Adaptive Reuse Oil Rigs + Geothermal Energy

FALL 2019 FALL HUMAN CARTOGRAPHIES DEGREE PROJECT:

ENGINEERING ECOSYSTEMS EMILY CASSIDY EMILY 2 INDEX

CONCEPT STATEMENT 5 PRECEDENT EXPLORATIONS 6-9 PROJECT GENEALOGY ESSAY 10-13 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER 14-15 TIMELINE 16-17 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER: NOOTKA LUPINE FLOWER 18-23 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER: DEEP SEA CORAL 24-31 ICELAND CARTOGRAPHIES 32-33 HUMAN INTERVENTION 34-37 ISLAND PROTOTYPES 38-42 POLLUTION 43-45 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 46-47 ADAPTIVE REUSE 48-55 PROGRAM STATEMENT 51 GULF OF MEXICO 56-67 SITE STATEMENT 56 DESIGN METHODS & MATERIAL PRACTICE STATEMENT 62 BIBLIOGRAPHY 68

Human Cartographies Degree Project Research Fall 2019 Professor Eva Perez de Vega, Professor Gonzalo Carbajo, & Professor Daniela Fabricius DPAC Advisors: Professor Christian Lynch & Professor Meredith TenHoor 3 HOW CAN HUMAN INTERVENTION ENABLE ECOSYSTEM REGROWTH?

4 CONCEPT STATEMENT

We find ourselves edging closer to the point of no return in the global climate change epidemic. If we continue to willfully destroy our living environment, we will be committing ecocide. The human race will follow suit and disintegrate alongside our already extremely vulnerable ecosystems.

As humans, we need to act as mediators between the human and nonhuman. If we work to restore agency to the natural world we will radically shift the societal hierarchy of species which categorizes all living things according to a human-centric class system. We must take a step back from our current way of life, give agency to all living things, and create a system where humans play a supporting role in a society which focuses on rehabilitating its ecosystems in order to fulfill this mediatory role.

Designing for the growth of species on both the local and global scales allows for human intervention in creating solutions in several different iterations and locations. Engineering ecosystem regrowth is the primary way human intervention can support species. Creating symbiotic relationships which would not naturally occur in nature will help us to mitigate this situation and drive society into a new world order.

5 NATURAL EARTH ANOMALIES DEEP SEA CORAL REEFS

The rapid increase in coral bleaching is due to rising ocean temperatures, acidity levels, and over-exposure to sunlight, stressing the coral out. The stress in turn causes the coral’s main food source, zooxanthellae algae to abandon it. Hawaii has the largest interconnected deep sea reefs who’s corals survive on zooxanthellae algae. Unlike coral found in any other deep sea reefs all over the world. This critical difference provides an opportunity for coral reef regeneration deeper in the ocean by removing many of the problematic conditions that culminate in coral bleaching events in the island’s many shallow reefs.

6 Coral Polyp - plan

Coral Polyp - section

Montipora Corals - plan

7 MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES WORLD’S LARGEST EWASTE DUMP - ACCRA, GHANA, AFRICA

Described as “The Gates of Hell,” the dump presents two major problems: air pollution and land pollution. As a direct result, wildlife habitats have been destroyed and the quality of life of Accra’s population has been severly diminished. About 6,000 people scavenge electronics here daily. Common ailments include burns, back problems, infected wounds, respiratory problems, chronic nausea, stomach ulcers, and debilitating headaches. Many people spend their days burning the outer casings off of copper wires with open fires which sends severely polluted black smoke up into the air.

8 ABANDONED INFRASTRUCTURE TRESOR AT KRAFTWERK POWER PLANT - BERLIN, GERMANY

A club in an abandoned power plant spanning 22,000 m2. Kraftwerk is an former power plant, the club, Tresor, has used it as its primary residence and held events there since 2007 when it moved from its former home. The industrial space is set in a maze of concrete passages that lead into basement vaults reached via an eerie 30 m long tunnel. These vaults are now used to house a various number of DJs at a time, due to their depth and level of soundproofing.

