the slash - university of manitoba · the slash post-extraction architecture situated in the...

T H E S L A S H

P O S T - E X T R A C T I O N A R C H I T E C T U R E

SituatedintheCoastalMountainRangeofBC,ThePembertonValleyis

aplaceofbeautyandcontrast.Snowcappedmountains,glacierfedrivers,and

toweringforestsdominatethevisuallandscape.Thecontrastliesinman’s

questtoconquerthislandscapethroughinterventionsfocusedonresource

extraction.Thisprojectusesthepost-extractionlandscapecalledtheslashto

explorethesecontrasts.Thetermslashreferstothestateaforestisleftinafter

ithasbeenlogged.Roadsarecutdeepintothehillsides.Stumpsdotthebarren

landscape,punctuatedbypilesoflogsanddebris.Itisaviolentterrain,

especiallyincontrastwiththesurroundingbordersofuntouchedforest.

Althoughitisalandscapeofdestructionandviolence,itisalsoalandscapeof

transitionandovertime,newgrowthemergesfromtherubble,animalsreturn

andtheforestregenerates.Thisprojectexploresarchitecturesroleasa

mediatorintherelationshipbetweenManandWildinthiscondition.

Anarchitecturalinterventionintheslashwillfunctionasarecordof

man’sdestructiveforcesandalsoprovideastaticreferenceintheprocessof

theforestsregeneration.Architecturethatfunctionsasaplaceofretreatand

escapewillnotonlycreateanimmediateconnectiontonature,butalsoa

settingtoreflectontheimpactsofhumanitiesdestructiveactionsinthewil-

derness.

James Robertson

Advisor: Mark west

image courtesy of the Pembeton Valley Museum