Time-based media in landscape interpretation: Route 66 at McCook Quarry (Chicago)

This thesis focuses on the conceptual uses of time-based media for landscape interpretation. McCook Quarry lies outside Chicago, with a one-mile stretch of the historic US Route 66 through it. The quarry had contributed to the construction of the metropolis as well as the highway system, yet its own excavation caused the abandonment of a potion of Route 66. As one point at the start of Route 66, along which many wonders are scattered, McCook Quarry possesses historical, geological, and cultural significance as well as sublime beauty. For the purpose of this thesis, I assumed that the quarry will stop operation in a decade to come. At that time, it may be repurposed and reprogrammed. Because landscape architecture is a form of time-based media, it may be overlaid with other time-based media forms to create an experience of multiple times and scenes in one space. In this thesis, video, a form of time-based media, is used not only to analyze the site, but also interpret the site. Site analysis was extended to include factors of time, besides those of the space, in order to exhibit the site's connections with other historical and geological wonders along Route 66, and connections with other moments in the history. In the design proposal, time-based media products would also be projected on the stone walls in the quarry. In this way, McCook Quarry could become a new wonder on Route 66.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.L.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Landscape Architecture

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Ren, Xinran

Contributors dc:contributor

• Deming, Margaret E.

• time-based media
• landscape architecture
• McCook Quarry
• Route 66
• site remediation
• site interpretation
• Chicago

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2013 Xinran Ren

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44136

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/44136