9 PROJECT GENEALOGY ESSAY HOW CAN HUMAN INTERVENTION SUPPORT ECOSYSTEM REGROWTH?

There is a significant disconnect between humans and the natural world which encompasses them. Humans regard themselves as separate from each other and from that which is nonhuman, yet our destructive and capitalist driven society has made a series of terrible decisions which have had extremely detrimental effects on both other human beings and other species within the natural world. If we work to restore agency to the natural world we will radically shift the societal hierarchy of species which categorizes all living things according to a human-centric class system. The nonhuman is given a supporting role in our society and its needs inevitably become secondary. Jane Bennet writes in her book, Vibrant Matter, “All forces and flows (materialities) are or can become lively, affective, and signaling.” (Bennet, 117). There is a real scientifically proven connection between all living and nonliving things in the world. The effects of human actions and inactions are felt by every living thing on the planet.

The separation between human-centric society and nature stems from the idea that history should be split into categories, an idea which comes from humanism. In Dipesh Chakrabarty’s text, “The Climate of History: Four Theses” he discusses the effect capitalism has on our records of history. Chakrabarty writes, “What exists beyond that does not ‘exist’ because it does not exist for humans in any meaningful way (Chakrabarty, 203). This form of thinking can be applied in various ways to our capitalist society. The grave effects of the global climate change epidemic are already being felt locally in certain parts of the world. In looking at the pollution one product creates, there is a severe geographical disconnect between the people who create regulations for, design, assemble, consume, dump, and salvage products over the course of an item’s lifetime. As our world increasingly becomes more globalized, the mass importation and exportation of goods, garbage, recyclables, and waste between countries is to our detriment.

10 I am interested in humans acting as mediators between the industrialized human-centric world and the natural environment. Unlike Western ideas of the human and nonhuman, Native American people believe that both entities are completely intertwined. In the interview “Two Ways of Knowing,” Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Native American scientist who talks about the natural world in relation to the western world, says “The real place where I sense language’s transformative power is in grammar. In English, by default, we refer to maple trees and orioles and strawberries as “it.” Humans are the only beings that aren’t referred to as “it”… in Potawatomi and the other Anishinaabe languages, we use the same grammatical forms for all living beings… This is the grammar of a living world” (Kim- merer, “Two Ways of Knowing” 10). In Native American culture there is a societal balance between people and nature. People feel a sense of responsibility to the earth and to the species which populate it. By radically changing our perceptions of the world and we as a society can give agency to nonhuman things and begin to act as mediators between species, mitigating issues that are resulting from anthropogenic or human-caused climate change.

If we continue down a destructive path, however, we will be committing ecocide which is defined as, “The extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes, to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been severely diminished.’” (Harvey, “‘Ecocide’ - will this be the fifth international crime against peace?”). Harvey argues that anthropogenic climate change is a crime against peace because it is the precursor to mass species extinction which will increase the probability of conflict between humanity and morality, and the detrimental effects it will have on the quality of life for all species on the earth.

11 An “Ecosystem Engineer” is an organism or group of organisms who significantly impact or change a habitat. In Dipesh Chakrabarty’s text, “The Climate of History: Four Theses” he writes of human history, “Simply put, environmental history, where it was not straightforwardly cultural, social, or economic history, looked upon human beings as biological agents” (Chakrabarty, 205). Humans of course are the ultimate ecosystem engineers. Just as we have given humans, who are predominantly destructive ecosystem engineers, agency to go out into an increasingly globalized world and pollute the environment, we should give positive ecosystem engineers the agency to produce healthy habitats.

Corals are prominent marine ecosystem engineers because they develop and grow into a reef system which in turn creates habitats for thousands of other species to live in. In order to help rebuild ecosystems we need to repair their living environments. Humans can act as positive ecosystem engineers here to mediate this process with strategic interventions. Ocean Acidification is hindering corals natural calcification process, causing thousands of species to lose their habitats.The world’s oceans are becoming more acidic as ph levels decrease due to the increased intake of carbon dioxide. When CO2 is combined with sea water it reacts with the carbonate present and forms carbonic acid, which over time raises the ocean’s acidity levels. As the carbonate present in the ocean is becoming more limited, major marine calcifiers, such as corals and soft shelled organisms, who rely on carbonates to help them create and recalcify their outer shells have begun to deform and dissolve. With their outer protective shells gone, these organisms are exposed to the elements. To make matters worse, deep sea coral reefs and other marine calcifiers are feeling the effects of increased acidification first as the levels rise from the ocean floor upwards; making the deep sea more acidic than surface water. Deep water corals rely on ocean currents to bring their main food source, microorganisms, to them. Corals then sting and digest the microorganisms to use them as fuel for the calcification process in which live coral polyps calcify onto existing and deceased coral structures in order to grow their reefs. Although the acidity levels are higher in the deep sea, when combined with the rise in earth’s core temperature, extreme coral bleaching events are devastating shallow warm water corals ultimately resulting in the death of major shallow warm water reefs and the ecosystems they support.

