This was a student project by Ben Kohls for Katie Jenkins and Parker Sutton's courase LARCH 7940 in Spring 2018.
The Arctic Ark is a speculative and imaginary design that addresses the pressing changes occurring in the Northern Alaskan Slope. Current trends and future projections show a warming climate that is melting permafrost, resulting in a volatile and dynamic landscape that poses monumental consequences to ecology, industry, conservation, and human settlement. The thawing permafrost is also shedding new light on an ancient landscape as prehistoric fossils preserved in the permafrost are churned to the surface and forcing paleontologists to re-evaluate their assumptions of the animals that once traversed its terrain. The Arctic Ark is a response to the changes occurring in Alaska and is seeking to preserve the historical, ecological and industrial remnants of the landscape through archaeology, conservation, and design.
