Provenance and the Model City
Spring 2024
Provenance (n): the beginning of something’s existence; the stewardship and connection to one’s origin.
Provenance reminds us that architecture encompasses more than structures; it encapsulates the stories, cultures, and legacies we bequeath to the future. The meaning of provenance is clear when surrounded by pastureland and rolling hills that have been untouched for centuries.
But what is provenance for a land that has been razed, rebuilt, and remade?
Present-day New Haven lies at the confluence of water, race, and renewal. The city's founding origins are inextricably linked to its identity as a port and industrial city, powered by the abundance of oysters and electricity from the Whitney Dam over the Mill River. This period of human development and industry has continued into the 20th century, bringing worsening environmental conditions to mix with social and physical fractures from redlining and urban renewal.
Proposed dam sites along the Mill River, Redlining Map of New haven, Post-renewal highway photo. Red box denotes project site
This project aimed to develop a public center dedicated to the provenance of New Haven, addressing the three overlapping impacts of industrial environmental degradation, social fracture due to redlining, and physical fragmentation from urban renewal. At the heart of these overlapping narratives lies New Haven's origins as a port city:
“...you could row a boat from the shore in on a stream all the way to the town green”
So how can water be a focal point for healing these fragmented landscapes?
New Haven's origins as a port city, with water and mobility at its core. Residents still seek connection to the waters today.
Site Conditions:
The site lies at the intersection of Interstate-91, the Mill River, and historic redlining boundaries: the confluence of all three of New Haven's histories. I walked the site with Caroline Tanbee Smith, the alder for this district and we discussed the impacts of sea level rise and the lingering PCBs, heavy metals, and other industrial pollutants present in the river. Phragmites and other invasive species grew wild from behind the chain link fences, and overhead, the rumble of passing cars and concrete columns from I-91 cut through the site.
The concrete columns reminded me of tree trunks holding up the weight of the world. Drawing from our site visit to the Eames Ranch in Petaluma, I recalled how historic oak trees responded to the barbed wire fencing that ranchers had used to divide their lands: the trees had developed overgrowth rings, burying and incorporating these physical remnants of violence to heal the damage.
Caroline told me about the creation of the Mill River Trail by local activists, and how kayakers would paddle down from the local park. I sought to design a trail that weaves around the concrete columns, internalizing and subverting their divisive nature to stitch the landscape back together, rebuilding community through improving access and environmental quality of the Mill River.
The plan and transect drawings depict the flood plain and broader overview of the site: linking these two banks of the Mill River and their respective overpasses.
These axon drawings depicting the core sequencing of the project: the trail that weaves between the columns and connects the two sites, the circular motif that becomes elevated viewing pavilions and recessed skate parks, and the archways that soften the concrete underbelly of the highway overpass.
The following vignettes are populated by the people that I've worked with in New Haven. Through my conversations and walks with them, I felt it was important to incorporate them in the construction process of the site. Such that the community takes part in the process of reconstruction, and the act of building becomes a vehicle for building community.
After my final presentation, I gave my site model to Caroline to help facilitate discussions and community workshops about the underpass project. Over the past year she has done incredible work, winning several grants that bring the project one step closer to reality
Photo by: Abiba Biao. Featured in Underpass Park Envisioned: https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/underpass_project