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Into The Weir

McNeil Fiesta and Kai Chi | DES 302

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The project was tasked to revitalize and decolonize the industrial storage space of Cumberland Point at the confluence of Brunette and Fraser River. Into the Weir sought to not only enhance the ecological conditions of the site, but also to enhance salmon, trout, the critically endangered species of the Nooksack Dace, and acknowledge the Anthropocene by reintroducing Indigenous fishing cultural processes that once existed in the Brunette and Fraser River. Bearing the name Nooksack, the endangered Nooksack Dace is focal as there is a cultural connection between the fish, the Nooksack River and the Nooksack Tribe of the Coast Salish people. This research instigated the genesis of a fishing village for Cumberland Point of Sapperton, New Westminister. To encourage various fishing methods and enhance the processes that would occur, five interventions were designed to support the fishing environment. This included reintroducing the weir and integrating it into the bridge, adding a dock to allow boating for reef netting, establishing dedicated fishing areas through fishing platforms, constructing a smokehouse for Indigenous prepping methods, and building gathering spaces to share experiences. Overall, Into the Weir intends to foster reciprocity between users and nature to protect the fish for fishing.

Related Courses

  • DES 302 | Design Studio IV

    Vancouver as a laboratory for design at the architectural and urban scale with a focused view in to how design is implicated in the social, political and environmental transformation of the city.

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The University of British Columbia School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture

School of Architecture + Landscape
Architecture

402–6333 Memorial Road
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SALA and The University of British Columbia are situated on the the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.

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