The competition entry board completed by Matt Kizu, Sam Jenniches, Kai Craig, Patrick Johnston, and Scott Kleinrock. (click for lightbox view of image) — *The competition entry board completed by Matt Kizu, Sam Jenniches, Kai Craig, Patrick Johnston, and Scott Kleinrock. (click for lightbox view of image)*

Kai Craig, Patrick Johnston, Matt Kizu, Scott Kleinrock and Sam Jenniches designed an OHV Center as a re-use of the Eagle Mountain Mine Complex.

This re-use would take regional OHV areas out of use in the Southwest, and concentrate them within an already degraded landscape at Eagle Mountain. By moving the OHV activities, users could have a centralized support center and community. Decommisioning other areas would have dramatic impacts in alleviating park user conflicts, management conflicts and would open up habitat corridors in these protected areas.

The team proposed this use, as they feel that Eagle Mountain has still not reached the 'negative zenith' of its use. Not only does this design not require a massive reinvestment of energy, material and financial resources, it comes from a belief that a restoration of this area will take ages - if a restoration could ever even occur over that span of time. The landscape alteration is too great to ever bring it back.

The plan of the complex features challenging trails for OHV users due to the altered topography.  Local energy powers homes and businesses reclaimed in the town.  Local energy is important due to the remote location of the site. (click to … — The plan of the complex features challenging trails for OHV users due to the altered topography. Local energy powers homes and businesses reclaimed in the town. Local energy is important due to the remote location of the site. (click to see lightbox view of image)

A view of the interpretive center.  The earth shelter minimizes materials needed to bring to the site, is a good thermal strategy for the desert and formally responds to Native American vernacular. (click to see lightbox view of image) — A view of the interpretive center. The earth shelter minimizes materials needed to bring to the site, is a good thermal strategy for the desert and formally responds to Native American vernacular. (click to see lightbox view of image)

Another exhibited project in the U.S. Green Building's Council 'Emerging Talent' competition. Josh Llaneza, Courtney Embrey, Judy Lee, Camille Rosario and Jen Rueda completed this scheme for the mine and town site.

Eagle Mountain would potentially be a great place for a landfill (there is a controversy about this proposed use). Filling up the BIG hole in the ground, may attract undesireable species that could disturb the world class and important ecosystems of Joshua Tree National park and the desert types it connects.

This project suggests sorting the waste for material that wouldn't attract the non-native and invasive species. This waste, from the increasing metropolitan population of southern California could be used as a research opportunity to create new building methods for desert housing. A population is coming in the next decade that will need affordable desert appropriate shelter. A 'rural studio' for students could innovate new housing methods built from the waste streams in the southern California area. The town site becomes an off-campus College in this scheme, and no digging is needed for the landfill - the hole already exists.

*The competition entry board. (click for lightbox view)*

The first visitor view, a framed view of the mine showing its massive scale.  The building's abstraction refers to the emptiness of the site, and lets it serve as a background to the landscape. — *The first visitor view, a framed view of the mine showing its massive scale. The building's abstraction refers to the emptiness of the site, and lets it serve as a background to the landscape.*

*Diagrams showing ideas for the reuse of the most common elements in the waste stream.*

*Visitors can see the landfill process - the cranes may deposit sorted waste and pull out materials of interest to the design-build teams.*

In the final project on this page, Gordon Haines, Lara Browning, Meghan Miller, JP Lee, and Danielle Arendt use the concept of Stripping (strip mine), (and then deposition) to unify their design ideas.

The site experience begins with an arrival at a corridor that opens to the *massive* pit of the mine, placing the study/interpretive center at the rim of the excavation. To emphasize the scale of this operation, billboards on the paths to the site start miles away to describe the impact this site had on Southern California and beyond.

Solar processes to milk the last bit of value from the remaining material on site. A solar concentrator can help extract remaining iron from the mine and the tailings pile.

The town site is reused for habitat. The endangered desert tortoise, and important bat species are given habitat in the abandoned homes of the town through this process of stripping and deposition. Deposited earth on the sides of buildings helps create habitat for tortoises to burrow, and also keeps cooler the inside of the buildings through earth sheltering. This may allow bats to roost in the structures. Restoration of habitat provides further food and shelter for species.

*The competition entry board. (click for larger view)*

*A view of the abandoned homes with earth sheltering.*

*Phasing plan for the 'burying' of the abandoned homes for habitat reconstruction.*