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EAST ST. LOUIS: RESTORING THE LIVING RIVER New Meander Urbanism Summer 2021 / Kyle Sam, Xindi Wang, Lingbei Chen, Chao Li / Professor Kate Orff East St. Louis today suffers from vulnerabilities of flood, drought and water pollution with the current solution of long-term FEMA buyouts. Due to existing social and economic vulnerabilities, we aim to provide new opportunities and incentives for residents, by creating a new meander urbanism inland east

Water Filtration

of ESTL. Our design envisions a better wetland holding system in managed retreat, that combines wetlands previously cut-off by hard infrastructure. We propose a business incubator in collaboration with Wash. Univ., which encourages grads to stay in the community. This hub will promote wetland ecology and infrastructure while local NGOs can contribute to workforce development

Managed Retreat

and lift people out of poverty. Improved wetlands can filter water and recharge the groundwater, as we seek to foreground cultural history by associating the history of the Cahokia Tribe which thrived on the land by living with the once free flowing river. This project serves as a replicable framework along the MI River for communities facing similar issues as we pay homage to a culture that lived in harmony with the Mississippi.

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Water Holding Networks

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NEW MEANDER URBANISM GOALS 1. Convert constricted linear creeks into a network of discrete wetlands and use wetlands to collect water against floods and drought.

2. Design water filters to clean industrial pollution and learn from the landscape of the Cahokia Tribe and river meanders.

3. Introduce a new urban fabric to safely house those affected by buyouts and develop an incubator prototype to sustain residents and long-term vitality.

4. Utilize existing NGO’s to restore wetlands and create a self-sufficient economy and provide recreational space in the wetland areas.

5. Replicate this model for living with water along the Mississippi River.

RIVER URBANISM VS. MEANDER URBANISM

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RIVER

MEANDER

Divisive Lower Land

High and Low Lands

Linear

Discrete

Masterplanned

Mixed Use Potential

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Farmland

Horseshoe Lake

MAPPING FLOODS AND MOUNDS

EXISTING PROBLEMS

Highway Horseshoe Lake

Farmland

Wetlands continue to die from harmful chemical pesticides that only benefit the farm industry..

2019 FLOOD AREA

Rail Road

Horseshoe Lake Sewage drainage pipe

Highway Heavy Industry

Dump

Rail Road

Horseshoe Lake Sewage drainage pipe

Severe water problems are exposed with the change of water color in creeks with the subsequent death of fish.

Highway Dump

Heavy Industry

Residential Area Rail Road

INTERVENTION AREA Mississippi River

Levee Residential Area

Mandatory flood insurance and taxes are imposed on an already vulnerable community.

Rail Road Mississippi River

Levee

COHOKIA

Inland Hill Highway Farmland Farmed Wetland

Inland Hill Highway

Polluted floodwaters are collect within the city as water is trapped by hard infrastructure.

Farmland Farmed Wetland

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CURRENT SITUATION

The status quo consists of colonized wetlands.

Water floods homes due to a restricted holding system.

We aim to expand the wetlands through a new urbanism model.

ECOLOGICAL MODEL Rainwater Urban Sewage Precipitationprocess Filtered and Manageable Waters

Aeration tank

PH Harmony

Remaining Chemicals

Organic Waste Bioremediation Filter

Reduced Heavy Metals

Concealed Filter

Agricultural Pollution

SCAR BIOREMEDIATION MODULES

Following the scar topography created by the river's original meander, a bioremediation park is formed.

Sedimentation introduces a filter for water that meanwhile maintains the lands permeability.

UTILIZING MEANDER SCARS

S2 During flood events, this module can connect our module S1 to E1 to form an increased holding system and filter water through module E1.

E1

S2

Module E1 features alternative filtration infrastructure while providing recreational space through the design of meander scars.

Excess rainwater makes it way from Wetland S2, through filtration into ecological module E1.

CONCEALED FILTRATION INFRASTRUCTURE

To address heavier industry pollutants, we proposed a concealed alternative filtration system under an existing roadway that previously divided and disconnected the wetlands.

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SECTION FOR THE NEW HUMAN SETTLEMENT

AERATION TANK By adjusting the pH and further removing organic pollutants, clean water can re-enter the wetland.

AQUACULTURE Native wetland species such as crayfish and catfish can provide economic value to residents while maintaining the ecological functions of the region.

