Eighth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Situated on a defunct seed farm against a wall of derelict lumber, the archive defines a condensed space for seminar discussions and holdings specific to Iowa’s agricultural crisis. The experimental assembly seeks to explore the material and immaterial makeup of the leftover hardwood ground matt and steel ties recently salvaged from the Dakota Access Bakken crude oil pipeline project which passes within one mile of the site. The accumulated fortress, and thereby, attenuated voids within will serve as archive for collected artifacts selected on the grounds of their enduring cultural, historical, and evidentiary value.The series of spaces (gallery, sky room, and earth room) will serve as venue for seminars and workshops. Disparate agents and collaborators will author the workshops – using the archive for unfettered, experimental practices and performances. Collaboratively, we will assist each other, and the public at large, in expanding our domain of knowledge and thereby collective realm of experience through sincere engagement in our local material culture. By leveraging our individual works as provocations within the traditional stead of the family farm unit, we hope to cultivate a discourse that deals head-on with the complex intersection of politics, atmospheres, and humanity as understood from the inside out. The construction methodology of this archive is latently informed by the tectonic nature of its host farm building construction and associated spatial configurations. The platform assembly in constructed using a grade beam methodology whereby the ¾” Douglas Fir plywood flooring is set level on a series of 4x6 white oak grade beams which have been cut into the earth and leveled with gravel and sand beneath. The wall assembly stands 8’ tall throughout using ½” and ¼” thick Douglas Fir plywood on a series of 2x open framing. The top/bottom framing plates and flooring were shaped using a CNC router.