The Riverline, an extension of the rivers edge bringing in program responding to the Appalachian mountains and complementary programs to provide a recreational center for the city of Knoxville. The studio started out with a presentation from the Tennessee River Line and this influenced us to continue their work and message of the investment in economic, social, environmental infrastructure that has potential to transform communities and the Tennessee River landscape.
Located directly on the Tennessee River, the site was used by General Shale as a brick production site next to Ned McWarner Park, and the end of the Neyland Greenway. It is an adaptive reuse project to preserve and bring a recreational center to Knoxville. The abrupt stop to the greenway and the disconnection of the park made this site be the destination that it is leading to.
The landscape is a reflection of the trip to Mexico, especially when we went to Javier and Aisha’s office where their entire building is run on a water system through the use of a wetland, we wanted to bring that to Knoxville with the three wetlands being the main part of the landscape. The wetlands are filled by rainwater collected from the building and into ditches. When these are not filled they are another visual reminder of a process and different plants that grow in these conditions. The other areas like the moss garden or the long grass section provide different experiences within the site. The site emulates the building with reference lines extending out to create the shapes of the landscape. The edge of the site was also considered and by doing so there is a riparian edge with large trees used to prevent erosion and improve water quality.
