The idea was to get the students thinking like environmental artists. A hill is a valuable resource in the flatlands of Yolo County, even if it's a mountain of trash. And a 720-acre landfill with 25 million cubic yards of garbage is precious public open space. The idea was to get the students really thinking like environmental artists as they created a public park.
Pipes remove methane gas and leachate from the cells.
Students were free to propose different cell sizes and shapes up to 120 feet high but were required to maintain the existing methane facility and leachate ponds and take into consideration current regulations. The projects had to provide for traffic, parking and pedestrian circulation. They have lots of experience of that sort in other classes, where we most often take the functional approach to design. An artistic approach is, however, quite appropriate, said Schenker. Even so, beauty is squarely in their purview.