12 Human intervention can play a key role in revitalizing these marine ecosystems. In the Gulf of Mexico there are over 4,000 oil rig structures in place. As the oil dries up in each well, rigs continue to be decommissioned or abandoned. There is an organization named Rigs to Reefs which has found that despite oil’s effect on the environment, the offshore platforms provide a protected area in which corals have created nontraditional reef environments by attaching to the steel substructure of the rigs. According to the Coastal Marine Institute, “A typical eight-legged structure provides a home for 14,000 fish… and found that California’s 27 oil platforms are among the world’s most productive marine fish habitats.” (Rowe, “When the Wells Run Dry”). Various marine life has returned to the area as a result of oil rigs being protected zones which do not allow for fishing. Rowe found that, “Near-shore species are affected by development, run-off and erosion and they seem to find these reefed rigs, which are often miles offshore, a much better habitat”(Rowe, “When the Wells Run Dry”). This provides an opportunity for mediation between human and nonhuman species, reclaiming destructive infrastructure for nature and proposing marine ecosystem revitalization.

To expand into the global scale, we have found correlations between the locations of coral reefs and areas potential for geothermal energy. There are similarities in oil rig and geothermal power plant infrastructure which suggests rigs can be transformed into harvesting sustainable energy through the use of geothermal power. This transition into renewable energy will massively decrease the need for and use of fossil fuels which is vital to decreasing earth’s core temperature which in turn will aid in decreasing ocean temperatures, their acidity levels, and the health of marine ecosystems. A toxic chain reaction exists between CO2 emissions, the rising temperature of our planet, and resulting damage to marine ecosystems. Ultimately if we destroy our environment we will destroy ourselves and humans need to become mediators between our various ecosystems to have any sort of positive impact on our changing climate.

13 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER

(def.) Any organism that creates, significantly modifies, maintains or destroys a habitat

14 15 TIMELINE

16 17 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER NOOTKA LUPINE FLOWER

18 SOIL EROSION IN ICELAND

NOOTKA LUPINE FLOWER IN ICELAND 19 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER NOOTKA LUPINE FLOWER

We studied the unique geological and geothermal conditions in Iceland which also happens to be the country with the most developed geothermal energy power plants.

The Nootka Lupine Flower was introduced by humans over fifty years ago to naturally fertilize the dead soil along the coast where the land does not freeze over. In the time since, climate change has led to less frozen over land each year, allowing the lupine to take over the natural landscape.

20 PARTNER: EMMA LE LESLE 21 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER NOOTKA LUPINE FLOWER

The increase in soil nutrients has the potential to allow for humans to farm the land, but as time has progressed, more and more of Iceland’s land mass is no longer frozen over. This has allowed the flower to rapidly spread and take over Iceland’s natural landscape, only stopping where natural water and ice boundaries prohibit the flower from growing. An Icelandic berry field, for example, is now overgrown with lupine flowers, creating a monoculture.

22 PARTNER: EMMA LE LESLE 23 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER DEEP SEA CORALS

I have focused my research into the relationships between CO2 emissions, the rising temperature of our planet, and resulting damage to marine ecosystems within the overarching topic of climate change. The world’s oceans are continually becoming more acidic as ph levels decrease due to the increased intake of CO2. When CO2 is combined with sea water it reacts with the carbonate present and forms carbonic acid, which over time raises the oceans’s acidity levels.

24 25 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER DEEP SEA CORALS

As the carbonate present in the ocean is becoming more limited, major marine calcifiers such as corals and soft shelled organisms who rely on carbonates to help them create and recalcify their outer shells have begun to deform and dissolve. With their outer protective shells gone, these organisms are exposed to the elements. In the case of corals, without the recalification process they cannot create interconnected reef systems. Deep sea coral reefs and other marine calcifiers are feeling the effects of increased acidifiCation first as the levels rise from the ocean floor upwards; making the deep sea more acidic than surface water.

26 27 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER DEEP SEA CORALS

Coral reefs, both in shallow, warm waters and in the deep sea, support over a thousand individual species which vary with each individual reef system. Without coral reefs supporting surrounding ecosystems, a mass extinction of marine life will occur and entire ecosystems will cease to exist.

