Shifting Phenomena: Inhabiting Waterscape Infrastructure within the Annapolis River

Abstract

Throughout human history, we have viewed ourselves as separate from the landscape. This attitude can be seen in the vast array of infrastructure that now marks and modifies the landscape, interrupting and shifting temporal landscape processes to better align with our ways of living. Within the context of Atlantic Canada, this thesis explores how a decommissioned tidal generating station built into a causeway provides an opportunity for inhabiting this moment of interruption. Made inhabitable, the singular focus on tidal energy within the structure produces a space rich in experiential and sensory aquatic phenomena. Cross programming of marine research, art, and event spaces ties the grand scale of research performed across the watershed with the intimate scale of individual sensory experiences. Through this combination, phenomenologically charged moments that highlights how intimately connected our actions and lives are with the landscape becomes available for contemplation and reflection.