Sea to Sea:

Salt Landscapes

Spring 2022

Studio 10: Thesis

Instructor: Berenika Boberska

Sea to Sea explores the revitalization of the Salton Sea, which for a long time has been seen as an epicenter of environmental collapse. The land-locked sea is being heavily polluted by many sources, primarily by the New River brimming with agricultural run-off and Mexicali’s industrial and municipal discharge. But the New River, which flows north from its origin just miles from the coast of Baja California - can also become the source of the Salton Sea’s future transformation.

Anticipating the Sea of Cortez spilling into New River in the next 50 years, the Salton Sea’s revival will bring coastal life inland, away from the ocean. The project explores this scenario in terms of salt-water practices, materialities, and sensual experiences - creating spaces for an environmental transition from a dying sea to a thriving inland Saltwater Commons.

Seaweed farming is the focal element here. Serves as a method of weaving land and sea together to create a new emerging landscape typology. Performative and experiential qualities of seaweed are developed architecturally as a marker of change in the landscape.