Third Coasting | Mason White/Lateral Office

Great Lakes as an essential and contested site in North America and globally. Formed some 10,000 years ago, the Great Lakes watershed is a result of a receding Laurentide ice sheet. The system is comprised of Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, and Lake Superior, as well as the St Lawrence Seaway. Though the lakes reside in separate basins, they form a single, interconnected body of freshwater. The watershed facilitates access for more than 25 Cities, 8 States, and 2 Countries. The lakes have catalyzed the formation of the modern North American city with such examples as: Buffalo, NY; Detroit, MI; Toronto, ON; Toledo, OH; Erie, PA; Chicago, IL; Thunder Bay, ON. These cities have each created a direct relationship with their respective lakes, forming a very specific urban form, economy, and culture that capitalizes on lakeside living and access.

The Third Coasting project (2011) pursued an architecture that responded to and participated in the ecology of this region and its attendant urban systems.

The booklet, sampled to the left, was produced by Aaron Jones and assisted by Joel Gerber. The full book is available for download here: ThirdCoasting-2011

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