Great Lakes Center for Ecology

Architecture 2201: Design I

Fall Semester 2018 Professor: Mark A. Pearson, AIA

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This project explores our human relationship with water, ecology, and the natural environment on a site located at the urban / natural threshold. The Great Lakes contain the largest supply of freshwater in the world, holding about 18% of the world’s freshwater and 90% of the freshwater in the US. Combined, the Great Lakes cover an area of over 94,000 square miles and supply drinking water to over 40 million US and Canadian citizens. The Great Lakes basin is a diverse and complicated ecosystem. (NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory)

Students in the Architecture 2201 class were challenged to design an interpretive center that will house exhibits and educational programing on sustainability, environmental stewardship and water ecology. The Center for Great Lakes Ecology has a mission to educate visitors about water ecology within the Great Lakes region and provide spaces for education, research and outreach. Successful designs were to be driven by a clearly articulated design concept and must engage the context of the city and the lake. These architectural design projects seek to embody the idea of environmental stewardship and sustainability.