#arch7375

[kyeleereads]

WK2: WATER (FLOWING)

Week 2

This week we are investigating the Water in relation to flowing - perhaps in a river scale. Applying principles from our previous session, (which I am not sure if I totally understand, nor totally agree with the necessity to label such seemingly subtle occurrences) we will observe a case study of a river, and a few accompanying readings. 

Flood control Freakology expresses how the human intervention changes natural landscapes into a “No longer a natural, aqueous phenomenon” (p36p1). Topics like this is incredibly relevant to our current day situation, riddled with freak natural disasters causing the Bayou in south-east America to flood large expansive areas. Whether it is natural or incurred upon our doing is also in question. 

The idea of the river is multitude - it encompasses so many implications. It is now seen as a “jusrisdictional matrix of boundaries” or “rights-of-way” or even “liabilities” (p38p6). It is a complex system of ownership which overrides the natural flow and system. It must be reiterated that “no single agency controls the river”, exhibiting a complex system of even identifying with the river.  Also how these parties view the river is in a completely different context and different ideologies. 

The LA river is engulfed with waste - it encompasses a multitude of bacteria such as “fecal coliform bacteria, lead, ammonia” etc. (p42p1). It is also a place accommodating general urban trash. Is this a negative side effect of human activity? Does the ecosystem accommodates for these interventions? Questions like this pop into my brain relating back to last seminar - is nature as pristine as we understand it to be? 

Having studied the general forms of the river as well as man-made supportive forms such as channel stormbeds, dykes, bridges etc, these functions attempt to reconcile the ‘natural’, to allow the flow of a river to allow human activity as well as natural resolutions to exist. The LA river seem to be a complex system of human intervened natural wildlife as well as accommodating to the waste. It seems to organise itself, having come from international places. It seems as if “Large-scale artifical ecologies have replaced many of the historic ecologies in Southern California” (p46p1). Generally, we observe native as ‘good’ and international as ‘bad’- whereas the LA river is an example of an international ecoystem in relative harmony.

Desirability of waterbodies are also in question. We are conditioned to live by the waterfront, or view the waterfront as a desirable space to be. If the condition of water deteriorates - seemingy due to human intervention or because of various reasons. As a result - we prefer it to be a pleasant environment. An example of such undesirable spaces is the Salton Sea which was a “(result) from the failure of a water canal”(p46p1). “The diversion of water to the Salton sea has resulted in ecological devastation at the former outlet in Baja California” 

Then ultimately, it leads to questions of what to do? Do we keep the native plants alive although the ecosystem has changed? Do we aim in maintaining a clean ecology? it seems to be a game of balance. The term: “ecological succession” is used

Ecological succession is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. - wiki

“Recent approaches to ecology put forth the theory that "natural" disturbances-fire, flood, tornado, earthquake-are integral to ecological processes.” - This comment struck me as a new way of observation. Things change, what we understand as the everlasting nature, also changes as well as the processes of how we use these resources. It is imperative to understand the world is not simply native / international, nature . artificial? 

We were told to also introduce a case study - a River 

I chose the Perai River, or known as Sungai Prai in Malaysia. 

Sungai Prai is used as almost as a border, separating the counties of Prai and Butterworth (where I live). It was named Prai, as it is derived from the words berperai-perai  meaning “breaking up ini all directions”, a reference to the silt brought up to the esturary of the Prai River. Known as Pryre during the British Colonial Era, it encompasses a mangrove - swampy area. It was the historical border between the historical controlled state: Province Wellesley (north), and the Kedah (south). It is around 24 km long and is the longest river in the state of Penang. 

The Sungai Perai catchment has an area 505km2 which comprises 5 tributaries. There are Sg. Kulim, Sg. Jarak, Sg. Kereh, Sg. Pertama/ Derhaka and Sg. Maklom/ Tok Sani. The catchment area at the upstream are hilly and green area. While the downstream of the river are muted and muddy. This is because of rapid development in that area. The frequent flood causes damage properties, disruption of life and depreciation values of properties.

