PROJECTIVE FUTURES IN COLUMBUS, INDIANA.
TO MIDDLE SPECIES, WITH LOVE.
“Middle Species” are common and embedded within our communities. They are neighbors and residents, play active roles in our ecosystems, and contribute significantly to the health of our ecologies. Yet -- unlike “Flagship” species -- they often remain underrecognized, and even invisible to many.
These speculative proposals explore Columbus through the lens of Middle Species.


















Flatrock River, Driftwood River
Beavers, Trees, Wetlands
 
Working With Beavers
by John Henning, B.S. Arch. ‘21, M.Arch ‘22 University at Buffalo.


Can humans coexist with beavers? You better believe it, if we continue to push these amazing engineers further away rather than learning to live with them, there will be dire consequences.

I plan on working directly with beavers as landscape architects and engineers to aid in the proposed construction of the new Columbus people trail by the city of Columbus and landscape architects Hitchcock Design Group, that resides across from the upland pump house known as the Columbus Riverfront Redevelopment and to aid in the ecological development of the surrounding wetlands which will be the Columbus Wetland Redevelopment.







NEW NATURES: NEW MIDDLES
UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING



ECOLOGICAL PRACTICES RESEARCH GROUP GRADUATE STUDIO

In parallel with the 2020-21 Exhibit Columbus cycle, titled “New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis,” the Spring 2021 UB Ecological Practices studio explored the city of Columbus Indiana, its legacy of architecture and landscape design as civic projects, and developed speculative architectural interventions that reflect on Columbus’ design history while also responding to contemporary social and ecological conditions in the city and region. The sites for each proposal are centered in/around the city, but the aim is to speak more broadly to ways that design can impact the future of the American heartland and regions connected by the Mississippi Watershed. In the words of this year’s curators Mimi Zeiger and Iker Gil, “New Middles builds upon Columbus’ legacy as a laboratory for design as civic investment. In a moment when we most need reflection, creativity, and innovation to envision new ways of being, New Middles considers Columbus a place to destabilize assumptions, and imagine new architectures and landscapes as a way to positively move our cities forward.” 
UB ARCHITECTURE
FACULTY

Joyce Hwang, Associate Professor, Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellow 2021

STUDIO STUDENTS

Nicholas Blackwell
Cristian Copete
Bethany Greenaway
John Henning
Samanatha Kalinski
Marietta Koeberle
Mitchel Mesi
Gabrielle Morales
Madelaine Ong
Yogesh Ravichandar
Ayushi Vora
Ben Wemesfelder