What if architecture can be productive instead of extractive? What if architecture can be a machine? Centered at Lake Vesuvius in Wayne National Forest, the structure aims to celebrate the invisible mechanisms ever present in the natural world and reflecting them in the machine's massing. The soaring roots interconnected with the structure aim to serve the machine's productive purposes: reconnection of biology separated by the hardscape, irrigation of rainwater past pollutant asphalt, and the dissipation of the machine's energy production/consumption via heat into the neighboring soil--a process with the potential to double the rate of germination in plant life. The slats that imply a central mass reintroduce a variety of primitive habitats for creatures impacted by deforestation, inviting nests, hives, and small mammals. Programmatically, the site houses a research lab, acting as a host for intellectual productivity towards the study of forest and lake vitality. As a visitor center, the machine serves as a sanctuary for all life, from the Human to the Common Earthworm.
