Exhibit Columbus “Public By Design”
University Research Design Fellowship 2022-2023

Pipe UP! Installation
BLDS Team

Tamek Baba
Forbes Lipschitz
Shelby Doyle
Halina Steiner

A vast network of buried pipes moves water throughout the built environment. They can also transport excess nutrients, dissolved pollutants, and sediment-bound toxins to downstream water bodies, contaminating freshwater sources and impairing the health and vitality of aquatic ecosystems. As an installation, PIPE UP! makes visible the subterranean water infrastructure of urban development and agricultural production, telling a visual, kinesthetic story about altered hydrologies. Composed of four site elements using off-the-shelf products, PIPE UP! is a standing field of 150 charlotte pipes topped by 700 feet of undulating tile drains. Three suspended rain clouds made of flagging tape and 12 poufs representing toxic sediment scattered across the site help to create a vibrant and tactile display of invisible infrastructure. PIPE UP! seeks to facilitate events and conversations about the future role of water in local riparian corridors and across the Mississippi River Watershed Basin

Photo credits:  BLDS, Hadley Fruits for Landmark Columbus, and Robert Granoff.

Acknowledgments: Generous tile drain donation by Baughman Tile Co, Fabrication and design support by OSU Landscape Architecture students Blake Chapman and Maggie Chafin, 25 students from the Center for Architecture and Design High School Design Studio, 20 Pouf party volunteers from the Columbus, Ohio community Hotel Indigo Columbus Architectural Center, Knowlton School MAT/FAB Lab College of Engineering at The Ohio State University  2023 College of Engineering Undergraduate Summer Research Program, Iowa State University College of Design. Financial and administrative support from Knowlton School.