Urban agriculture and housing

I participated in a cross-disciplinary design studio to advise Seattle’s Housing Authority (SHA) regarding their re-development of Yesler Terrace. The existing neighborhood had long-standing ethnic identities and culture around urban agriculture. It was a relatively low-density residential complex in an excellent location on a south-facing slope by downtown. SHA wanted to explore how to include more housing in the same area while supporting agricultural activities.

My approach was to bury buildings into the hillside and bring the soil up over them. The cost of this kind of construction was, I felt, offset by the benefits. It would keep the relate-able “human scale” of the buildings, preserve the views of surrounding development, provide a maximum of low-tech growing surface (inexpensive as compared to skyscraper greenhouses), and carry forward the existing historic terraces of the neighborhood.

We were able to accommodate most of the desired density within the existing, natural form of the agricultural terraces.