Research + Design Advanced Studio
Community bridging achieved through the integration of urban farming
Meeting Ground
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn NYC
In Chester, the farm network forms neighborhoods organized around the production and processing of food. The site was chosen because its soil is less nutrient-rich and sits within a reasonable biking distance of the major farms in the Chester Agricultural Center. Settlement patterns tend to be seasonal, shifting in response to harvesting and processing needs, and the most valuable land is reserved for crops, with human settlements positioned around that priority.
In rural settings, the communities around the farms are connected via their shared relationship to the farm. Designing for dignity meant how can housing create a gradient of privacy to allow for separations away from your colleagues, but then enough public spaces to feel properly connected with your neighbors.
1024 Fulton Street
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn NYC
In an urban context, space becomes much more precious, and the community around urban farms is more diverse. The relationship between the farm to the community becomes inverted; it becomes necessary for the farm to position itself in a way to maximize its impact to serve the urban community.
The 1024 site sits on a vibrant block with churches, a neighboring park, a mix of historical brownstone homes, and mixed-use new developments and adjacencies to multiple popular cafes and restaurants.
In Clinton Hill, this means the urban farm becomes a way to support the existing, vibrant social networks embedded within the greater neighborhood through creating equitable access to fresh produce, community kitchen spaces, and shared public spaces that invites people to share experiences.
Since the 1950s, Clinton Hill has remained a destination for newcomers. What began as a draw for middle-class residents has expanded over time, with today’s upper-middle-class households also seeking the neighborhood’s relatively affordable housing. The newcomers brings with them their social spaces that shares the streets with the exsisting community. This
As housing price continues to rise, the neighborhood today continues to see large waves of younger and more financially capable residents, many of whom are younger creatives who are drawn to Clinton Hill's creative scene and diverse historic architecture. Clinton Hill today remains to be a diverse neighborhood with a vibrant network of social services, church groups, and social service facilities.
Views of Clinton Hill
Since the 1950s, the neighborhood has become steadly more and more wealthy as middle-income earners from manhanttan move in search for more affordable housing and are drawn by the architectural charm of the neighborhood. New developments are incentivized to create more spaces that are tailored to those newcomers who are often younger and more affluant than the exsisting community.
However, gentrification in Clinton Hill is not a singular case of wealthy whites displacing lower income blacks. According to the same article, gentrification in Clinton Hill was unique because the process of gentrification was carried out by middle class blacks and whites alike. To that end, Clinton Hill continues to retain a strong mix of racial diversity throughout the late 1900s to 2010s.
With housing price continues to rise, the neighborhood today continues to see large waves of younger and more financially capable residents, many of whom are younger creatives who are drawn to Clinton Hill's creative scene and diverse historic architecture.
Data shows majority of whites are concentrated between age 10-44 while blacks are concentrated from age 54-84.
Racial Demographic Break Down as of 2020
Designing for Multiple Demographics
This project explores how urban farming can offer spaces that enhance social integration in Clinton Hill by creating more opportunities for social bridging between the exsisting community in Clinton Hill and the steady wave of newcomers through convivial public activities. The underlying theory is that “neighborly” neighborhoods depend on investments in public spaces that encourage people not only to bump into one another but to interact in positive, low-pressure ways. While maintaining a neighborly character is beneficial in any context, given its well-documented impact on mental health and social connection, it is especially valuable in a place like Clinton Hill, where contrasting racial demographics coexist. A shared “meeting ground” becomes essential for fostering natural interactions among community members whose lifestyles and daily schedules might not otherwise overlap.
Circulation Diagram, Green= Elevator, Brown (Stairs), Blue (Shared Terrace)
Park View Towards Building
Ground Floor
1
6
2
3
5
4
1. Residential Entrance
2. Bike Storage
3. Round landscaped seating
4. Public Basketball Court
5. Vertical Farm Grocery Store
6. Entrance to Park
Meeting Ground
1
2
5
3
4
1. Communal Kitchen
2. Co-Working Space
3. Vertical Urban Farm
4. Farmer's Locker Room
5. Administration Offfice,
6. Processing and packaging space
Residential Plan
Street Elevation
2
4
Above this platform, the project is organized into three linear bands of 30–60–30 feet, housing the vertical farms, connector programs, and mixed-income multi-family residential units, respectively. The connector programs are designed to layer activities in ways that encourage spontaneous encounters and familiarity among neighbors. The pathway to the classroom passes by community planter boxes with integrated seating, creating a waiting area for parents dropping off or picking up their children. This same pathway also leads to a second-floor co-study space intended to attract the neighborhood’s younger population, inviting them to passively engage with the families who use the space.
