Bill Chuzhengnan Xu Y5
(Un)Folding Terra Incognita – The Revitalisation of Boston Charlesgate
The novel Looking Backward presents a utopian vision of life in a future Boston. It inspired a generation of enthusiasts and designers to work towards achieving the future described in the novel. A direct line of influence can be traced to the great pioneer of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted.
(Un)Folding Terra Incognita focuses on the Back Bay Fens and Charlesgate in Boston. The large, picturesque marshland designed by Olmsted in 1879 connected the Fens to the Charles River. It formed the first link in the ambitious parkland chain that later became the city's Emerald Necklace. However, in the second half of the 20th century, the erection of the Bowker Overpass took over the space above the parkland, resulting in seriously compromised green space and stagnated river.
This project explores ways in which the park could be restored in a future where cars are redundant, and expressways are eliminated. Public education buildings such as a gallery, an amphitheatre and a series of research huts are the main built structures, most of which sit on the remnant piers of the overpass. The new marshland controls the flow of the Muddy River and purifies the area as a great green infrastructure.
