Architecture in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Design, Deep Time, Science and Philosophy

Tar Creek Supergrid (2012)

Mixed Media

The history of Picher, Oklahoma begins and ends with the Tar Creek lead and zinc mines. Operational for nearly 80 years, the area’s mines provided over 45 per cent of the lead and 50 per cent of the zinc consumed by the U.S. during World War One.[1] The by-products of this intense operation transformed the local prairie geography, creating dozens of waste rock heaps, known as “chat piles,” with some extending over 30m in height. In the 1970s, the discontinuation of the pumps required to clear water from the underground shafts led to the gradual accumulation and eventual overflow of water at the surface, carrying with it lead, zinc, cadmium, and arsenic.[2]

The mines that created Picher ultimately led to its downfall. Although billions of dollars worth of ore was extracted from the Tar Creek area, the money available to clean up the environmental fallout from mining activities—in the form of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (commonly known as the Superfund)—is extremely limited, especially when compared to the scale of the mine’s impact on the local environment. Lacking the funds to substantially remediate the site, the majority of available Superfund money has been spent on relocating the remaining inhabitants of the area.[3]

The Tar Creek Supergrid emerged from our proposition that landscapes disturbed by human industry, such as abandoned mines, could become frontiers for human settlement and innovation. Solar energy generation, as part of a proposed national grid of clean energy research and development hubs, is introduced as a financial catalyst for the site, but with a twist: the addition of a structure that raises the solar energy infrastructure off the ground, creating an opportunity to host other activities on the site while treading lightly on a landscape in repair. In addition to providing an armature for energy generation, the concrete structure, pre-fabricated using waste rock material from the site, also acts as a conduit to carry water, energy, and waste to and from inhabited areas of the site.

The result is a three-tiered plan. The uppermost level is devoted to solar energy development and production: testing the latest technology and producing a surplus of energy for the site and its surroundings. This layer is also the starting point for water management on the site, where rainwater is collected and flows to one of several treatment plants around the radial grid. The middle level is the place of dwelling and circulation. As the need for space grows, beams are added to create an inhabitable layer: the beams act as a pedestrian and cycling circulation system, but also the infrastructure for dwelling and automated transit. Finally, the ground plane becomes a laboratory for bioremediation of both the soil and water systems. A combination of active and passive treatment systems for both the waste water from the site and the mine drainage are coupled with a connected system of boardwalks to allow inhabitants and visitors to experience both the industrial inheritance of the site and the renewed hope for its future.