“Be One With Nature”
Proposal by: Jenny Lee and Miki Urisaka
Project Description:
Our proposal is the installment of a peace walk for part of the site along the trail that lies between the extension of 23rd and 24th street. The theme is to “Be One With Nature”. The peace walk will be in the form of a path that loops around between the mounds that Angelo Ciotti created. The path will be laid down so that it contours around the plants that are already there – this ties in with the theme and also minimizes the labor necessities. By bringing the pedestrian deliberately off the trail and through the natural vegetation that occurs in this area, we hope to establish a connection between man and nature that was not there while the people were still walking on the paved ground.
The peace walk will allow the casual pedestrian to calm his/her mind by seeing the world from different perspectives as they walk along the set path. There are several options for the manner in which the path will be marked. Flat landscape stones (about 2” diameter) can be placed so that they form the lines that mark the path. While the small size of these stones will make the process of laying the rocks out simpler, it also means that the rocks may easily be displaced by natural or human causes. If larger rocks are used, the task of putting the labyrinth in place will be more labor intensive. In addition, the prices of rocks increase with size. Another possibility is to use bricks instead, and have the bricks partially in the ground so that they cannot be moved so easily. However, bricks would not have as much of the desired “ecological” feel as the colorful river rocks would. On the other hand, bricks may fit in with the industrial image of Pittsburgh. There is also the option of attaining these rocks/bricks or gravel from nearby construction sites, which would come at no cost (except labor). The options and their associated costs are listed in the budget.
Progress:
Week 1: April 15, 2008 (Tues) 1:30-4:30 pm
Our team has finally finished tracing out the curving path way around the mounds for our brick labyrinth by digging out a gap in between the gravel soil. It took most of the class time, but the traces marked out most of the path from what we have proposed. Meanwhile, we have not heard from any bricks sponsors yet.
Week 2: April 22, 2008 (Tues) & April 24, 2008 (Thurs) 1:30-4:30 pm
Some of the trace lines have disappeared after the rain over the weekend. However, we have managed to start putting bricks into the gaps we have traced last week and covering the sides with soil. At the moment, we are considering to simplify the labyrinth path in order to get it done before the last week of class time.
Week 3: April 29, 2008 (Tues) 1:30-4:30 pm
We have finally finished most of the labyrinth on Tuesday. Although we had some brick crisis on the way, we managed to hunt some bricks down during class time. Marching into the final week, our team has quickened our pace, and hopefully we can get it done by the last day of class.
Week 3: May 1, 2008 (Thurs) 1:30-4:30 pm
The labyrinth is finished! Three weeks of hard work have not been wasted! Our group of three managed to go through the challenges that we had along the way. We have all worked diligently and have not wasted any class time. Furthermore, none of us refused the shovel. And we all know the difficulty in paving a path into gravel ground.
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