Final Project - Dystopic view

For the final project, I decided to work in grup with Megan Kedge and Rebecca Andrews.
We decided to focus on what can happen to the creek in 500 years. That would be very interesting, try to figure out how it will looks like. We'll try to looking in a dystopic view of Islais creek.
During this class, you showed us another face of San francisco; it was so different 300 yeasr ago. Thats why I'm trying to image another San francisco facing the truth. If now we can see the remains of the creek in a protected area in the heart of Glen Park, I wonder what it will be in a time not far away?It will be just a memory? or, if it was not even a memory?


"Dystopia is the opposite of utopia, a place that is quite unfortunate and undesirable.Often the difference between utopia and dystopia depends on the point of view of the author. The dystopian texts appear as warning works, or satires, showing current trends extrapolated up to apocalyptic conclusions. So the difference is that dystopian is based on the actual society, but by moving the interest on an era and in a distant place or next to a historical discontinuity".


Here an example of a dystopic view of society.


Fahrenheit 451

WILDLIFE AND NATURE - GLEN PARK

Our Group decided to focus on the wild life of glen park.
Because I could't go so far with vertigo, I collected all the information I could about animals and nature that are in Glen Park!


ISLAIS CREEK

Is Islais Creek supports ecosystem characterized by water-loving plants such as willow trees, horsetail, seep monkey flower and red columbine. These plants provide habitat for adult and larval insects, which in turn in amphibians, reptiles, and birds, some of which travel from South America. The creek is important to migratory and resident songbirds, and is one of the few remaining spots in San Francisco where they can take advantage of a fresh water source.

Willow trees

Horsetail

Seep monkey flowe

Red Columbine

Red Columbine

Douglas Iris 

GRASSLAND

 In spring a variety of native wildflowers including the California poppy, blue-eyed grass, checkerbloom, and mules ears add oranges, blues, pinks and yellows to the canyon.

Poppy

Blue-eyed grass

Checkerbloom 

Mules ears

COASTAL SCRUB

Farther north along the road there are the dense shrubs that comprise the coastal scrub community. Here, coyote brush, coastal sage, bee plant, and California blackberry  to provide habitat for a wide array of birds.

Coastal scrub provides important structure  for bird nests, and the plants are an  food source for birds. Coyote brush alone provides habitat for more than 250 species of insects, which are food source for birds like swallows and black phoebes as well as other animals such as California alligator and western fence lizards. The California blackberry often are around the coyote brush, bearing fruit for birds, raccoons, and humans throughout the summer. Bee plant is aptly named, as it attracts not only bumblebees and honeybees, but more than 20 species of non-stinging solitary bees.

Coyote brush

Coyote brush

Rocky Mountain beeplant (Peritoma serrulata)

California blackberry

Black Phoebe

Swallow

Western fence lizards

California alligator

URBAN FOREST

Most of the forest at Glen Canyon Park is composed of blue gum eucalyptus, cypress, and pine trees, and accounts for over 17 acres of the park. These trees were planted around San Francisco beginning in the 19th century and have significant value for both wildlife and people, even though they are invasive species. Owls and hawks nest and hunt on them.

Blue gum eucalyptus

Blue gum eucalyptus

Cypress

Pine trees

Burrowing Owl

Red-shouldered Hawk

ANIMAL

In this area we can find so many differnt species of birds, and tee. Thare also the coyotes with their reddish gray to brown fur.

Coyote

GEOLOGY

Throughout the park you will find outcrops of reddish rock formed from the shells of microscopic ocean-dwelling organisms called radiolaria. Millions of years ago these tiny animals lived, died, and drifted down through the deep ocean waters to the ocean floor. Eventually the combination of pressure and time turned these microscopic organisms into the rock we call radiolarian chert. The movements of the tectonic plates eventually brought the chert close to the shore. As the Farallon plate subducted under the Continental plate, the rocks of Glen Canyon were scraped off, scrambled up, and pitched upon the land.

Scarce water supply and shallow soils make the rock outcrops a challenging habitat for plant life; only well-adapted species survive. There are many example of plant adaptation like Dudleya, it has adapted to this dry environment and Lichens who release special chemicals sostance to obtain nutrients from the rock . Reptiles like California alligator lizards and San Francisco garter snakes take advantage of the solar exposure on the rock outcrops.

Outcrops of reddish rock 

Outcrops of reddish rock

  Outcrops of reddish rock

There are no plant, bird or animal species in the Glen Canyon Park property that are listed as endangered or threatened by the State or Federal government.  NAP intends to justify the 60 acres of “natural area” by claiming they must protect a number of “sensitive” plant and bird species.  This designation of “sensitive” was made by a few local California Native Plant Society and Golden Gate Audubon Society members. 

The Friends of Glen Canyon Park and the Glen Park Association continue to work to improve the park's recreational facilities and restore its natural areas.

San Francisco Buried Waters summary

Islais Creek 

In 1700 Islais Creek was one of the main resources of water for the city of San Francisco. It covers 20.234 km. It had two main branches: one that run from Twin Peaks to Mission Street, the other started near by Cayuga Avenue and ran along the eastern part of the Mission Street. There were two other streams, that existed in Islais Creek: the first ran along Alemany Boulevard, the second stream passed to Cesar Chavez Avenue Evans. 

Gold Rush 

The Golden Rush was the end of Islais Creek. During the gold rush, the area of islais creek became a center of commerce and stream conditions became worse, it was a sort of dump. 

Earthquake 1906 

After the earthquake, the population voted to fill the river with the debris of the earthquake, it was reduced to its present size. So the people began to build on this debris. During World War II Islais Creek served as a docking ship. Later on it became the largest processing plant for copra coconut in the United States  West Coast (now you can still see the crane). 

November 2001 

While construction crews preparing to drill an electrical for the Third Street Muni Metro light rail line underground, sewer pipes were broken. The waters of seweage invaded the creek (cleaned years earlier). Today there's needed a sum of more than $ 150.000 to repair the damage remained. 

Buried ship 

SF's Watersheds was used as a boat jetty (1849-1850) The ship was the fastest means of transport to get to the gold fields. Most of the ships were abandoned and left to rot, others destroyed by using wood. The result was that the City of San Francisco, has its foundations in ancient wooden ships. Many were discovered by the 1906 earthquake. 

Aral Sea

The Aral Sea is a salt lake of oceanic origin, located at the border between the Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Originally it was 68.00 km wide and up to 2007 has decreased by 80% due to intensive cultivation of cotton desired by the Soviet regime. The use of pesticides and herbicides on cotton plantations, has contaminated the soil, the area has become unlivable, even for strong winds carrying toxic sand.