Hasn't It Always Been Like This?

Abstract

This project traces a place-story of the Lake Union Dry Docks, a working industrial site wedged between growing residential Eastlake and the rapidly developing South Lake Union urban hub. Industrial sites are increasingly buffeted between fetish and erasure: their functions removed, their forms destroyed or repurposed to serve the new order. But unlike many post-industrial sites the Dry Docks are still functioning, drawing off a nimble history of boat repair and building. The design is a simple path that navigates the awkward junction of the Dry Docks, South Lake Union, and the Eastlake residential neighborhood. Walking along it reveals hidden adjacencies and obscured histories of the site, creating a space that grows in significance in the body-memory and minds of its users, engaging public connection to place.