From the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia

Sungai Perai also has one of the last remaining peat swamps in Penang. It is home to over 150 plant species, 125 bird species and 35 fish species. Over the years, the river also played an important role as docks were built for ship repairs and transporting of coal. Even the earliest factories such as rice and sugar mills were built along the river. The Mak Mandin Industrial Estate was established near the river in the 1960s and then more factories were built on the southern banks of the river mouth.

From the Malay Mail Online

The River quality is currently Class III (using the water quality index for monitoring Malaysian river water quality) which means it requires treatment. A Class III river is defined as so:

Class III (extensive treatment of water supply required; fish for common economic value, species tolerance, and for livestock drinking)  

Nurul-Ruhayu, Mohd-Rosli, et al. “Detection of River Pollution Using Water Quality Index: A Case Study of Tropical Rivers in Penang Island, Malaysia.” OALib, vol. 02, no. 03, 2015, pp. 1–8., doi:10.4236/oalib.1101209.

The two streams which form Sungai Prai - Sungai Air Hitam and Sungai Jarak - are linked to the Air Hitam Dalam rainforests (A wildlife sancturary) of Malaysia. The river ends at the Penang Channel (Between Butterworth and Penang Island).  Sungai Air Hitam also connects north to the Sungai Muda (which is the now the border between Kedah and Penang State). This is where the natural water catchment zones are, and thus flowing freshwater down to Sungai Prai. In this area, village settlements were located in this area due to the pristine water. 

Traditional Boats near the Bridge (found in Butterworth Guide) People traditionally used boats and rafts to cross the river before bridges were built. There was a chain ferry service near the esturary of the river for the public to use. Now, travellers use the Tunku Abdul Rahman Bridge (built in 1965) to cross the river. 

Tunku Abdul Rahman Bridge -  (found in Butterworth Guide)

When travelling back to my hometown, I will pass by this Sungai Perai, and my parents will always indicate “10 more minutes of driving”. It is always a constant symbol to say we are almost home. It has always been huge - almost as if crossing the sea. The government have a few research objectives

The role of local governments is equally important in river management and conservation. In Penang, the Seberang Prai Municipal Council actively involves residents' associations, rukun tetangga(community vigilance groups), and community development and security committees. These groups have been brought together to work closely with local authorities to keep the rivers in their areas clean. Council president Maimunah Mohd Sharif envisioned a more concerted effort between community-based organizations and government bodies to further improve the water quality in Seberang Prai rivers. The Penang state DOE and the council's Local Agenda 21 started a programme to periodically monitor rivers in residential and commercial areas (Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai, N.d.).

Chan, Ngai Weng. “Managing Urban Rivers and Water Quality in Malaysia for Sustainable Water Resources.” International Journal of Water Resources Development, vol. 28, no. 2, 2012, pp. 343–354., doi:10.1080/07900627.2012.668643.

The council also works closely with NGOs and local communities in managing river water quality via awareness and education efforts. Such as Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) collaborating with Think City, a federal government run research body, in preparing initiatives as such as the Celebrating Sungai Perai Programme. There is also research being done at USM to determine the health of the river. 

This river is usually taken for granted for it’s natural resources and what it provides for the community. 

Flicking through petrochemical America - it brings to light the how these factory spaces, spaces of work and generation can affect the life. The diagram on the p114, Landscape impacts of Petrochemistry really reinforces the ideologies of  ecosystem - cycles of impact. Due to the consumption of non-renewable resources, people supporting such businesses by working, creating new infrastruction, manipulating such resources results in a multitude of impacts such as space considerations (physical -> financial -> energy), the cycles of consumption etc. There are so many stakeholders in this world of the petrochemical. The book introduction already poses these challenges of such endless perpetual cycles, interstitial connections, and how ultimately money and consumption drives this industry. 

