Vertical Densities

Title : “Vertical Densities: productive landscapes at the urban edge”
Award : Merit Award
Authors : E. Scott Mitchell, Amy Whitesides, Chen Chen
University : Harvard Graduate School of Design
Department : Landscape Architecture
Country : United States

Group Members:The South Weymouth Naval Air Station (SOWEY) is a 750 hectare ex-military base located at the convergence of 3 suburban towns. In reaction to proposed plans for SOWEY that do not adequately address the region ʼs economic, land use and environmental issues, this project considers the site as a public regional resource and a potential prototype for urban development. It protects and replenishes freshwater resources, provides flood control services, conserves habitat for endangered species, and serves as a testing ground for emergent high altitude wind generation technologies that could serve as an economic resource for the region.

The jury found this to be a powerful and artistic submission that considers energy and the investigation of alternatives for an inevitable future without many of the conventional energy sources. The project proposes a multi-layered landscape that most notably explores the airspace through innovative considerations of various uses. The sky is the limit with this project! Graphically the project is superior with some visionary decisions about how to communicate the ideas which resulted in a highly integrated presentation.


(Courtesy By http://www.hsr.ch/IFLA.7109.0.html )

Explanatory text
VERTICAL DENSITIES PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPES AT URBAN EDGE


The South Weymouth Naval Air Station (SOWEY) is a 750 hectare ex-military base located at the convergence of 3 suburban towns. Highly contested plans for its redevelopment currently include a movie studio complex, retail shops and a planned community. The proposed plans for SOWEY do not address the region’s declining economic conditions, the existing excess of residential land, the lack of public open space or the current water shortages and the pressure the development would place on these resources. Current proposals view the site as an economic resource for a few businesses. Larger issues of wildlife conservation, public health and safety and environmental productivity are ignored.

In contrast, our proposal considers the site a regional resource and a potential prototype for urban development that places a premium on the environmental and public health services of open land overlooked by typical urban expansions such as those proposed. We envision SOWEY as a public space that protects and replenishes freshwater resources, provides important flood control services, conserves habitat for endangered species, and serves as a testing ground for emergent high altitude wind generation technologies that could serve as an economic resource for the region.

The site’s concentration of high altitude winds makes it a perfect site to test electricity production through emergent flying electric generation (FEG) technologies. Traditional wind turbines are often unwanted due to noise, visual impact and bird kill. The FEGs to be tested on site are free from these common concerns. The small footprint they require allows the ground plane to be freed up to serve as recreation space and critical wetland and grassland habitat. In addition to providing habitat to migrating bird species, the wetlands collect storm water runoff from adjacent towns, direct it away from contaminated areas, and slow the flow of water from the site helping to replenish groundwater resources while limiting common downstream flooding events. The wetlands and grasslands are threaded with pedestrian walkways and service roads connecting the adjacent but disconnected towns to each other and to the commuter rail and highway that line the site’s western border. The result is an innovative treatment of the urban–rural edge that could be implemented at SOWEY or adapted and applied as a regional concept of how this edge space could be a richly layered economically viable resource for people and wildlife.

(source: http://www.hsr.ch/IFLA.7109.0.html )