The
geology, weather and community around any potential site plays a key
role in the Escapement's realization. An ideal site encompasses 200
acres, is longer than wide, embraced by gentle slopes, near running
water, viewed by an overlooking hill or along a ridge, and most importantly
of all, with adjacency to people and transportation. Urban or rural
setting are equally appropriate.
As
a template for potential TiWalkMe sites, these two examples provide
a rough estimate of its overall dimensions and plan.
Tree
TiWalkMe
|
175
acres
|
|
Trees
in the TiWalkMe Escapement are placed 6.6 meters apart, with 20
trees per row. The Escapement is thus 200 meters wide (with paths)
and 8 km (5 miles) long, or about 175 acres. (For comparison, this
is about twice as long as Central Park, NY and about 1/5 th the
area).Water from a natural source is preferred, and associated buildings
will be clustered near transportation. Such a long site might be
found along a railroad right-of-way, or abandoned highway, or a
filled canal. |
Plant
TiwalkMe
|
8
acres
|
|
Suited
for an urban environment, or a modest grant of land, 10 smaller
trees and bushes are placed every meter apart. The Escapement is
thus a kilometer long, and perhaps 30 meters wide- for a total of
8 acres. A small site requires a tighter integration of adjacent
buildings and a more precise initial landscaping design. |
Although
shown above as a linear walk through time, a long spiral or even a closed
ring is appropriate, depending on local conditions.
TiWalkMe
hopes the site will be donated to the foundation. A surprising amount
of land in America is abandoned or under used, and could find a second
life (indeed a livelihood) as TiWalkMe. Among the many possibilities
are:
-
Golf
courses. A recent boom, now bust, in golf course construction
leaves much of the country overrun with links. 18 holes of golf typically
consumes 60 to 100 acres of land, and many
courses are for sale.
-
Abandoned
railways. Practically ideal in aspect ratio, near people and transportation,
with buildings which can be renovated creatively; a five mile long,
football field wide right-of-way could be easily converted.
-
Brownfields-
either old industrial sites like steel mills, strip mines, or automobile
factories. Estimates run as high as 500,000 brownfields in America.
-
Sanitary
Landfills
-
Strip
Mines
- Strip
Malls
-
Decommissioned
military bases
-
Canals-
many are silted, nearly all in disuse, and the original easements
are still in place.
- Abandoned
Roads- often along a new, "replacement" highway
- Highway
medians
- Released spaces- such as Governor's Island NYC
- Natural disasters- land unfortunately cleared by earthquakes, fires and tsunamis. To the extent these events reoccur periodically, the tiwalkme forest is an appropriate memorial. A reminder of the power of nature, given sufficient deep time.
If you know
of a potential site, please see the volunteer page for our email address. While we are concentrating on a location in the United States
as a convenient first trial, recommendations for future sites, in other
countries, are encouraged.
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