Category: EXPO 2024 Courses

My research will focus on carceral landscapes in the Tulare Basin. I will study and catalog their socio-spatial conditions, the landscape-based systems they participate in, and their potential for liberatory futures. My research begins with the existing conditions of the prison industrial complex in the Tulare Basin and their impact on prisoners cycling through the carceral system. I hope to create a clear analysis of the specific siting of prisons in the Tulare Basin and the unique implications of California’s central valley landscape on a socioeconomic, racial, and spatial level. My research will span the arenas of labor, migration, criminal justice, rural economies, punitive architecture, climate resilience, and abolitionist futures. I will also collect extensive existing precedents for the removal of prisons, the repurposing of former prison sites for future public good, and exploratory innovations in restorative and transformative justice. I will aim to answer these two questions: 1) How do prisons shape the landscape of the Tulare Basin, and vice versa? And 2), how can we design liberatory futures in a landscape of mass incarceration?

Between the vast oilfields of western Kern County and the voluptuous slopes of the Tremblor Range lie a string of small towns, founded with the discovery of oil in the early 1900s. Ranging in size from 50 to 9,000 souls, these towns endure environmental degradation, progressive erasure, and, according to locals, a distinct lack of things to do. I attempt to address these three issues by integrating outdoor recreation, habitat restoration, and land art into the Tremblor Range National Monument.

The industrial-scale dairy farming pursuit of producing high-yield products and has neglected cows basic rights, which also caused a lot of carbon footprint (especially methane) to the environment. The Central Valley is a region faces severe water shortage challenges, however, the advocacy nonprofit Food and Water Watch estimates that it takes 142 million gallons of water a day to maintain the dairy cows in California. On the other hand, the public may not be aware of the amount of dairy farms and the living conditions of cows, because most of them are surrounded by fields of feed crops – the fact that cows living quality is bad and the dairy industry uses millions of gallons of water a day is not being awareness enough. For the future of dairy industry, we should stop the expansion of existing industrial- scale dairy farms, find a more sustainable dairy design strategy not only limits the water use or carbon footprint, but also improve cows’ living quality. The design starts with the protection of cows welfare and aims to prioritize cows’ physical health and emotional pleasure, finally there would be a Cowtopia for cows to live their happy lives.

The thesis aims to mitigate the adverse effects of large-scale fallowing of agricultural lands in California in response to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act’s (SGMA) regulations on groundwater pumping. This situation threatens job loss and food security and exacerbates issues in the Central Valley, such as landfallowing, desertification, dust storms, and health hazards.

The project introduces a comprehensive strategy and system that identifies stressed landscapes and facilitates farmers’ transition towards sustainable practices. It addresses multiple challenges simultaneously, including industrial and agricultural activities’ impact on biodiversity and air quality, as well as problems that plague the valley, such as land subsidence, Infrastructure damages, flooding, soil salinity, groundwater depletion, and pollution. The system ensures a holistic approach to sustainability.

The project seeks to minimize land fallowing while maintaining job security and food production through proactive measures, policy recommendations, incentives, and zoning. Ultimately, it envisions a greener future for the Central Valley, where ecological needs are met alongside economic sustainability.

In this project, I develop a new Utopian design theory for the Central Valley, comprising seven principles for rural town development. Inspired by historical utopian concepts, I analyze the components needed for a utopia, including design, governance, resource access, and more. Acknowledging the unattainable nature of a true utopia, I focus on crafting a modern utopia in the San Joaquin Valley, addressing essential resource provision and community cohesion. Tailoring design principles to each community’s needs, I consider challenges such as climate change and propose replicable block strategies. Specifically, I’m designing for Alpaugh, a small rural town with unique challenges, serving as a model for Utopian design implementation.

The project examines cotton’s material properties as a key non-food crop in the Central Valley, with a historical significance in the Tulare Lake bed’s agriculture. It addresses the environmental impacts of traditional farming and water management, focusing on water dynamics in Tulare Lake during fluctuations and unpredictable rainfall. The research explores sustainable methods to rehabilitate the lake, endorsing a “material ecology” perspective. By studying cotton secondary cellulose as a biocomposite filler, it suggests a novel approach that reevaluates cotton cultivation and water infrastructure in an ecological context. This approach aims to shorten the material supply chain and underscore the viability of sustainable land management. By leveraging the principles of regenerative agriculture and technologies embracing a holistic view of biomaterials and fiber futures, the project articulates a comprehensive strategy for environmental stewardship at landscape and material levels.