Yunzi Shi ’20

Major

Architecture

Project Title

Liquid Landscapes: Meadowlands Through the Cine Lens

Certificate(s): Urban Studies, Visual Arts

I directed a short film as part of the Fluvial Metropolis Research Network’s installation at the 12th International Architecture Biennale in São Paulo. The installation presented case studies of public spaces and everyday experiences related to water infrastructure in New York and New Jersey. My film focused on DeKorte Park in the New Jersey Meadowlands, a remediated recreational site and tidal salt marsh where many landfills used to be. Through a motion-picture collage of the infrastructure, wildlife and human activities in the park, my film drew attention to the changing landscape in the Meadowlands as a result of urban development and climate change. It also addressed the multiple agencies — human and non-human — involved in creating the documentary narrative of the changes taking place. My work included researching the history of the region, conducting interviews and filming on site, and editing and producing the film. I was challenged and inspired to explore the possibilities of communicating architectural research through cinematography. This internship reinforced my interest in landscape architecture and filmmaking, which I plan to develop further in my visual arts thesis installation.



Internship Year

2019

Project Category

Urban Adaptation and Resiliency

Organization(s)

Fluvial Metropolis Group, Princeton University School of Architecture and the Department of Architecture and Urbanism, University of São Paulo - Lyndhurst, New Jersey; Princeton, New Jersey

Mentor(s)

Mario Gandelsonas, Class of 1913 Lecturer in Architecture, Professor of Architecture, Princeton University; Curt Gambetta, Ph.D. candidate, Architecture