Amazing Grace

Interlocking grid of cross shaped wood panels.

Natalie Harack’s Amazing Grace is an instrument, created by modifying a traditional shopping cart, that collects environmental data and physical artifacts. The objective of this project was to build an instrument to probe the site through inquiry, insight, and impression to develop a representation of environmental phenomena.



Gallery

Student

Natalie Harack

Faculty

Term

ARC 545, Fall 2018

Program

MArch – Ecological Practices

The vehicle integrates the inquiring of quantitative and qualitative data from the old Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna, NY, in order to develop new approaches to site impressions.

In order to spur “out of the box” thinking, students randomly drew one item or action from each of the following:

– Quantitative metrics
– Vehicles
– Collections
– Qualitative assessments

Natalie drew wind speed, a cart, humanmade objects, and abandonment.

The goal of this project was to changeimpressions of what lies behind us and what lies before us. The data collected helped to visualize and explain the site history, allowing the viewer to develop new philosophies concerning the process of time and notions of abandonment.

I am interested in the possibilities to design spaces that affect the experiences of the occupants.

- Natalie Harack, MArch

Harack’s project was inspired by the idea of redevelopment with an informed methodology from the book, Curious Methods, by Sean Burkholder and Karen Lutsky. These methods carry through with Harack’s fundamental inspirations of designing for sustainability and creating spacing that generate unique experiences for the occupants.