As a piece of a larger green-infrastructure plan for Traverse City, Michigan, this design attempts to find a balance between ecological systems and the public realm. With national water shortages predicted for the year 2025, protection of the Great Lakes Basin is crucial in preserving fresh water for future generations. 90% of pollution enters Lake Michigan through rivers, many of which flow through our urban centres. By implementing green infrastructure (i.e. Living Machines) at these urban locations the majority of runoff can be cleaned before ever entering the lake.

The idea behind this scheme is to redefine an existing piece of infrastructure, an earthen dam located at a pivotal point in Traverse City’s green infrastructure plan, as a public space. The “Traverse City Film Festival” has grown exponentially since it began in 2005. The festival’s current need for event and office space along with the new wave of Cinema in the Park events provide the program for this space. The design provides a gradient between hard and soft surface, between ecology and urban environment. The resulting space is an example of how a programmatically charged element can exist within the macro infrastructure project.