28 29 ECOSYSTEM ENGINEER DEEP SEA CORALS

30 OCEAN SPECIES MIGRATION PATTERNS

This cartography aims to show the levels of the migration of oceanic species from the equator towards the north and south poles. As oceanic temperature continues to rise, species are fleeing their historic reef habitats and looking for refuge in colder waters. As a result they are invading and upsetting the balance of species in and around polar habitiats and coral reef systems.

31 ICELAND MAPPING LUPINE & CORALS, VOLCANOES, CITIES, & OCEAN CURRENTS

When looking at Iceand as a site condition and in combining our individually researched species, the lupine flowers and the deep sea corals, into an architectural proposal, we found a possible site would be a series of islands off of Iceland’s South coast in between areas where nootka lupines or varoius coral species were abundant. We envisioned having a network of islands, each with distinct programs geared towards types of farming including, coral, lupine, fish, and hydroponic farming programs to promote regrowth and revitalization of the surrounding ecosystems. The islands themselves are an intervention, acting as mediators between human, marine, and plant species to create a series of healthy co-dependant ecosystems.

32 33 HUMAN INTERVENTION CORAL FARMS

Up to one billion people rely on coral reefs for food, coastal protection, and income. But reefs are rapidly dying due to climate change, pollution, and overfishing. Over 50% have died since the 1970s, and over 90% are on track to die by 2050. The process of farming corals starts with attaching micro-fragments of coral to a structure, submerging th and monitoring the temperature conditions under which they grow.

34 HUMAN INTERVENTION AQUACULTURE: FISH FARMS

Fish farms have a poor public perception, but as of 2012, we produce more farmed fish than beef worldwide. As aquaculture does not take up nearly as much space as cattle farming, it will be a main source of protein in the future.

35 HUMAN INTERVENTION HYDROPONIC FARMS

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in water which allows the plant’s roots to come into direct contact with the nutrient solution and oxygen.This method increases the growth rate of plants, maturing twenty-five percent faster and producing up to thirty percent more than if they were grown in soil. Hydroponic systems use less water than soil based plant systems because the process is closed loop which results in less evaporation and is more environementally friendly, reducing waste, sediment, and chemical pollution from soil runoff.

36 HUMAN INTERVENTION GREENHOUSES & VERTICAL FARMS

Vertical farming is growing produce vertically in stacks. These farms can use soil, hydroponic, and aeroponic grow methods. They are ideal for growing food in hostile environments or where fertile land is limited. A greenhouse is a structure covered with a transparent or translucent material in which crops can be grown under controlled climate conditions.

37 ISLAND PROTOTYPES

The coral and lupine farming islands have a series of coral pools surrounded by a ring of lupine flowers where fragmented pieces of coral grow in temperature controlled tanks at fifty times the natural coral growth rate. The growth of nootka lupine flower fields will create fertile soil for farming without allowing for the flower to take over, creating a monoculture. After their growth cycle, the dead lupines will be taken to the fish feeding island where they disintegrate into food for fish who either live within the local coral reef system below or are fish species that have begun migrating north due to ocean temperature rise. Growing crops without soil provides opportunity to address agricultural pollution. Transitioning from traditional agricultural practices to floating hydroponic farms allows vast amounts of crops to be grown at quicker rates. By giving humans more of a supporting role as farmers on these islands we are reclassifying humans as one species within the natural world, not as separate from it. The islands are a metaphor for mediation between species and promote holistic ecosystem regrowth.

38 39 ISLAND PROTOTYPES CORAL + LUPINE FARM

40 ISLAND PROTOTYPES FISH FEEDING ISLAND

41 ISLAND PROTOTYPES HYDROPONIC FARM

42 POLLUTION SHIPPING

Oil pollution is extremely damaging to the marine environment. Oil enters the seas not only as a result of spectacular oil spill disasters, but primarily oil pollutes from leaks during oil extraction, illegal tank-cleaning operations at sea, or discharges into the rivers which eventually speads into the ocean.1

1 “Oil “ World Ocean Review.” World Ocean Review. Accessed December 4, 2019. https://worldoceanreview. com/en/wor-1/pollution/oil/. 43 POLLUTION SHIPPING

Oil spill disasters only account for 10 percent of global marine oil pollution. About one third of this oil pollution comes from regular accident-free shipping operations.1

1 “Oil “ World Ocean Review.” World Ocean Review. Accessed December 4, 2019. https://worldoceanreview. com/en/wor-1/pollution/oil/.

