THE FIRST PILE:  Picking Up the Pieces

Sorting after the first weeks of the studio / Julie Bargmann October 1997
 
The Crash Course
For the first five weeks of the studio, the students (4 architecture, 4 landscape architecture, and 2 joint-degree) embarked upon an intense introduction of landfills and waste management.  Along with local visits to the project site, Ivy Landfill, we met with local consultants, representatives of the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority, the County Board of Supervisors, and the Ivy Steering Committee.  We witnessed the project site from the neighbors' properties.  We climbed down terraces of trash to Mormon's Creek at the closed Avon landfill.  We visited the BFI transcyclery at Zion Xroads.
The DUMPsters also traveled to the Richmond area to see another county-operated facility and a privately-run landfill.  Three full days in New Jersey and New York included a tour of the reclaimed landfills and operating facilties at the Hackensack Meadowlands, the enourmous scale of operations at the Manhattan 59th Street Transfer Station, and a vast and sublime experience at Fresh Kills landfill.

The First Question
Amidst this onslaught of complicated information and complex issues, the students formulatted their proposals for the future of the Ivy Landfill.  All ten of the students' proposals challenge the common practice of landfill closure and as a hurried cover-up job.  Instead, the students' are wondering how the process of treating the hills of waste and by-products can be seen as an opportunity for industrial strength landscape reclamation and environmental education.  They have all questioned the concept of an "end use" seeking to acknowledge the dynamic nature of these peculiar landscapes of waste.

The Promise of the Studio
The DUMPsters are both pleased and terrified that this studio is addressing the currently contested Ivy Landfill.  We have been exposed to the multiple perspectives of this complex issue and the students are struggling with their own points of view and their role as designers.  We also need to acknowledge that creating proposals is difficult given the changing regulations and emerging technologies.  We also do not want to underestimate the perceptions and expectations that influence the future of this evolving landscape.
As much as we would like to, we cannot promise concrete solutions for those who are anxious to see the problems resolved.  We hope that we will raise questions to help frame the primary issues and open up the possibilties for the future of this landfill site and perhaps others.  The DUMPsters invite you to visit their work-in-progress (links below) and hope they provide some constructive thoughts towards finding some inclusive, visionary and 'right' way to proceed.
 

Picking Up the Pieces: Studio Work

• David Condron
• Kevin Crosby
• Elisa Deadman
• Charles Frederick
• Jonathan Heinert
• Jason King
• Jill McFarland
• J. Todd Pace
• Becky Post
• Lindsey Whang