The verge : transforming an insufficient edge

Abstract

This thesis considers a new edge strategy for an Insufficient waterfront. The shore of Bass Harbor poses a problem significant to the whole Maine coast, as the access and Infrastructure imperative to the fishing industries is unable to compete with the economic power of the private second home industry. Thus, expecting that neither real estate, nor tourism, nor industry will be sacrificed, a re-calibration of the existing coastal structure is necessary in order to accommodate all who want and need the coast of Maine. I am proposing that a focus on the existing systems of the site can determine an edge strategy that will organize and expand the lobster trade's presence within the growing realm of the private and recreational interests. The shortage of space and access will be addressed through designing a new means of occupying the edge, expanding the public and private program within the parameters of the site in order to accommodate a new multiplicity and density of program, space and infrastructure. Proposed as a blurring of disciplines and a breakdown of boundaries and scale, the access point will compose a coherent resolution between the plurality of zones, programs and boundaries as it extends outward as a threshold to the trade The access point will compose the edge as a coherent singular surface. The edge, as a finite space, will be embedded with multiple functions.