Ore Dock No:1
Abstract
This project explores how society values its industrial infrastructure and how industrial architecture is valuable and credible not only to the profession of architecture, but also to society as a whole. Industry has been a place maker, and an economic gauge for society since the invention of communities, and this project celebrates that idea.
An adaptive reuse project that utilizes an ore dock on the shores of Superior Bay, it serves its community and visitors as a place to pay homage to an industry that shaped northeastern Minnesota, and northwestern Wisconsin. It attracted immigrants who formed cultures, and it created stories of a people and a place. It stands as a symbol of industrial power and strives to teach people about where they came from, and to shed light onto where they are going.
The architectural gestures in this project focus on community, social equity and the historical significance of this relic from a bygone era. The stories attached to this place are both powerful and tragic, which shines a light onto how this industry has affected this specific, and special place in the region. This dock is intended to serve as a vessel for those stories, and as a place for a community to gather and reflect on those times.