Hilltop Lakes_project synopsis
The Hilltop Lakes project was the culminating result of time spent in various field studies throughout the American Midwest (http://landarts.org/).
Our journeys took us far from our homes, exposing a disposition to a landscape that many of us have personally misunderstood and misinterpreted. Along the way, we came to one particular site, Deming, NM (Cabinetlandia), which inspired our objective for the Hilltop Lakes site. It's a subdivision, but there are no houses, no typical signs of civilization, it is void of any distinctive qualities except for the dirt roads that create the grid in which we can distinguish its state as a subdivision, but one whose purpose has been foiled. It is literally divided in half by interstate highway 10, which leaves the site in a state of confusion, to say the least. So it sits idle in the landscape with merely its skeleton to give us clues as to what it is.
Hilltop Lakes is nothing like Deming (Cabinetlandia) and yet they share a common thread; as we look at what makes the land a land'scape' and the definitions which help us understand the lands intent whether natural or manmade. At Hilltop Lakes we see a strong definition of presence, meaning that the resort has been established and areas have already been built up to provide residences and places of recreation. the area in which we installed however has only been mildly affected, there is the strong presence of infrastructure (roads, water/sewage, police patrols) but the actual built environment is somewhat stagnate. Much like Deming we see this grid setup, the potential of growth, and yet it is void.
we chose this site to install the 'non-house' because it is a unique place it offers both the tangible signs of human interaction and natural growth that has not yet been modified to accommodate a built environment. It was this unrest between what the land is tailored to be versus what it is naturally is what is so intriguing and inspiring about it. the hope is to not only provide a context to a place but also to a situation... the use of land as a whole, in a growing subdivision, the allotment of such land and also the conversation as to its proposed purpose and the reality of what it is becoming.
Our journeys took us far from our homes, exposing a disposition to a landscape that many of us have personally misunderstood and misinterpreted. Along the way, we came to one particular site, Deming, NM (Cabinetlandia), which inspired our objective for the Hilltop Lakes site. It's a subdivision, but there are no houses, no typical signs of civilization, it is void of any distinctive qualities except for the dirt roads that create the grid in which we can distinguish its state as a subdivision, but one whose purpose has been foiled. It is literally divided in half by interstate highway 10, which leaves the site in a state of confusion, to say the least. So it sits idle in the landscape with merely its skeleton to give us clues as to what it is.
Hilltop Lakes is nothing like Deming (Cabinetlandia) and yet they share a common thread; as we look at what makes the land a land'scape' and the definitions which help us understand the lands intent whether natural or manmade. At Hilltop Lakes we see a strong definition of presence, meaning that the resort has been established and areas have already been built up to provide residences and places of recreation. the area in which we installed however has only been mildly affected, there is the strong presence of infrastructure (roads, water/sewage, police patrols) but the actual built environment is somewhat stagnate. Much like Deming we see this grid setup, the potential of growth, and yet it is void.
we chose this site to install the 'non-house' because it is a unique place it offers both the tangible signs of human interaction and natural growth that has not yet been modified to accommodate a built environment. It was this unrest between what the land is tailored to be versus what it is naturally is what is so intriguing and inspiring about it. the hope is to not only provide a context to a place but also to a situation... the use of land as a whole, in a growing subdivision, the allotment of such land and also the conversation as to its proposed purpose and the reality of what it is becoming.
