Lake Superior is often perceived as a pristine body of water, the “untouched” or “least spoiled” of the Great Lakes. While Lake Superior’s northern geography has enabled it to escape much of the development of the lower Great Lakes, this does not mean the basin in unshaped by humans – just that the traces are harder to see. The landscapes that serve as the interface between humans and Lake Superior often reduce the landscape to a scenic backdrop, omitting places of human influence to uphold its wilderness status.

This practicum challenges the untouched image of Lake Superior and argues that this over-reduction of landscape prevents meaningful connection with place. An alternative image of Lake Superior is projected through the design of places that make the human role in shaping the landscape perceptible. This is demonstrated through design exploration that engages the dredging cycle of the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie. Dredge material itself hovers somewhere between land and water, human and natural. This liminality is captured through design that seeks to make perceptible the processes of sediment impoundment, release, and accumulation, blurring the line drawn between human and natural systems.