44 POLLUTION SHIPPING: MAPPING TRADE ROUTES

Here we are mapping world shipping trade routes. Places of major exchange become a series of extremely dense red lines while less travelled routes are lighter in color.

45 THE GULF OF MEXICO PROJECT DESCRIPTION

It’s 2030. We are proposing transforming abandoned infrastructure to rehabilitate ecosystems. We want to help nature reclaim its agency by acting as mediators between species. Anthropogenic climate change is severely damaging marine ecosystems - coral reefs are dying because of rising CO2 levels, and because reefs support about a third of all saltwater fish species, the disappearance of these reefs negatively affects all these other aquatic species. Architecture, however, can enable ecosystem regrowth by providing a site for human intervention. New construction is notoriously harmful to the environment, so this project proposes to recycle existing infrastructure. Offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are getting decommissioned at an ever increasing rate, so they represent the perfect site for people to fight marine pollution and put in place more sustainable modes of interaction across species. Nature has also selected offshore oil rigs as a site for regrowth, as corals are able to attach to the underwater structure. Fishing is prohibited near oil rigs, so fish and other rare aquatic species that rely on corals have begun to thrive in these nontraditional reef environments. Repurposing decommissioned oil rigs is an opportunity for humans to push ecosystem regrowth further, by addressing some of the ways in which we have damaged marine ecosystems. Farming currently represents a significant source of pollution in the Gulf Of Mexico. The Mississippi River collects agricultural runoff that eventually pours into the Gulf. The mixture of fertilizer, chemicals, and sewage creates a dead zone, an area of oxygen-deprived saltwater that no species can inhabit, the size of New Jersey. We are proposing to convert oil platforms into a series of farms. Among these farming types, hy- droponic farms provide an alternative to farming on land and maximize the potential for ecosystem regrowth by eliminating a major pollutant and its immense impact on the dead zone.

46 Although aquatic ecosystems have successfully reclaimed the underwater structure of oil rigs, these rigs still negatively impact the environment. As part of their migratory journey, many birds fly over the Gulf at night. The rigs are constantly lit up, disorienting the birds with the bright lights and causing them to fly around the rigs until they reach exhaus- tion and fall into the sea. We want to address this issue by changing the materiality of the rigs, by farming materials such as mycelium or recycling steel dust from rig infrastructure to create ferrock. Offshore platforms may distract birds, but they also provide rest stops and shelter during inclement weather so they are vital to migration. As we shift to electricity powered modes of transportation, farming energy is a ne- cessity. Oil rigs can help us transition from oil to electricity by becoming a place to harvest many kinds of renewable energy. The existing drilling infrastructure previously used to extract oil can now extract geothermal energy, which holds significant potential as a source of energy because it is not dependant on variable weather conditions.

47 ADAPTIVE REUSE ABANDONED OIL RIG INFRASTRUCTURE

48 ADAPTIVE REUSE OIL RIGS + GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Transitioning oil rig infrastructure from harvesting fossil fuels from the earth to adapting the substructure to support geothermal power will give these rigs new lives. Farming renewable energy in the form of electricity is feasible as the rigs pipes are set up to withstand extreme heat.

49 ADAPTIVE REUSE NONTRADITIONAL REEF ENVIRONMENTS

50 ADAPTIVE REUSE PROGRAM STATEMENT

We are interested in mediating the relationship existing infrastructure has with the environment. Our proposal is centered on the transformation of decommissioned oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico into epicenters for holistic ecosystem regrowth. Historically, offshore oil rigs are known for the detrimental effects oil spills have on the marine ecosystem, however the steel substructure of these rigs has been chosen by aquatic species as a refuge. Coral polyps attach themselves to the steel legs of the rigs and grow nontraditional reef systems which in turn attract a variety of marine species and facilitate their regrowth. We are promoting ecosystem restoration through the adaptation of offshore platforms into a series of farming programs. Agricultural runoff severely pollutes the environment and majorly contributes to the Gulf’s seasonal hypoxic dead zone each year. Transitioning from traditional farming techniques to hydroponic technologies which rely on water and do not use soil effectively eliminates the problem. Corals are under threat from rising ocean temperatures and acidity levels which trigger mass bleaching events, effectively killing off coral reefs and the species they support. Farming micro fragmented coral in temperature controlled tanks speeds up regrowth rates by more than fifty. As a sustainable alternative to farming cattle, the aquaculture industry is projected to provide about two thirds of global fish consumption by 2030.1 Fish species are migrating at increasing rates as the coral reefs they used to live in and around are vanishing, so the number wild caught fish will decline, leaving space in the market for fish farming. We propose transitioning infrastructure designed for harvesting oil into farming renewable geothermal energy as this would reuse the substructure of the rigs as the pipes were made to withstand extreme heat and drilled into depths of up to 35,000 ft. Farming geothermal energy promotes electric run modes of technology and transport, removing the need for fossil fuels.

