Outer Loop Environs

This project is an investigation into the architecture, aesthetic and culture along the outer ring highways of Midwestern American cities. Along the three-digit loop highways are the office parks, chain restaurants, clinics and municipal facilities that compromise the environment of the neither here nor there.

I've always found these areas fascinating. They are simultaneously populated and empty, usually well manicured, garbage free. These are transition zones between older urban cores and the vast shuddering expanse of exurbs, suburbs and country towns that spread out for miles.

For this project, I travel around these beltways/loops and photograph particularly interesting buildings and tableaus. The image above is a building of indeterminate use on the outside of Columbus, Ohio. It is an AutoCAD model made real, lots of glass and a large parking lot. The models are created in Sketchup and I compare them to my photographs and to imagery from in Google Earth/Streetview to maintain proper scale, texture and material appearance.

Ultimately, they will be manifested as real-time, slightly animated 'photographs.'

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