PERMACULTURE The diversified permaculture, adjusted accordingly to the topography, provides a stable food source and forms a buffer between the city and the wetland.

BIOREMEDIATION FILTER Grasses, gravel, and even microbes break down organic waste in this natural pool.

CONCEALED FILTER Utilizing filters under roads to remove heavier industrial pollution.

Aquaculture

BENTHIC MARSH Small invertebrates thrive on a rich accumulation of organic matter and act as scavengers.

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FRESHWATER FISH Freshwater fish in deepwater thrive in a richer food chain.

Permaculture

CATFISH Native species of catfish will better adapt to changes between the wet and dry seasons in wetlands.

PUBLIC WATERFRONT The natural platform forms a dynamic public space and becomes an important part of activating urban vitality within the incubator sites.

CAHOKIA MOUND PARK We pay homage to a culture that resided within the wetlands SOCIAL INCUBATOR land 700-years Acts as a heart to the ago to enhance an comunity and provides experience of living opportunities in denwith water. sification for the local BETTER BUY OUT economy.

In managed retreat, residents are now incentivized by new opportunities, economically and recreationally in this new urban fabric, safe from the MI River.

Public Waterfront

AQUATIC PLANT PRODUCTS Local aquatic products may bring new industries to the area.

Cahokia Mound State Park

WILD RICE While adapting to the aquatic and xerophytic changes in the wetland environment, it also provides a reliable food source for the surrounding area.

Social Incubator

Better Buyout

CORN Corn is a water sensitive crop and can obtain higher yields at a distance from the dynamic water source.

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THE REGENERATIVE CONNECTION Hudson, New York Spring 2021 / Kyle Sam, Ishita Ghosh, Aruna Das, You Jin Hwang / Professor Kaja Kuhl Production of food creates a quarter of global carbon emissions, therefore we aimed to promote regenerative farmers to help them reach their optimal production capacity to sequester carbon emissions created in the Hudson Valley region.

This project was the proposal of a food hub in the city of Hudson, NY to serve the community, which like many cities in the region face issues of food inequity. We aimed to connect local regenerative farmers in Columbia County to the hub, by providing processing and transportation that increases throughput and outreach. This hub offers infrastructure for increased volumes of processing and packaging, therefore creating high quality products at lower prices to increase access to healthier options within the community.

The food hub is located at the waterfront of Hudson; a location historically cut off from town and previously used for industry.

With access to the river, the hub can utilize electric barges to transport products from our food hub to communities up and down the river, facing similar issues such as Poughkeepsie and Kingston. Through these processes of food, we aimed to create higher quality jobs, while including public engagement by making these processes visible, also, informing the community about regenerative farming and the benefits it poses for the reduction of carbon emissions.

Project Link: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4e14dab0c7e34f9995f3f27591cfd576

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NYCHA SMITH VOICES Lower East Side, New York Fall 2020 / Kyle Sam, Ishita Ghosh, Aruna Das, You Jin Hwang / Professor Nans Voron With a site between the Lower East Side, Chinatown and the Financial District of New York, the model of an agora was formed at the heart of the New York Housing Authority - Alfred E. Smith Houses to complement the existing repository and legacy of social and political activism in the community. This intervention at the center of the public housing campus was an incubator space and public forum for residents and community members to share and gather ideas.

Intended on being a flexible use structure, opportunity was added to accommodate small businesses and advocacy groups, which in turn constitute an intimate threshold that leads into the publicly accessible ‘heart’ of the campus. Apart from the center space, each of the 12 Smith Houses’ housing towers manage their own pieces of the agora, contributing to the natural surveillance of the tower lobbies. These extensions of the agora can be used by community-led bodegas or house different activities chosen by the residents. By doing so, contributors can maintain a higher collective spirit and act as repositories of local knowledge.

Ideas shared outside the agora will be collected by a network of posts spread throughout the Lower East Side, and transcribed into the agora. This system represents a ‘heart’ of the campus as we believe a heart could also be defined in other NYCHA communities to make voices heard amongst the many public housing campuses across New York City.

Project Link: https://www.arch.columbia.edu/student-work/9165-smith-voices

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THANK YOU Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Class of 2021 Kyle W. Sam 909-287-9508 kws2128@columbia.edu

Has survived B.Arch and MS.AUD without a single cup of coffee.

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