUTONOTUK
While we may be closer to the Mason-Dixon line than the Arctic Circle here in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the Arctic Design Group (ADG), we actually spend most of our time investigating the Arctic. In 2013, we founded ADG here at the University of Virginia (UVA), an institution that places high importance on research and linking design with real world issues. Today, because of the effects of climate change on the region, the world — and Virginia — is paying much closer attention to the Arctic.
For designers and architects, the Arctic is in many ways a modern frontier. The extreme environments of the north are fascinating because of the challenges of surviving in harsh conditions. The isolation, cold, darkness, wind, and light of the Arctic are unlike anything we experience here in Virginia. Our work focuses on uncovering the physical, material, and spatial potentials of buildings, cities, and landscapes in the Arctic region. Because of this, designers bring a unique perspective to the many different conversations on the Arctic happening in Virginia, next door in Washington, DC, and around the world about the future of this cold and vast land.
As the indigenous peoples who have lived in the region for thousands of years know, shelter is one of the most central and critical aspects of life in the Arctic. Shelter is an essential need for all humans, and a shelter that is well-designed both inside and out can facilitate not just the survival of the human body, but the flourishing of the human soul. As designers, our goal is to explore and develop new designs for cities and buildings in the extreme climate of the Arctic that are innovative, functional, and sustainable; designs that allow individuals and communities to flourish in this cold, vast, and in today’s climate, constantly changing.
Back in the 1920s when Virginian Admiral Richard E. Byrd was exploring the Arctic and looking for ways to fly over the North Pole, the Arctic must have seemed as foreign and far-away to most Americans as the moon. Today, the Arctic is a much more real place and full of real people, especially for those of us here in Charlottesville who focus on the Arctic on a daily basis.
In the recent past, we have organized at UVA both a public Arctic architecture and design exhibition and ARCTIC STATES, an international symposium. These events were funded by The Jefferson Trust, as well as UVA’s Center for Global Inquiry + Innovation (CGI2) and the UVA School of Architecture. The individuals and institutions who participated in these initiatives are propelling through their works new modes of living in the north.
In addition to bringing Arctic-focused designers and spatial thinkers from around the world, such as the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Alaska, we also run a series of undergraduate- and graduate-level studios and research seminars here at UVA to foster student interest in the Arctic, promote collaboration, and further develop the body of knowledge needed to develop sustainable and resilient built environments in the Arctic.
We are fortunate to be able to tap into a network of well-established scientific research, policy expertise, and arts related to the Arctic right here in town. For example, Dr. Howie Epstein, an expert on Arctic tundra and climate change, and Dr. G Carleton Ray, one of the first to describe the underwater sounds of marine mammals like walruses as “song” in a strict behavioral sense, are both part of UVA’s Department of Environmental Science. At UVA’s School of Law, we have John Moore and Myron Nordquist, experts on ocean law, which is a critical mechanism for maintaining peace and cooperation among the region’s eight Arctic states. And in our Department of Music, we have Matthew Burtner, an Alaska-born composer and sound artist who often integrates the natural sounds of the Arctic into his compositions.
In addition to the discussions we have on Arctic design with our students, colleagues, and the public here in Virginia, we also take our conversations — and our students — to the Arctic itself, as we did with our Svalbard Studio project. In the fall of 2015, we led a pilot traveling studio to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in Norway for 14 undergraduate and graduate architecture and landscape architecture students from UVA. For professional and aspiring designers, it is especially important to visit and get to know our working sites and places very well, and absorb all possible nuances of a place that cannot be discerned and traced by studying them online, by books or making phone calls only.
Our journey to Svalbard, funded by the Rotch Trust and CGI2, was part of a semester-long design research studio course. It was the first traveling studio in the United States to bring design students to the High Arctic. We visited three cities in Svalbard — Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, and Pyramiden — which together represent typical urban patterns in the Arctic — administrative, mining and ghost towns, respectively.
The course was driven by two key questions: 1) What role can architecture and landscape architecture play in mediating the transformation of this vast northern frontier: from the scale of the continent to that of the component?; and 2) Through the lens of extreme environmental conditions, what alternative architectural and urban typologies and systems can we develop in order to attain more resilient urban futures in the region?
By understanding key thermodynamic principles, historical and conceptual frameworks, and design case studies in the Arctic, the studio aimed to identify linkages between extreme climate and built environment and explore environmentally-intelligent and culturally-provocative design strategies for future cities.
