Project Statement

The project investigates the material characteristics of cotton, a key non-food crop with historical significance in the Tulare Lake basin. It addresses environmental imbalances caused by conventional farming and unsustainable water management and seeks sustainable approaches to restore the lake's ecosystem by focusing on material considerations and advocating for a material ecology approach.

By examining cotton's secondary cellulose and its potential as a biocomposite filler, the proposed methodology reimagines the future of fibers and the ecological framework of cotton cultivation and water management. "Textile Landscapes" offers a comprehensive strategy for environmental stewardship at both the landscape and material levels.

Project Narrative

“Textile Landscapes” explores the material characteristics and historical significance of cotton in the Central Valley, focusing on the environmental impacts of large-scale unsustainable farming and water management. It advocates for a material ecology approach that utilizes cotton waste in biocomposites to enhance lake restoration practices and integrate regenerative agriculture for a sustainable future. The project examines cotton's symbolic meaning and impact as a fiber crop, from a global perspective to local materials, within the Tulare Lakebed, once the largest lake west of the Mississippi, now drained for farming. The supply chain of cotton, from boll to garment, highlights its global impact and significant role in textile production and fast fashion.

Historically, the United States has been the main cotton producer and consumer, with ongoing farming in the Central Valley, including the Tulare Lakebed. Introduced to the region in the late 19th century, cotton rapidly became a symbol of the exploitative American plantation economy. This involved scaling up and concentrating field operations to maximize land use, leading to the reclamation of the lake and significant loss of ecosystems.

Pima Cotton, mostly grown within the lakebed, is under strict control to ensure annual yields and long fibers essential for machine processing. However, this process results in less than half of the plant mass being usable, with the rest considered as byproducts or green waste.

Recent heavy rains filled the dry lakebed, highlighting the limits of human control over nature. Overuse of land and excessive groundwater pumping for irrigation are leading to an ecological crisis, with warnings that Central Valley groundwater could disappear in a few decades. Historically, the lake went through drought and refilling periods, shaping a diverse ecosystem lost with land cultivation. The expensive and aging water control system, mostly constructed from unsustainable materials like concrete, fails to support large-scale farming and contributes to ongoing material and ecological crises.

Proposed future scenarios for the lakebed envision a coexistence of water, humans, and other species, viewed from a material design perspective. On the right scale, biocomposites can recombine elements of this complex system.

The research involves experimenting with secondary cellulose transformations through recipes and digital and physical fabrication methods, developing and testing new materials. This material-driven design process is connected with lake restoration, proposing small-scale alternative water infrastructure built with nature. A product line was developed to aid lake restoration, based on the physical features of combined aggregates like texture, flexibility, viscosity, and water resistance, showing the variations and flexibility of biomaterials and their potential to replace unsustainable solutions like concrete. These cotton-based products are more responsive to the lake ecology and agricultural needs.

Discussion

What blocks the rise of more sustainable materials? Firstly, changing a process involving many people and parts of organizations is complex. Secondly, there is a question of trust – if cotton is traditionally seen as a t-shirt, can it be imagined as a brick or an island? This underscores the importance of material activism, as the impact of material choices can no longer be ignored.