by: Jacqueline Pezzillo Assoc. AIA LEED AP
Event: Public Ecologies at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Location: Van Alen Institute, 08.06.08 & 08.14.08
Speakers: Dr. Clive G. Jones — Ecologist & Senior Scientist, Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies; Michael Osman — Architectural Historian; Julia Czerniak — Co-founder, CLEAR & Associate Professor, Syracuse University; Edward Mitchell — Principal, Edward Mitchell Architects
Moderator: Ellen Grimes — Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago & Van Alen Institute New York Prize Fellow, Summer 2008
Organizer: Van Alen Institute
Photograph from Disarming the Prairie (Creating the North American Landscape), published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998, a survey of the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant, once the world’s largest TNT factory.
Photograph © Terry Evans
Just off Route 66 an ecological experiment is brewing under the auspices of Ellen Grimes, Van Alen Institute New York Prize Fellow, with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Center for Research in Urban Ecology at the University of Illinois Chicago (CRUE). The work focuses on restoring a 19,000-acre reserve in Illinois known as Midewin, the first official national tallgrass prairie. Described by Grimes as “an atypical design project,” restoring the brownfield to its original eco-state is a challenge since the site is located at the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant and remains contaminated with toxic waste. Currently, Midewin consists of only 3% prairie and is largely comprised of abandoned farmland.
The rebirth of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie will begin with a microcosmic, 2.5-mile strip of land that could take up to 25 years to complete, according to the USFS. The area will house a series of environmental experiments inviting public observation and interaction intended to reconnect people to nature. The experiments will include carbon sequestration analyses, investigations of nutrient and energy fluxes, and studies of the interactions among mammals, birds, and plant life. By redesigning human activities in the fields of forestry and agriculture, Grimes hopes that ecosystems may be used to more effectively impact design, the public realm, and even metropolitan life.
Rather than artificially simulating a prairie in a controlled environment, Midewin is a test bed to explore the relationships among economy, ecology, and design in a real environment. The USFS and CRUE seek to build regional and global audiences while educating local farmers in methods to restore and sustain the ecosystem.
Jacqueline Pezzillo, LEED AP, is the communications manager at Davis Brody Bond Aedas and a regular contributor to e-Oculus.