1 “Fish Farms to Produce Nearly Two Thirds of Global Food Fish Supply by 2030, Report Shows.” World Bank. Accessed December 5, 2019. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/02/05/fish-farms- global-food-fish-supply-2030. 51 ADAPTIVE REUSE OIL RIG TYPOLOGIES

COMPLIANCE TOWER JACKUP RIG SPAR RIG

52 SEMI SUBMERSIBLE RIG DRILLSHIP

53 ADAPTIVE REUSE OIL RIG TYPOLOGIES

This drawing is comparing skyscraper heights to the depths oil rigs go to, showing the immense scale discrepancy. 54 55 THE GULF OF MEXICO SITE STATEMENT

The Gulf of Mexico holds over 4,000 offshore oil rig platforms. After the rigs serve their purpose and the oil wells below the surface dry up, these structures are abandoned and await an expensive extraction process. Through our research we found that underneath the surface, major ecosystem regrowth was occurring. Corals attach themselves to the steel substructure and create entire nontraditional reef environments for thousands of rare species to thrive within, protected from predators and coastal dead zones. Coastal Dead Zones are created through the combination of an excess of nutrients from agricultural runoff in conjunction with warming water temperatures causing algae to bloom on the surface. The algae bloom absorbs all of the oxygen in the area, blocks sunlight, and suffocates all marine life below it. In the Gulf of Mexico, the delta of the Mississippi River creates annual hypoxic water conditions every summer which can spread out up to 7,000 miles, making it the largest hypoxic coastal dead zone in the Western Hemisphere.1 This combination of manmade conditions provides an infrastructure to work from and improve upon, where we can look at the relationships between oil rig infrastructure, the local culture around farming, agricultural pollution, and interactions with local species.

1 “Gulf of Mexico ‘Dead Zone’ Is Largest Ever Measured.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration U.S. Department of Commerce 95, no. 32 (August 7, 2017): 15–15. https://doi.org/10.1021/cen- 09532-govcon1.

56 This cartography maps the locations of oil rigs, deep sea corals, water currents, and the overall depth of the Gulf of Mexico.

57 THE GULF OF MEXICO SECTION THROUGH THE GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS

This section through the Gulf of Mexico shows the deep water depths 58 oil rigs go to in relation to geological rock layers and salt. 59 THE GULF OF MEXICO HYPOXIC DEAD ZONES

Mississippi River Delta lets out into the gulf, creating the dead zone, which stretches nearly 8,000 miles, about the size of New Jersey

60 Nitrogen & Phosphorus from fertilizer and sewage in the freshwater layer cause massive blooms of algae. When the algae die, they sink into the salt water below, decompose, and absorb the oxygen in the deeper water

The combination of summer heat and Without access to oxygen, the deeper freshwater runoff from the Mississippi water forms a dead zone. Fish and other River creates a barrier layer on the animals either flee or die. Winter brings surface, cutting off oxygen to the relief but the runnoff in the spring season saltwater and organisms below starts the cycle over again

61 THE GULF OF MEXICO DESIGN METHODS + MATERIAL PRACTICES

The use farming programs has influenced our ideas around materiality. Farming mycelium1, the root structure of mushroom and fungi, is a sustainable way to use new materials. Through our research we found that mycelium can be encouraged to grow around a composite of other building materials in molds or forms to create lightweight bricks and can then be used as insulation. The reclaimed materials we are interested in exploring are ferrock and plastiques. As the existing infrastructure of offshore platforms is comprised of an excess of steel, ferrock2 provides an opportunity to turn steel dust into a building material that is concrete-like but much stronger. It absorbs and traps carbon dioxide as part of drying and hardening process, making the material carbon neutral. Plastic continues to collect in the ocean and harm marine species. Plastiques is a brick alternative made from waste plastics.3 Through the process of reclaiming ocean plastic we can both limit its impact on the ecosystem and use it structurally. Rehabilitating species in the Gulf of Mexico is more than helping the marine ecosystem, bird migration is severely affected by the bright lights of the oil rigs. They distract birds from the migration paths which leads to birds circling the platforms until exhaustion, eventually falling into the water. Designing to support these migration patterns is important to us, as is using materials that will support this.

