When looking at any of the Great Lakes, the human eye sees a massive body of water. What is unknown to that eye is what happens to the physical bed underneath the water. The proposed model of this project is to create a physical, shrunken down version of the Great Lakes floorbed. This is done to allow one to see that the Great Lakes are not just a line in the horizon, but rather that they are a part of a system that makes up the Great Lakes so that it can be more comprehendible to the human eye and experienced as one.

Upon entry to the model from the south, a person passes underneath a curving canopy that bisects two buildings. An anchor point that is central to the entire project is located at the end of this canopy, and fastens the arrival, the buildings, and model of the Great Lakes together. Once this person has passed through this area, they are led to a large deck containing the physical depths of the Great Lakes that is scripted into the local sand dunes. The curving structure that was once overhead now takes place below, where the various floorbeds of the Great Lakes are carved out of the deck. From here it is possible to walk around the model to experience the different depths of the Great Lakes. A large, seventy foot tower is located in the middle of the deck where one can climb to the top and experience views over Lake Michigan.

Craig Pickerel