Due to the epic flooding in North Adams, MA, especially after the great flood of 1938 the town of North Adams decided to encapsulate the Hoosic River in a concrete tube to permanently prevent flooding. After the channelization of the Hoosic River in the 1950s the ecology of the river was deeply affected and much of the fish and wildlife that inhabited the river bed could no longer be sustained in the rapid current in excess of 25MPH. Playing with the materials available at a local dump site on the south river channel, this project creates a flexible fabric out of tires that performs as micro-habitats, nutrient collectors, water storage devices, and river baffles, which act together to shade the channel, provide human interaction, create new habitats, and slow the river current.