It is frightening, but the methodology of this explanation is beautiful and engaging as the graphics simplify statistics, but exemplify the intricate connections. 

I have also flipped through the River.Space.Design book which is a reference book on how to observe rivers - almost to design them. It reminds me of similar architectural guide books - how to design a residential, commercial, etc. Now that we can even adapt rivers to such an extent to present a guide is frightening how much we wish to even change the natural movements of water. Is there a gray area we can find? Is there some sort of negotation between wilderness and our creations? Or should we seek to think nonanthropocentrically where one is disconnected from such phenomenons - or generally see it as some sort of .. hyperobject? (I’m still conflicted by the term hyperobject - does one require such a term to exist? It seems so subtle! Maybe I need to be more sensitive to such phenomenons)

Anyway - This week: TL:DR -

What are really rivers? Are we ‘fixing’ them? Or our process of fixing makes a new world? - fun questions. 

[kyeleereads]

The unperceived: ‘nature’

Week 1: Context

This marks the first week of Master of Architecture 2 and the first week of readings assigned in my new elective: ARCH7375 - Design After Nature. Setting out the tone of each class in imperative to our understanding of topics discussed. This elective simply took the word, ‘nature’ and shone a bright spotlight on the implications of our understanding - what it means by nature. 

The readings from this week includes: 

William Cronon. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995, 69-90)

A text redefining nature - two conflicting realms of human vs. nature and how we should alter this understanding 

Foucault, Michel. Of Other Spaces, Heterotopias. 1967.

Time space use and distinction through the introduction of new terminology: Heterotopias and the definition(s). 

Schwagrel, Christian. The Anthropocene. Reiman Verlag. 2014. pp. 31-69

A general overview of the development of the term, the Anthropocene and what the implications are on a larger scale. 

Morton, Timothy. Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World. 2013. p 1-37; 99-133.

What hyperobjects are. That is all I will comment on for now.

Gissen, David. Subnature: Architecture’s Other Environments. Princeton Architectural Press. 2009. p 21-99. In terms of content, Subnature demonstrates a perception and appreciation our environment is as much a social construct as it is a part of ecological processes. 

This week’s readings created a whirlwind of general knowledge, scientific knowledge, philosophy and commentary on nature for me to consume. It was repetitive, complex and mind bending content. I have, being a Geography major during Secondary school, understand the basic concepts on climate change (I refuse to adhere to global warming right now, as I believe it still holds urgency in the terminology, take that Christian Schwägerl), but to question to the very essence of the term, Nature, was almost unthinkable. Let me unpack this sudden change in ideology to my thinking further in this journal entry. 

Michel Foucault has always been difficult for me to read, let alone understand. This text has been much kinder to me, but the large scale of understanding and interpretation has always jarring and a slap-in-the face ordeal. 

Here he introduces the “ epoch of simultaneity, we are the epoch of juxtaposition”, where the world is now a bunch of technical connections between each component, where everything is riddled with accountability, series of complex processes, where “relations of proximity between points or elements” are calculate and situated on a site. This complexity has developed from a “hierarchic ensemble of places” to a new “form of relations among sites”. 

This leads to a larger scale labelling of a new phenomenon: heterotopias. It supposedly accommodates every human group, created for a “precise and determined function”, capable of juxtaposition, slices in time and somewhat opened and closed at the same time - penetrable. These places create an illusionary space that is either exposing of a reality or a space of meticulous re-creation of a real space. 

Examples of Heterotopias: 

Crisis heterotopias- Elderly Homes, adolescents, pregnant women

Heterotopias of deviation - rest homes, psychiatric hospitals, prisons 

Gardens

Cinema

Museums

Libraries 

What has this got to do with nature? 

Foucault questions the creation of human ‘communities’ - though he would never label it as so as the term has too much association with the cultural aspect of the human condition, but I must insist it is the creation of an almost new nature of the human. It attempts to explain our complex processes into a succinct term - the heterotopias. 

