Re-inventing the wheel: Designing new infrastructure for the energy harvesting age

The decline of oil signals the dawn of a new energy age predicated on harvesting energy from existing natural flows rather than hunting and gathering it from subterranean reserves. This thesis proposes infrastructure renewal as the avenue that offers us the best chance to remodel our energy future. Infrastructure is the primary tool we use to manage the flows of energy and waste through our built and natural environments. At the urban scale of Halifax I propose a system of energy harvesting infrastructure that is integrated with public programming to help catalyze the transition of the harbour from industrial realm to public use. At the building scale a hybrid program of garden centre and sewage power plant is developed on a former landfill site in the north end of the peninsula. The design explores both how engineering systems and cultural spaces can be integrated, as well as how landscape and building can combine in the remediation of post-industrial scar tissue.