Baywatch

Honorable Mention

The demand for Cape Cod’s resources is apparent in its recent but radical growth. The increase of recreational use, commercial and residential development, and the resultant pollution threaten delicate coastal ecologies and disrupt the open, visual character which is crucial for the tourist economy. This region not only attracts visitors for its natural resources and recreation, but also has the highest visitation for agro-tourism in Massachusetts. Therefore, the interdependence of the economy and the environment must be delicately structured.

We propose a wet park; a mutable working ground for the enjoyment and awareness of the connectivity of hydrological functions. Our strategy bridges the high maintenance, relatively low diversity of recreational land, and the low maintenance, high diversity of wetlands through the appropriation of an agricultural framework to organize variable habitats and programmatic zones. The varied management strategies determine where in the spectrum of productivity they fall, from human dominated zones to more species diverse areas.

Using an agricultural ordering, through a series of orthogonal ridges, furrows and hedgerows, allows us to frame these variants in a legible way while maintaining the area’s rural character. Our agro-scape strategy simply heightens contrast, thereby providing a frame of reference for understanding the biotic structure of the bay in order to manage and conserve its resources. While structured, our proposal is crafted to remain open to growth patterns to enable responsiveness to the ever shifting needs of the town of Bourne, which is positioned among cooperative, yet competing, Cape Cod communities.