BUOYED Coasts, Aselton Park, Hyannis MA

BUOYED Coasts is an outdoor site/art installation and family theater stage backdrop on Hyannis Harbor in Cape Cod. KKLA created this installation for the Town of Barnstable in 2006. The installation focuses on creating large scale systematic landscape change via small scale representation and advocacy; the project is a temporary art installation of 50 lobster buoys mounted on 12’-19’ poles that represent coastal water quality in Cape Cod Massachusetts yet give a fun playful image to the Hyannis waterfront.

The purpose of BUOYED Coasts is two fold. First, the project is an advocacy piece to create awareness around the critical state of costal waters quality in the Northeast. The buoys, mounted on 1” diameter steel poles, are painted one of 3 colors to represent local estuaries:

• 24% of the buoys are yellow, representing the number of polluted coastal waters in the Northeast with poor water quality*
• 46% of the buoys are red, showing the how many coastal areas are polluted and have only fair water quality*
• 30% of the buoys are green, illustrating how only a small number of our coastal areas are healthy with good water quality*

The project brings awareness of the nitrogen run-off problem threatening the Cape’s marine ecology to the 10,000 daily visitors that pass through Hyannis Harbor. Informational signage accompanying the buoys shows the “top 3 things you can do to improve water quality,” ensuring that visitors take-home the larger landscape message.

The second purpose of the BUOYED Coasts is to create a display of color, light and kinetic motion drawing activity and attention to an underutilized portion of the Hyannis Waterfront. By placing the tall buoy-poles as a waterfront beacon within a series of ornamental grass beds below, the buoys frame the harbor view and help connect pedestrians to Main Street Hyannis, an area targeted for revitalization. Inspired by the common pattern of local seagrass (eelgrass) beds, the ornamental grasses beneath the buoy-poles create a hierarchy of spaces for families to picnic and play. All of the grasses used are low maintenance, xeriscape species providing a demonstration garden of home landscape ideas that do not require nitrogen fertilizer application detrimental to the Cape’s water quality.

The project exemplifies how landscape architects can not only create aesthetically engaging spaces, but advocate for larger landscape change through small, public works. As the field of landscape architecture defines how productive landscapes can emerge, even small public projects with limited funds can have more than just an ornamental and social function; they can become an educational piece to link people with the surrounding natural environment.

The concept for the project arose out of a series of community participatory charrettes KKLA held in the Town of Barnstable where resident’s ideas for downtown improvements were collected. The project concept was derived as a collaboration between Kate Kennen Landscape Architecture and two local conceptual artists from Boston, Matthew Mazzotta and Heather Clark. Because of the limited project funds, innovative community resources were tapped for construction. 25 high school students guided by Mr Carl Lopes, a dedicated Barnstable highschool teacher, painted the 50 buoys, and Town Department of Public Works staff volunteered countless hours in assembling the installation under the direction of KKLA.

* Environmental Protection Agency, National Coastal Condition Report 2, May 2005 Chapter 3 “Northeast Coastal Condition”

Collaborating Conceptual Artists: Matthew Mazzotta and Heather Clark, Boston MA & Carl Lopes, Art Teacher, Barnstable High School
Structural Engineer: Costal Engineering, Orleans, MA
Construction: PA Landers Inc., CJs Landscaping, Barnstable High School Students, Town of Barnstable Public Works Department
Client: Town of Barnstable

Publications:
Barnstable Patriot, 7/14/2006 'From This Corner-Town unveils another pleasing petal on blooming waterfront'
Barnstable Patriot, 7/27/2006 'Stage is set for Harbor Your Arts series'
Cape Cod Times, 7/24/2006 'Walkway to the Sea'