Road to Shadow-Scapes: De-Extractive Landscapes on Vancouver Island

Abstract

Extractive systems permeate the landscapes around us, yet often remain out of sight. The invisibility of humanity's imprint on ecological systems intensifies resource consumption. This thesis rethinks landscapes and infrastructures of extraction as sites of opportunity, where de-extractive stewardship, remediation, and ecological pedagogy are fostered. Focusing on ecological moments along the Malahat Highway (Vancouver Island, BC), an infrastructure of speed and mobility, this thesis proposes two transformative “rest stops” where the interdependence between human and environmental processes is reconceived. Organized around fish and forest, the rest stops are shaped on the one hand by re-thinking the phenomenology of ecology and extraction and second by integrating remediation strategies by integrating living systems as a process-based method. At the intersection of landscape, infrastructure, architectural, and environmental design, the thesis ultimately proposes that highways can become corridors of relation, creating a more reciprocal connection between humans, resources, and the ecologies they depend on.