Fionn Byrne / Stephanie Braconnier
CHANGE IN COMMON Climate Change and the Future of the Yard
The University of British Columbia School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture
2019/20 Winter Session Term 2 Studio Report
This course was held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
2019/20 Winter Session Term 2 LARC 502 Design Studio II Braconnier & Byrne
Studio Instructors Stephanie Braconnier, Fionn Byrne Students Anjani Batra, Vicky Cen, Ben Eisenberg, Josh Fender, Emma Gosselin, Kelly Kang, Berend Kessler, Ivana Lexa-French, Zhijie Ma, Prashi Malik, Christen Oakes, Kevin Parsons, Jennifer Reid, Chris Rothery, Kendra Scanlon, Max Slater, Marije Stryker, Jingzhou Sun, Jenny Tang, Sara Tavakoli, Kimberly Wong, Beau Wuthrich, Jordan Yule, Noora Yunus, Suzy Zhan, Yaying Zhou Guest Critics Rebecca Anderson, Danielle Berwick, Taylor Boisjoli, Emily Knox, Tom Kwok, Eason Li, Annie Liang, Kees Lokman, Kaitlyn Pelletier, Jonah Susskind, Ding Yu, Kristina Zalite, David Zielnicki Studio Contributors Ileana Costrut, CityStudio Vancouver Projects Coordinator, Kelly Gardner, CityStudio Vancouver Projects Coordinator, Andrea Wickham, City of Vancouver, senior Green Building Planner Guest Speakers Ryan Vasseur, Architek, Jedidiah Gordon-Moran
CHANGE IN COMMON CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FUTURE OF THE YARD Fionn Byrne Stephanie Braconnier
The University of British Columbia School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture
8
Foreword Andrea Wickham and Kelly Gardner
14
Introduction Susan Herrington
18
Private property and collective responsibility Fionn Byrne
Projects 22
Hastings
180
Langara
26
FenceÂł Berend Kessler, Ivana Lexa-French
184
De - Reconstruction Anjani Batra, Prashi Malik
46
Cross-Pollination Kimberly Wong, Jordan Yule
204
Crisis Commons Jennifer Reid, Noora Yunus
64
Kingsway
224
Quilchena
68
Omniate Christen Oakes, Kendra Scanlon
228
Hypernature Emma Gosselin, Jingzhou Sun
92
Green Capillaries Max Slater, Beau Wuthrich
252
Alice’s Return Zhijie Ma, Suzy Zhan
116
Kensington
274
Point Grey
120
The Plot Thickens Chris Rothery, Ben Eisenberg
278
Decomposition and Renewal Kevin Parsons, Yaying Zhou
138
Shared Boundary Joshua Fender, Kelly Kang
294
Capra Tilapia Marije Stryker, Sara Tavakoli
154
Fraserview
158
The Moving Canopy Vicky Cen, Jenny Tang
>
Figure 1: The City of Vancouver is predominately zoned as OneFamily Dwellings, especially in the land encircling the downtown core. Adapted from City of Vancouver, Property parcel polygons (April 27, 2020) and rendered by Fionn Byrne.
FOREWORD
The City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan established a series of ambitious goals to help Vancouver to become the greenest city in the world, and focus on climate action was renewed with the declaration of a climate emergency in 2019. In 2020, the City launched a public engagement process to develop the Vancouver Plan, a city-wide plan that will help shape Vancouver in the future.
The City recognizes the importance of engagement and partnerships with a range of groups to best explore how we might achieve our climate and city building goals together. This document highlights one such partnership – between City staff, the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, and CityStudio Vancouver. This project explored ideas of how residents might consider using private assets (the yard) to improve environmental performance for the collective whole.
Through this partnership, the City was looking to explore original, creative ideas that were still grounded and implementable. Students situated highly creative thinking in constraints such as >
Mayor L.D. Taylor judging squash-growing contest, 1925. City of Vancouver Archives. AM1477-1-S5: CVA 1477-121
8
neighbourhood plans, zoning, utilities infrastructure but also in progressive contextual considerations such as reconciliation.
The City sought imaginative solutions for the tiny piece of land that when viewed incrementally has the potential to have a real role to play in meeting current and future climate demands. CityStudio Vancouver provided a space to do this thinking, and link to the right people. The students delivered fresh experimentation and insight. It was a rich collaboration.
