Time-based media in landscape interpretation: Route 66 at McCook Quarry (Chicago)

Ren, Xinran

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/44136 Copy

Description

Title

Time-based media in landscape interpretation: Route 66 at McCook Quarry (Chicago)

Author(s)

Ren, Xinran

Issue Date

2013-05-24T21:52:20Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Deming, Margaret E.

Department of Study

Landscape Architecture

Discipline

Landscape Architecture

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.L.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• time-based media
• landscape architecture
• McCook Quarry
• Route 66
• site remediation
• site interpretation
• Chicago

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the conceptual uses of time-based media for landscape interpretation. McCook Quarry lies outside Chicago, with a one-mile stretch of the historic US Route 66 through it. The quarry had contributed to the construction of the metropolis as well as the highway system, yet its own excavation caused the abandonment of a potion of Route 66. As one point at the start of Route 66, along which many wonders are scattered, McCook Quarry possesses historical, geological, and cultural significance as well as sublime beauty. For the purpose of this thesis, I assumed that the quarry will stop operation in a decade to come. At that time, it may be repurposed and reprogrammed. Because landscape architecture is a form of time-based media, it may be overlaid with other time-based media forms to create an experience of multiple times and scenes in one space. In this thesis, video, a form of time-based media, is used not only to analyze the site, but also interpret the site. Site analysis was extended to include factors of time, besides those of the space, in order to exhibit the site's connections with other historical and geological wonders along Route 66, and connections with other moments in the history. In the design proposal, time-based media products would also be projected on the stone walls in the quarry. In this way, McCook Quarry could become a new wonder on Route 66.

Graduation Semester

2013-05

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44136

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2013 Xinran Ren

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