New Energy Landscapes of a Post-Oil Alberta

Abstract

Energy governs the way society has been structured. Oil is currently the dominant framework that connects society’s political and socio-economic narratives. This framework, the ‘Petroleum Grid’, organizes society around efficiency and promotion of fossil fuels; continuing society’s dependency on an unsustainable and environmentally damaging energy. This thesis, situated at the beginning of the post-petroleum state, explores how remnants of the oil industry can regenerate new energy landscapes, in Edmonton, to reconnect ecology, energy, and community. The Rhizome Logic is used as an ecological and socio-spatial generator to reorganize and translate existing infrastructural components (fields, lines, and points) and landform systems into a new energy landscape. It develops new connections within the existing oil landscape through phasing, remediation, and closed feedback loops. By harnessing site generated biofuel and new programs, the architecture of the Rhizome facilitates the social and geospatial reconfigurations to rewrite the site and city’s relationship with energy.