The site of my research was the Salton Sea, a lake in Southern California located 70 miles away from the Mexican-American border, adjacent to an agricultural area worked by Mexican immigrants during the warmer months. In the middle of the 20th Century, developers saw the potential of the newly formed lake to start the development of cities and towns along its edge. As the salinity and toxicity of the water increased, the residents of these settlements began to abandon them. The basis of my research was to analyze the conditions that led to the development of the Salton Sink and the Salton Sea and how today its perimeter is comprised of abandoned cities that are inhabited every winter by recreational vehicles that occupy the spaces where actual homes should exist. 

This investigation took place during the first week of January 2011, the time when people who own motor homes from the southwestern United States gather around the lake. I believe that the recreational vehicles and the trailers, although a temporary presence, do not comprise a form of mobile architecture. Instead, the presence of recreational vehicles brings forth the questions of why and how previous attempts to build homes around the Salton Sea have failed. 

Renting a car and driving the four hours from Los Angeles to the Salton Sea was a way to participate in this event. I documented my journey through a series of films, photographs, and drawings. My intent was to study these areas of abandonment to consider how I could design a way they could be reconstructed without making the lake more toxic or cause an increase in salinity. As I drove around the Salton Sea, the rapid rate at which the lake is drying was very clear; it’s important to understand these consequences when the rate of incoming water is the same as the rate of evaporation. Ultimately, the lake will continue to shrink until it reaches a point when the water has become extremely saline or brine. These conditions informed my thesis in allowing me to consider alternatives that would prevent a shock to the natural environment and that might help ease the transformation of the lake.