Audrey Tang

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Design

r.

Research

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> r. 

Research


r1. Little Village Environmental Report
r2.Unmaking a Tree Pit
r3.NYC Urban Forestry
r4.Trend Report in the Arts
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Overview
Design Process
Narrative
Full Project

> r2. 

Unmaking a Tree Pit



MAR 2023
8 weeks
Graphic Narrative, Data Modeling A graphic dissection of a tree pit. This project explores how humans control natural forces through urban infrastructure and the gaps that occur. This project uses data modeled from a tree pit’s contextual narrative and material anatomy to create visual representations of the relationship between human control and natural growth.

This relationship is examined in three phases: “Man vs. Nature,” “Dispute,” and “Bridging the Gap.” Each phase approaches the breakdown of the urban object in a certain lens as to comprehensively map its internal and external dynamics. 

How do we reckon with 
our control over nature?

Whether it is to provide shelter from harsh elements or tame unruly spaces for human use, built infrastructure has historically been used as a tool to exert man’s domination over the natural landscape they reside in. The tree pit is a synecnochial example of this dynamic. It embodies the historic tug-of-war between man’s desire to bring nature into urban spaces, on their terms.

This project hopes to reframe the historical perspectives of urban infrastructure and read the function of a tree pit from the tree’s perspective. By analyzing the natural and infrastructural developments of this object and its dichotomy, we can discover how to replace the desire for control with the intention to create healthier and more productive urban ecosystems.


> Design Process

With the initial catalog of 30+ tree pits in Ann Arbor, I created data sets that deconstructed the object to individual variables. These data sets disaggregate the tree pit into its historical perspectives, anatomical breakdown, and management processes. A graphic narrative is then extrapolated from the data to visualize the story of the tree pit.

UUID - The project started with observation of tree pits in Downtown Ann Arbor, where I identified the characteristics of each object and assessed their performance.

PID - Narrowing down on the individual tree pit, I identified the parts that made up a tree pit and the variables available to each. 

SID - Using the parts identified, I outlined the actions enacted by the tree and the pit. From this, the narrative sequences of growing, control, and error began to emerge. 




> Narrative

Part one “Man vs. Nature” establishes context of how human culture and infrastructure have defined their relationship to urban trees. 

Part two “Dispute” identifies gaps of understanding and inadequacies with typical tree pit designs.

Part three “Bridging the Gap” explores the possibilities of mending error through the intentional application of measurements.






> Full Project

The graphics for this project are presented narratively through slideshow, as well as told comprehensively with a print poster. To view full project please click through the slideshow below. ◆