ANDREA WICKHAM Senior Green Building Planner, City of Vancouver
9
FOREWORD
CityStudio Vancouver is an innovation hub that unites City staff, students, faculty and community to co-create experimental projects that make Vancouver more sustainable, liveable, joyful, and inclusive. As a Canadian charity, we exist to help cities and schools work together, filling a common gap in cities around the world. The mission of CityStudio is to inspire students to become social innovators and change makers who can engage and improve their cities.
As one of our major collaborating partners, in Vancouver, we have worked with the University of British Columbia to bring community-based, experiential learning opportunities to students since 2011, collaborating with 1,664 UBC students and 119 faculty members. CityStudio Vancouver is proud to have hosted its 5th course collaboration with the UBC School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture the semester of Spring 2020. The Landscape Architecture Design Studio II cohort partnered with CityStudio Vancouver and the City of Vancouver Sustainability Group to examine innovative interventions to help the City address its Greenest City Action Plan goals. As part of their coursework, >
Miss Francis Leigh and Ken Mair, in their garden, 1930. City of Vancouver Archives. AM1535: CVA 99-2106
10
students worked together with the
process demonstrating their ingenuity,
City staff to co-create pilot projects for
determination, and resilience in the
the benefit of community. These SALA
production of this original body of work.
student’s provided thoughtful and original
We believe that bringing SALA students to
solutions for how the City could inspire
the table of city-building is an important
residents to transform their yards to help
opportunity for civic engagement, service
Vancouver become the Greenest City.
and creativity. With these projects they develop career skills while collaborating
This project idea was developed during
on innovative solutions for the benefit of
CityStudio Vancouver’s annual Project
all.
Development session, which brings together City staff to identify and
-
develop project concepts that further
KELLY GARDNER
Vancouver’s strategic aims. We were
Projects Coordinator,
excited to match the City staff and their
CityStudio Vancouver
project idea with the SALA Studio course as it was a strong fit between city needs and faculty expertise. We were proud to present a number of these final projects at HUBBUB, a celebratory showcase where students, City staff, citizens and elected officials connect to make these solutions permanent.
At CityStudio Vancouver, we learn by doing and following an idea. We experiment with our hands and take risks. We struggle and learn together. This semester, students in the SALA studio class participated wholeheartedly in this
11
>
Figure 2: View of house and yard at 4573 W 13th Ave, 1914. City of Vancouver Archives. AM54-S4-: SGN 1097.08
INTRODUCTION
Change in Common: Climate change and the future of the yard represents the culmination of graduate student work in the studio course LARC 502. Within UBC‘s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, LARC 502 provides the second core studio in the master of landscape architecture program and the dual degree program (master of architecture and landscape architecture degree). This core studio expands upon the application of space- and form-generating concepts and techniques through examination of landscape typologies, site interpretations, and numerous other analytical methods. These investigations have culminated in spatial and experiential programs and design strategies that enhance sustainability.
Under the leadership of assistant professor Fionn Byrne, and with assistance from SALA adjunct faculty member, Stephanie Braconnier, students were asked to demonstrate how landscape architects might reshape the urban fabric of the city to make it more resilient to ecological and cultural change. This year’s studio addressed climate change and the common land use typology: the yard. Ubiquitous to >
Children playing on a swing in the backyard at 2119 West 42nd Avenue, 1915. City of Vancouver Archives. AM505-S1: CVA 660-31
14
Vancouver and many other North American
and rights-of-way at the end of the block.
neighbourhoods, the yard–its care and the
One group challenged the perceived
activities it affords–is often overlooked
rootedness of plants with a moveable
as a site for ecological and communal
feast for the neighbourhood. Soil, too, was
contributions. The propositions offered in
examined as a vital material foundational
Change in Common: Climate change and
to many ecosystems connected to yards.
the future of the yard demonstrates how
All projects envisioned the typically static
this landscape typology is ripe for re-
yard as a dynamic site latent with social
evaluation as key to combating biodiversity
and cultural possibilities.
loss, economic inequality, waste, the heat island effect, and social polarization.
At a time when many Vancouverites seldom venture beyond their yards, this
Students collaborated with CityStudio
work reveals the hidden potentials of the
Vancouver as part of their efforts to help
yard. In doing so, Fionn Byrne, Stephanie
develop a City-wide Plan for Vancouver
Braconnier and the students of LARC 502
that envisions a healthy, livable, and
give us great hope for a landscape just
sustainable urban environment. Treating
outside our doorsteps.
the yard as a microcosmic unit duplicated across the city, students worked in pairs.