This reading ties into William Cronon’s “The trouble with wilderness; or, Getting back to the Wrong Nature” where he reveals how Nature is being seen - how to “rethink wilderness”. Nature has been for many years related to the “non-human”, to the biblical references, to the “pristine sanctuary” and the “sublime”. We must understand how nature has been correlated with the untouchable, with a certain closeness with the gods. In many cultural interpretations of our world, we refer to nature as the untouched. 

It is deeply embedded in our culture to separate man from nature, “wilderness embodies a dualistic vision in which the human is entirely outside the natural” (p11p3). It is a “cultural invention”. Tourism, country parks, forest reserves. Nature represents the “primitive living”(p7p2), it symbolises a “bold free spirit” to ”escape the confining strictures of civilised life” (p8p1).  

Cronon describes wilderness as “specific habits of thinking that flow from this complex cultural construction” - here lies a paradox - “if nature dies because we enter it, then the only way to save nature is to kill ourselves” (p13p4)

What I find fascinating in this text is the idea that there is a hidden network of nature which surround us, almost like a heterotopia where it is invisible. The humans have created environmental change, and we should aim to create a “balanced, sustainable relationship”(p16p1) with nature. 

In Schwägerl’s text, the Anthropocene, it takes the concept a step further in describing how “people see themselves as active, integrated participants in an emerging new nature” (p33p1). The texts explores the term, Anthropocene and the impacts humans have created on earth. It too agrees with how “wild nature no longer exists on land or out at sea”. (p37p2) The phenomenons Schwägerl describes are mostly common knowledge, but what was most intriguing was the formation of the ages. 

The Holocene is a term used frequently in the text - it refers to a time which encompasses the growth and impacts of the human species worldwide - from cultural written history and development of major civilisation.  This all encompassing term is now challenged by the term Anthropocene, when the “bio technologists are starting to control the forces of life” (p44p1). The lines blur between a phenomenon of nature or a phenomenon of man - “has the beautiful plant growing at the side of the road been cultivated in a bio-lab or is it wild? ... Do the clouds in the summer sky come from Mother Nature or are they jet plan vapour trails?” Such small day-to-day phenomenons are being questioned, and this challenges the fabric of reality. Must we make such a distinction? Must everything be connected too? 

In Chapter four, the term Anthropocene is explored through a historical perspective. How did it appear? Beginning with the measure of time, “terrestrial time keepers” (p49p4) through the investigation of rocks and stratas, here one starts to observe epochs in time. This term was used by the famous Paul Crutzen, of whom pushed it’s validity through political, scientific and also common knowledge transfers. It is now a common term in our in the past 10 years. 

Then the question of who takes responsibility - it is obvious that the largest, most advanced nations has caused harm unto those on the other end of the spectrum. Is it up to politicians to strive to undo all the consequences of the “Western wealth, power and consumerism?” (p65p1)

Hyperobjects is long, unsettling and challenging read. Unlike the kind, easily accessible tone Schwägerl text offered, Morten dives in with a multitude of references (many of which I have yet to explore further) and philosophical ideologies I have yet to understand. I turned to the peer review journals to explore summaries from others to aid me in my conquest to understand such an extensive well of a text, and I found these thoughts to continue upon:

Hyperobjects - things that the scale of which exceeds the human comprehension. They are dimensional, non-local entities. These objects are massively distributed in time and space, transcending the ideology of localisation. i.e. climate change. 

From this definition alone, it correlates with the idea of Heterotopia - although in a larger scale. It demands the implication of a new era, a new age almost. 

I believe I need to spend more time reading and thinking about Morten’s text - I can see it is referenced in later lectures and I wish to explore it further.

All these readings as a whole take the world by storm, creating new revelations, creating new perspectives to see the world. It was a wonderful introduction into nature and the Anthropocene. I can’t help but to think how these thoughts can be translated into action, into actual world impact, into the generation of a new ideology to observe nature through a mentality of being an integral part of humanity - of our existence. Co-existence may be the key.