Mediative Urbanisms – Entry 128
Presented by:
Christopher C. Yost – ccyost (at) gmail (dot) com
Tiffany D. Broyles
BEARGRASS GROWN : Productive Landscapes as Community Infrastructure
This project contends that the full restoration of Beargrass Creek is dependent upon the degree to which it is embraced as a vital piece of urban infrastructure, like the roads, expressways, and rail lines that often flank its edges. The creek’s potential value is not merely aesthetic or recreational (though these are important), but ecological and, indeed, urbanistic. As such, its restoration should be an opportunity to cultivate compatible programs in an approach that is both locally- and regionally-minded. Here in Irish Hill, we envision Beargrass Creek and its watershed as a site for forging “ecological alliances” among various natural systems, most notably, vertical agriculture. The Irish Hill site, situated on the edge of downtown and near the confluence of the South and Middle Fork, offers an opportunity to cultivate these productive landscapes as a new form of community infrastructure. The site’s value is thus calculated not by the standard metrics of real estate, but by aspects of its “terroir”: the unique topographical, climatological, and environmental qualities that render it suitable for urban agriculture.
The repositioning of Kentucky’s tobacco-dependent farm economy has created an acute need for new markets for local agricultural products. This project sees an opportunity to weave into the many folds of Beargrass Creek an agricultural network that provides food to nearby residents and invigorates the local food economy. The reconstructed stream channel becomes host to clusters of vertical farms. Techniques for stream remediation are wed to the agricultural cycle, so that farm operation and maintenance calibrates the creek and its watershed. This constructed landscape is not one that we imagine will be bucolic and unpopulated; rather, with its parklands, bike lanes, nature center, farmers’ markets, and bus links, the site is poised to become a vibrant part of the Irish Hill community.
