Echo: Elemental Architecture as a Method of Cleansing Freshwater in the Wake of Industrialization

Abstract

Existing as a force powerful enough to shape the face of the earth, yet delicate enough to sustain the life within our bodies, water is an element with which humans have continuously sought balance. Water has eternally been a source of repetitive daily ritual: collection, hydration, and cleansing. Out of necessity and convenience, our cities have been built right up against shorelines and grown inland. With the rise of industrial architecture, the ruination of our irreplaceable resources is the fatal flaw of our technological advances. Duluth, Minnesota is a shoreline city born from the lure of Lake Superior’s freshwater and our resultant reliance on industry. We siphoned our natural resources from the land and expelled their toxins back into the lake. Its fragility masked by its immense size, one of our largest sources of accessible freshwater suffered. This trend is visible throughout countless shoreline cities, initiating a call for action to produce architecture that works alongside its surroundings rather than against them. This thesis proposes a lakeside freshwater research and conservation center standing between the industrial and cultural heart of Duluth, facilitating spaces for filtration and purification research while encouraging public involvement in returning freshwater to its purest form.