Landscapes of Cultivation
RESEARCH #1704 2017
The current condition of the world’s cities is one of growing urban populations, diminishing open space, and an unprecedented need for alternative fuels. The city of Mumbai, the best example of a city with an extreme deficiency in open space, has a population of nearly 14 million and offers less than two square meters of open space per capita. Tokyo and New York are not far behind. This project confronts the growing lack of open space, and need for alternative forms of energy production, by asking—can our urban spaces do more?
LOCATION
JAMAICA BAY, NY
AWARDS
HONORABLE MENTION
7th ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE CONTEST: RESPONSIVE CITY, 2018
PRESS
RESPONSIVE CITIES
PUBLISHED BY ACTAR PUBLISHERS, 2019
Landscapes of Cultivation looks to the waterways surrounding cities, using New York City as a prototype, and proposes space, not as a traditional, passive recreational park, but as an entity that can actively assist and benefit from energy production. Alongside activities such as bird watching, fishing, and general recreation, the bio-crop kelp is grown and harvested to produce bio-fuel. Employing a special growing apparatus, the early growth stages take advantage of the space and calm waters at the periphery of cities (ideal for public parks) before the kelp is shipped to high quantity ocean farms. Inversely, the recreational spaces take advantage of the unique landscapes and experiences provided by the kelp farms, as well as the wildlife (birds, fish, etc.) that these farms attract.