-
Each pair tackled one of seven different
SUSAN HERRINGTON
neighbourhoods: Hastings, Kingsway,
Professor and Chair,
Kensington, Fraserview, Langara,
Landscape Architecture Program
Quilchena, and Point Grey. Several
School of Architecture and
proposals sought to transform divisions
Landscape Architecture
commonly found it yards, such as fences,
University of British Columbia
into spaces for interaction in the practice of ecological and social reparation. Many projects went beyond the boundaries of the yard to include interventions of bioswales and native plantings in laneways
15
max. coverage 1584 sqft
lot area 4026 sqft
min. yard area 2442 s
>
Figure 3: Minimum yard area: For RS-1 zoning, the maximum site coverage can be no greater than 40% of the site area. This leaves 60% of the total site area as yard and available landscape.
sqft
June 21, noon
June 21, 3 pm
June 21, 9 am
Adapted from City of Vancouver, RS-1 Explanatory Notes (August 26, 2019) and drawn by Fionn Byrne.
PRIVATE PROPERTY AND COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
The development of what would later become the city of Vancouver began in earnest after 1885 with the completion of the transcontinental railway, when the Canadian Pacific Railway began selling land around the terminus of the rail line that had been granted to them by the British Crown. The course of development followed a well-rehearsed colonial process. The Crown provided land grants, engineers and surveyors measured and subdivided the territory, and settlers laid claim. The military enforced the right to the division of land and protected those who settled, at times violently removing previous occupants. 1
The Royal Engineers and Canadian Pacific Railway surveyors measured out and subdivided the land into the regular grid of lots that exists nearly unchanged to this day. What’s more is that the original parcelization continued to influence the city’s fabric as it developed. As a result, most of Vancouver has been subdivided with a uniform reductive and placeless system of measure established to accommodate the housing of settlers (Fig. 2). Key to understanding this system is a nearly obsolete measuring tool called >
Exterior of Rev. J.W. Pedley and Mrs. Charlotte Ellen Reed Pedley’s residence at 710 Richards Street, 1888. City of Vancouver Archives. AM54-S4: Bu P112
18
the “chain.” At 66 feet in length, this is the
remained largely intact, the form and use
basic unit of the urban form. Typical city
of the yard has drastically changed over
blocks are 6 chains long by 4 chains wide.
the years. 4 For example, the city’s typical
Blocks are divided into 12 parcels along
dimensions were set in place years before
the long side, which means each is 33
the average resident would own a car, and
feet wide. The short side of the block, on
so the yard shifted from accommodating a
the other hand, is divided with two back-
horse to parking an automobile. Likewise,
to-back parcels of 2 chains each. After
a once common practice of raising
subtracting a 20-foot laneway, 10 feet from
livestock on one’s property has been
each side, each parcel is then 122 feet
replaced by a trip to the grocery store.
deep (Fig. 3). 2
J.B. Jackson tracked these changes in his influential essay The Popular Yard and
The base unit found across every electoral
concluded that “the front yard has now
district of the city of Vancouver is this long
become a space dedicated to showing
enduring 122 x 33 foot residential parcel
that we are good citizens, responsible
of land. Incredibly, while at last count only
members of the community. What goes on
15% of dwelling units are single-detached
the in the back yard is strictly private, and
houses, an overwhelming majority, upward
the palisade around it protects the family
of 80%, of the city’s residential land is
from inquisitive eyes.” 5 Cynthia Girling
3
zoned single-family (Fig. 1). In other
and Kenneth Helphand would come to the
words, individual residents claim private
same conclusion several years later in
ownership over most of the land in the city
their book Yard, Street, Park: The Design
of Vancouver. This private from of land,
of Suburban Open Space. They stated,
irrespective of use, is called the “yard.”
“the yard is not just territory, but a means
The front yard, side yards, and back yard
to personalize one’s environment and to
are each rigorously defined by zoning by-
signify participation in the community.” 6 It
laws in conjunction with, and as an inverse
is precisely this concept, of how the yard
to, the building envelope.
reflects what it means to be a responsible member of the community today, that is
While the physical structure of the city has
the subject of this studio publication.
19
The yard provides an opportunity to
1.
For a more comprehensive history
explore the responsibility of individual
of the development of Vancouver
residents to the collective challenges
see Lance Berelowitz, Dream City:
facing our society. For example, while
Vancouver and the Global Imagination
the first residents of Vancouver did not concern themselves with climate change,
(Douglas & McIntyre, 2005), 40. 2.
