Keeping pace with our rapid societal shift away from carbon-intensive energy sourcing towards an emphasis on renewability and sustainability, our studio begins to unravel how our culture should generate and utilize energy. We are pushed to think boldly and beautifully to generate clean energy and develop Hydra - a site that is equitable, community-based, multi-functional, and efficient. The existing site is located within the Scioto Audubon, a historical industrial brownfield turned 119-acre metro park just south of downtown Columbus. Specifically, we are investigating the space around the Greenlawn Avenue low-head dam in the Scioto River. The immersive location of our site seated within the Scioto River itself allows our community to intimately experience the river, dam, and Scioto Audubon Metro Park in a new and distinctive way and pushes us as designers to rethink how the people of Columbus live with energy by powering and designing hydro-powered community experience. Although minimized, the turbine still produces heat as a waste product. To ensure we create the most efficient system possible, we have introduced tropical planting ecologies to areas of the site with a high concentration of turbines. These non-invasive tropical plantings thrive in the warmer waters and will increase biodiversity in the Scioto River. Some of the turbines will be seen on site as educational and visual spectacle as visitors walk over them on glass paneling. Other turbines will be hidden from view, but their auditory presence will be heard, adding to the ambience of the site and screening from nearby sounds of traffic. Site design process – sink study 0:03:15 – 0:04:12 (57 sec) - Screen: Time lapse (allie – done) - Table: Water flow plan animation (allie – done) While the gravitational vortex will serve as a functional and aesthetic presence on its own, we also want to redirect the water of the Scioto River to create further amenities inspired by the public play fountains of Lawrence Halprin and Paul Friedberg including soaking spas, ephemeral wading pools, and immersive spectacle moments.