During the 10-day trip, we asked our students — who had never set foot in the Arctic — to document their daily activities in text, sketches, and short videos. Some examples of these follow, with more being included at the very bottom of this post:
So it’s the end of day one on Svalbard, and I think I’ve made some good observations about existing building typologies. So far as a whole, they seem to be not particularly special to the Arctic with this location, but rather well insulated version of buildings you would find anywhere. — Matthew Johnson (4th yr. undergrad architecture)
Last night while traveling from New York to Oslo, I saw the northern lights for the first time. While trying to re-imagine the residential typologies in the Arctic, I would like to use the mystical qualities of the aurora in my design. — Emilio Craddock (4th yr. undergrad architecture)
As the tourism industry in Svalbard continues to infiltrate the remains of defunct mines, offering tours of the structures that shaped the landscape, economy, and society of the region for a century, therein lies an opportunity to address some of the ‘problems’ created by the industry and create a more ecologically democratic space. — “Fertile Mining,” Scott Shinton (3rd yr. grad landscape architecture)
…The intervention combines the practice of food production through intense systems and technologies such as composting, waste/water/soil treatment, and –ponics methods, with the recreational [and therapeutic uses of] green space — both of which Longyearbyen lack…The spaces created begin to take form of machinery, treatment of soil and water, food markets, exhibits, agricultural plots, café and even an outdoor space for public use. Over time, it is hoped that Longyearbyen will no longer have to rely on [costly] imports for food and exports for waste but rather keep the cycle belonging to the city in itself. — “Healing Harvest”, Isabel Argoti (4th yr. undergrad architecture)
Not only do the above logs capture factual and sensorial narratives in the cities we visited, but also they act as an important catalyst for spatial imagination upon returning to Virginia. By the end of the semester, the Svalbard Studio produced 13 design proposals focusing on Arctic-related design challenges like wastewater treatment, coal power plant building renovation, outdoor public space master-planning, and university expansion; all addressed addressed specific constraints and opportunities inherent in the Arctic environment. Regardless of the scale and technical complexity, each proposal aimed to expand and renew cultural identity via the lens of built environment — a conversation that is lacking in much of the current Arctic discourse worldwide.
The Arctic is not simply a cold and frozen realm, but a dynamic and vibrant region. Through our work and that of our students at the Arctic Design Group, we believe in proactive design solutions to build better futures for Arctic cities and communities. It is critical to not only think of the environmental, economic, and sovereignty issues, but also the human element and cultural legacies in these built environments.
About the Authors:
Matthew Jull, PhD, Assistant Professor of Architecture, and Leena Cho, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, are founding directors of Arctic Design Group at University of Virginia School of Architecture. Cho received her B.A. at Wellesley College and M.L.A. at Harvard Graduate School of Design. Jull received his B.Sc at McGill University, PhD in geophysics from University of Cambridge, and M.Arch at Harvard Graduate School of Design. Both have worked professionally in the design field in the Netherlands. Cho and Jull are also directors of the award-winning design office, KUTONOTUK. You can reach Dr. Jull at mjull@virginia.edu and Ms. Cho at lcho@virginia.edu.
Next week’s featured U.S. state: IOWA
ADDITIONAL ARCTIC TRIP STUDENT LOG ENTRIES:
8am. Coal mine power plant [in Barentsburg]. 1.85km to the seam from tunnel entrance…Tunnel = 4.2m wide, 3.5m tall. When coal mine is finished they just destroy the existing infrastructure…then fill up with water. 120,000 ton per year….Pyramiden will open up when [Barentsburg coal] is spent. 65 maximum people can be in the mine, could be more but not needed. Conclusion: coal mine is a geopolitical front and not a money maker. Relatively small venture. Russia holding onto Arctic ground with Barentsburg settlement….There is sauna within the power plant station using its steam. — Ben Scott (2nd yr. grad landscape architecture)
The typical Arctic foundation system produces left over crawl spaces that serve, at best, as storage. The project re-designs the existing multipoint space frame foundation system in order to produce a system that integrates building structure and foundation. The result is an inhabitable space frame functioning as the building foundation, internal structure, and cladding system…The layering of these modules allows for different types of [activities to take place]. Combining the foundation system and structural system addresses the technical difficulties of building on the Arctic ground, as well as the programmatic challenges of providing inhabitable exterior space. — “Testing Ground,” Kaitlynn Long (4th yr. undergrad architecture)
10/12/2015. 8am: Wake. 9:30am: Meet at UNIS. 10am: Graham Gilbert, permafrost lecture. 11:15am: Anatoly Sinitsyn, Arctic engineering lecture. 12:45pm: Bente Naeverdal, Statsbygg lecture. 1pm: went into waste management facility with Jenn. 2:15pm. Went into firehouse or emergency power backup facility with Jenn. 3pm: Took notes of street sections down main commercial core. 5pm: Met with [Longyearbyen] mayor Christin Kristoffersen….in LYR, people from 44 nations. Not a ‘lifelong’ society for health and social network reasons…Future opportunities in expertise, research and education. — Peter Russell (2nd yr. grad landscape architecture)
Wastewater in Longyearbyen is directly discharged to the ocean because there’s no wastewater treatment plant in the city. The project focuses on vitalizing the northeast shorefront of Longyearbyen through the smart treatment of sewage water and reusing the waste. An integrated waste water treatment system, both internal and external, are designed to meet the needs in 2030. — “Waste? Matters!”, Chunyao Xu (3rd yr. grad landscape architecture)
…The typical Arctic [building] envelope relies on mechanical systems, heavy artificial insulation, and a hermetically sealed perimeter to keep the interior at a comfortable temperature. The Snow Bank proposes that Arctic envelopes could be smarter, harnessing environmental forces to their advantage rather than stubbornly resisting them. This envelope gathers the snow that blows across the treeless landscape of Svalbard into an extra insulating layer around an existing building that will help heat the building in the winter and melt away in the spring, allowing the building to capitalize on abundant sunlight in the summer and comfortable close during the dark winter. — “Snow Bank,” Matthew Johnson (4th yr. undergrad architecture)
