REMEDIATUM — Regan Dyer

REMEDIATUM // Thesis 2017 // Studio Karen Lange

REMEDIATION HUB/SCULPTURE PARK . Hunter’s Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, California

TOXIC FOUNDATION . PROGRAM UNHINGED. MECHANICS REGENERATED

A history of nuclear waste and pollution obscured by the promises of a future San Francisco: “The New Bay”. But million dollar homes aren’t welcome here, for Nature has decided to reclaim Hunters Point. A technological resurgence spawning both natural and cultural renewal. The emphasis is placed on remediation. Remediation bots tear down existing structures, wiping the site clean of its militaristic scars. They crush the concrete and separate metal scraps. But the ground plane is just the start.
The Remediators begin to dig into the ground, excavating the soiled soil. They initiate the cleanup process through bioremediation, soil washing, and thermal desorption.
Above the earth, a new landscape forms. A datum line is established by an expansive solar energy field. The datum line rises or falls in response to the toxicity of the soil below it, soaring towards the sky when levels are unsafe and touching the soil when time has allowed nature to recover. While it serves as a visual tool, it also provides the energy needed to power the Remediators and create the magnetic field. Humans meander across this form, and grasp the connection they have to the land.
High up in the sky, a magnetic field holds up the scraps, creating a metal cloud within the fog. Scrap-Sweeper Remediators collect the mangled metal building components from piles on the soil and fly them up to the cloud. These scraps are suspended in space, clinging to each other, and growing in complexity, form, and chaos over time. As the datum line slips beneath the earth’s surface, signifying a cleaned site, the deposited pieces create a sculptural museum on top of the land that alludes to the past of the site and reminds people of the importance of environmental stewardship.
**The new emerges from the past.**

+2017 The Remediators begin to excavate the soil and breakdown existing structures, carrying pieces high up into the sky, far above the datum line and the ground below.

+2159 The soil still shows high toxicity levels, however, as they have lowered, so has the datum line. Unlike before, the ground is starting to be seen from the solar grid.

+2317 The site’s remediation process is complete. Nature has recovered and the building scraps have become sculptures across the landscape. People come throughout the year to experience the open-air museum and re-connect with the site in a positive way.