1 Walsh, Niall Patrick. “Biohm’s ‘Vegan Insulation’ System Offers a Future for Green Construction.” ArchDaily. ArchDaily, October 11, 2018. https://www.archdaily.com/903744/biohms-vegan-insulation-system-offers-a-future-for-green-construction.

2 “Ferrock: A Stronger, Greener Alternative to Concrete?” Build Abroad, January 29, 2017. https://buildabroad. org/2016/09/27/ferrock/.

3 Fletcher, Anna. “Student’s Invention to Make India More Sustainable, Brick by Brick.” CNN. Cable News Network, December 4, 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/25/asia/plastiqube-brick-india-scn-intl-c2e/index.html. 62 63 THE GULF OF MEXICO BIRD MIGRATION

Artificial lights are proving to be a major hazard to these species. The oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are lit up twentyfour hours per day attracting birds, placing them at risk for collisions with structures, and interfering with their navigational systems. Migratory birds have been known to circle oil rigs for hours on end, distracting them from their migratory paths, leading to them to severe exhaustion, and eventually to their deaths when they fall into the ocean.

64 THE GULF OF MEXICO MYCELIUM- MUSHROOM + FUNGI ROOT STRUCTURE

Mycelium can be encouraged to grow around a composite of other building materials in molds or forms to create lightweight bricks. In practice, these bricks have been used as a vegan biodegradeable insulation material.

65 THE GULF OF MEXICO FERROCK - FROM STEEL DUST TO CONCRETE LIKE BRICK

Ferrock uses recycled building materials including steel dust to create a building material that is similar to concrete, but much stronger. It absorbs and traps carbon dioxide as part of the drying and hardening process making the material carbon neutral.

66 THE GULF OF MEXICO PLASTIQUES - BRICKS MADE FROM WASTE PLASTIC

The plastique brick is made from plastic waste and is 88 percent stronger and far less water absorbant than traditional bricks. They are formed in shapes that are able to interconnect with eachother making assembly easier.

67 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bennett, Jane. “Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things.” Duke University Press. Ac cessed December 9, 2019. https://www.dukeupress.edu/Vibrant-Matter/.

2. Kimmermer, Robin Wall.“Two Ways Of Knowing.” The Sun Magazine. Accessed Decem- ber 9, 2019. https://thesunmagazine.org/issues/484/two-ways-of-knowing.•

3. Chakrabarty, Dipesh. “The Climate of History: Four Theses - UVic.ca.” Accessed December 9, 2019. http://www.law.uvic.ca/demcon/2013 readings/Chakrabarty - Climate of History.pdf.

4. Freedman, Andrew. “More than 11,000 Scientists from around the World Declare a ‘Cli- mate Emergency’.” The Washington Post. WP Company, November 5, 2019. https://www.wash- ingtonpost.com/science/2019/11/05/more-than-scientists-around-world-declare-climate-emer- gency/.

5. Payet, Rolph, and Wills. “Climate Change in the Seychelles: Implications for Water and Coral Reefs.” AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment. Accessed December 9, 2019. https:// www.academia.edu/978765/Climate_change_in_the_Seychelles_implications_for_water_and_ coral_reefs.

6. Harvey, Rebecca. “‘Ecocide’ — Will This Be the Fifth International Crime against Peace?” Socialist Lawyer, no. 61 (2012): 11. https://doi.org/10.13169/socialistlawyer.61.0011.

7. Service, Robert F. “Rising Acidity Brings an Ocean of Trouble.” Science. American As- sociation for the Advancement of Science, July 13, 2012. https://science.sciencemag.org/con- tent/337/6091/146.full.

8. Rowe, Mark. “When the Wells Run Dry.” Geographical. Accessed December 9, 2019. https://geographical.co.uk/magazine/issues/item/3114-march-2019.

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