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Didactic Scalar Ecology is an eco-sculpture park and museum, located at Mastic Beach, Long Island. As a central aggregator for the eco-sculpture park, a Museum will act as a central icon and educational space throughout the wetlands, where visitors can come, see ecological art and learn more about the site. The museum is organized using serial repetition and slippage. The circulation is linear, allowing visitors to pass through the different modules seamlessly. Spaces are created by lifting the viewing floor in response to flood risk at Mastic Beach.
The upper, viewing floor is open and allows for flexible programming. As one enters, there are curated views that focus one’s eye on the environment. On the underside of the building, there are semi-open gathering spaces, organized as rooms. In contrast to the open viewing floor, the ground floor is segmented through an organic logic, reflecting its environmental closeness. Outdoor rooms are scattered along the eco-sculpture park paths, creating framed views of the site. Instead of idealizing the landscape, we are presenting the existence of the site, and all of its entanglements. Today, we are framing present moments on the site, but we expect the views to slowly change over time as the ecology of Mastic Beach changes.