Fishing. Flotsam. Futures.
Instructor: Roan Rael
ARCH Thesis 2016
As a consequence of manmade and natural disasters— hurricanes, tsunamis, and capital culture, our oceans are filled with flotsam. The fishing industry, which is a major source of protein and employment for marginal populations, is on the verge of collapse. Through the creation of a flotsam-harvesting museum, awareness is brought to the enormous scale of the detritus at sea. As a result, fish populations are restored, and fishermen and women are employed to fish for flotsam that can be stored as a resource for trade in futures markets.
Silos serve as an interpretive landscape, where people can experience the mass quantities of materials. A network of piers and platforms connect the silos and serve as a public space open to appropriation. The floating follies compose the galleries of the museum. As the marine ecology improves, flotsam is removed and fish return to our waterways in abundance, the fisherman continue their previous professions, and the museum tells the story.
The site is the point San Pablo yacht harbor just north of the Richmond bridge. This harbor was originally constructed in the1940s by captain Alan Clark. A breakwater was unaffordable so he came up with the unconventional idea of creating one out of sunken ships. He managed to collect some condemned wooden schooners and tow them into position. They were sunk into place and covered over with gravel and sand to create the harbor. This site has a history of using flotsam as a resource for the production of space. The site also has a rich fishing history. The marina was filled during the 50s by fisherman that now cut their boating commute time to San Pablo Bay down by an hour from the east bay. There were also fish processing plants and whaling stations here between 1958 – 1972.
However when the fishing industry dried up, the place was all near abandoned. Richmond police stopped responding to calls here since the place was full of only squatters and illegal substance production facilities. This continued until the place was purchased by its current owner, who ran out the trouble vigilantly style with his pistol. If you stumble upon this place he’ll tell you the whole story. The history of this site is made of the kind of pirate tales and maritime lawlessness of the high-seas where the flotsam resource is formed and takes shape.
Each silo has a designated spot with a particular place for its follie to dock for unloading. It is located next to a boom for unloading on the roof. This is a re-imaging of the typical boat boom on piers used to lower boats in and out of the water. This boom lifts the follie onto the roof to be combed of flotsam and live there for a space of time before returning to the water.
The silos hold the flotsam. People can experience the flotsam here by walking on it and seeing views of the bay from the roof. They can also walk through corridors inside surrounded by debris. Underneath Fish habitat is created here as flotsam is stored in a way that creates a new marine ecology for re-establishing species previously eradicated by over fishing and acts as a fish aggregating device for viewing. At high tide they can kayak underneath the mass. At low tide they can comb the tidal pools for sea creatures and flotsam finds.
At night the silos are lit from within and provide a light source to the docks, filtering light through glass and colored plastic flotsam. A network of piers and platforms that extend perpendicularly from the shore connecting the silos and serving as a 24hr public space open to appropriation. The docks accommodate multiple publics and programs including fishing, crabbing, camping, picnics, running, walking, and bird watching. Some of the connections between piers are only formed and completed at high or low tide, or when a museum follie is docked.
The floating follies compose the galleries of the museum. They are constructed using recycled nylon fishing line, re-using one of the major contributors to marine debris and cause of ocean ecological damage. The material qualities act as a screen, filtering light through flotsam that is harvested by the follie’s net structures, which function in collecting and mediating the curated work on display in the museum. The follies can also aggregate together like a fleet of junks. Here is one coming into port full of flotsam. The follies are constantly fluid and moving, just like the flotsam they collect, given over to the sea. Constantly performing their catch and release of flotsam.
Instructor: Roan Rael
ARCH Thesis 2016
As a consequence of manmade and natural disasters— hurricanes, tsunamis, and capital culture, our oceans are filled with flotsam. The fishing industry, which is a major source of protein and employment for marginal populations, is on the verge of collapse. Through the creation of a flotsam-harvesting museum, awareness is brought to the enormous scale of the detritus at sea. As a result, fish populations are restored, and fishermen and women are employed to fish for flotsam that can be stored as a resource for trade in futures markets.
Silos serve as an interpretive landscape, where people can experience the mass quantities of materials. A network of piers and platforms connect the silos and serve as a public space open to appropriation. The floating follies compose the galleries of the museum. As the marine ecology improves, flotsam is removed and fish return to our waterways in abundance, the fisherman continue their previous professions, and the museum tells the story.
The site is the point San Pablo yacht harbor just north of the Richmond bridge. This harbor was originally constructed in the1940s by captain Alan Clark. A breakwater was unaffordable so he came up with the unconventional idea of creating one out of sunken ships. He managed to collect some condemned wooden schooners and tow them into position. They were sunk into place and covered over with gravel and sand to create the harbor. This site has a history of using flotsam as a resource for the production of space. The site also has a rich fishing history. The marina was filled during the 50s by fisherman that now cut their boating commute time to San Pablo Bay down by an hour from the east bay. There were also fish processing plants and whaling stations here between 1958 – 1972.
However when the fishing industry dried up, the place was all near abandoned. Richmond police stopped responding to calls here since the place was full of only squatters and illegal substance production facilities. This continued until the place was purchased by its current owner, who ran out the trouble vigilantly style with his pistol. If you stumble upon this place he’ll tell you the whole story. The history of this site is made of the kind of pirate tales and maritime lawlessness of the high-seas where the flotsam resource is formed and takes shape.
Each silo has a designated spot with a particular place for its follie to dock for unloading. It is located next to a boom for unloading on the roof. This is a re-imaging of the typical boat boom on piers used to lower boats in and out of the water. This boom lifts the follie onto the roof to be combed of flotsam and live there for a space of time before returning to the water.
The silos hold the flotsam. People can experience the flotsam here by walking on it and seeing views of the bay from the roof. They can also walk through corridors inside surrounded by debris. Underneath Fish habitat is created here as flotsam is stored in a way that creates a new marine ecology for re-establishing species previously eradicated by over fishing and acts as a fish aggregating device for viewing. At high tide they can kayak underneath the mass. At low tide they can comb the tidal pools for sea creatures and flotsam finds.
At night the silos are lit from within and provide a light source to the docks, filtering light through glass and colored plastic flotsam. A network of piers and platforms that extend perpendicularly from the shore connecting the silos and serving as a 24hr public space open to appropriation. The docks accommodate multiple publics and programs including fishing, crabbing, camping, picnics, running, walking, and bird watching. Some of the connections between piers are only formed and completed at high or low tide, or when a museum follie is docked.
The floating follies compose the galleries of the museum. They are constructed using recycled nylon fishing line, re-using one of the major contributors to marine debris and cause of ocean ecological damage. The material qualities act as a screen, filtering light through flotsam that is harvested by the follie’s net structures, which function in collecting and mediating the curated work on display in the museum. The follies can also aggregate together like a fleet of junks. Here is one coming into port full of flotsam. The follies are constantly fluid and moving, just like the flotsam they collect, given over to the sea. Constantly performing their catch and release of flotsam.