For a more comprehensive history of
today we face the extinction of species and
the Vancouver street-grid system see
a warming climate. We ask ourselves, what
Berelowitz, 45.
is the form and appearance of responsible
3.
For more statistics see City of
actions that community members can take
Vancouver, Housing Characteristics
within their yards to address these issues?
Fact Sheet (April 30, 2017) and Glenda
Although we can lament the commitment
Luymes, “Too many bedrooms: Single-
of so much dubiously claimed land to
family zoning contributes to housing
private and individual ownership, within
shortage, UBC expert says” Vancouver
this spatial reality and power structure
Sun, October 1, 2017.
we can still ask, what new uses of the
4.
See for example J.B. Jackson, “The
yard are possible? The projects presented
Popular Yard,” Places 4, no.3 (1987):
here use landscape design as a method of
27.
research to explore the future of the yard.
5.
Ibid., 29.
6.
Cynthia L. Girling and Kenneth I.
-
Helphand, Yard, Street, Park: The
FIONN BYRNE
Design of Suburban Open Space (Wiley, 1994), 25.
20
21
Study Area 1
HASTINGS
22
Lakewood Dr
Venables St
Parker St
23
Templeton Dr
24
25
FENCE 3 Thresholds as dynamic spaces
Edge conditions are traditional boundary markers. They delineate spaces, separating the household from the neighbourhood and the private from the public. Implanted with solid foundations or deep roots, they are often static and immovable. In natural ecosystems, however, the edge is often the most dynamic; a space where various communities and processes overlap to engage with one another. As humans shape a world of growing polarity and uncertainty, adaptability is resilience and multifunction is strength. Our proposal seeks to challenge static boundaries within our neighbourhoods, spaces and minds, examining the edge as a place not only of division but of transformation and connection. We reimagine boundary spaces as a point of departure, turning to the typical single-family residential lot and its most ubiquitous and unfulfilled landscape typology — the fence. Our proposal, Fence³ (F³), explores the possibilities of flexible and dynamic physical boundaries. The premise is an alternative fence system that can be stacked, turned, built and rebuilt in any direction to provide
26
vertical and horizontal planting space. While a series of familiar fence posts provide necessary structure, the fence is largely comprised of movable, modular units. Constellations of these units can modify and adapt to sunlight, water flow, privacy, connection and cooperation and can be rearranged in response to changing seasons, social connections or simple curiosity. Laid along property lines, it adapts to three dimensions and, as neighbours engage through its malleable qualities, impacts a fourth — the social fabric. F³ provides a medium through which a single-family household can directly participate within larger cycles of human, plant and animal processes. The project sharpens its focus to incorporate edible and pollinator plantings, wild-bee habitats and vermiculture compost. Urban Potential The over-winter survival rate of wild bees is over 36% higher in urban areas than rural areas, largely due to the widespread use of agricultural pesticides. Intensive farming rapidly degrades topsoil, reducing
Ivana Lexa-French Berend Kessler
populations of soil organisms such as earth worms. The urban residential fabric becomes a possible sanctuary for these and other crucial species. With increasing urban sprawl, our project identifies the potential of the suburban household as a foundation of support for the broader ecosystems, of which our species and others depend.
reveals a preference for a physical barrier on all sides of the property. A minority of homes have no barriers between their front yard and the street. Some barriers are ornamental with an aesthetic intention occasionally matched by the rest of their yard. Cedar fencing is found in various shades of disrepair while many households favour a low-height chain-link fence.
The study site giving context to our analysis and subsequent intervention is located within a typical city block in the Hastings electoral district. It is situated four blocks south of East Hastings Street in a distinctly residential neighbourhood comprised primarily of older single-family homes. A laneway runs east-west cutting through the block — a condition typical of Vancouver. Most of the properties have medium to large back yards with a garage or shed adjacent to the laneway. Some of the yards are tended to and read as active spaces with raised beds and planting areas, while others receive less attention and have minimal planting. The threshold of the fence remains a common denominator.
We conclude that while households generally prefer a physical barrier between themselves, their neighbours and the wider community, there is room for extraordinary new possibilities in what this barrier looks like and, more importantly, what it can do.
A study of thresholds at the block-scale
27
Hastings
>
Questioning boundaries: Re-imagining rules and expectations of built space where new interactions and benefactors emerge.
28
FenceÂł
>
Context plan: A typical block in Vancouver.
>
Through the eyes of bees: Purple, blue, yellow and white are the most attractive colours to bees.
29
Hastings
A
Site Plan
Lakewood w Drive
C
D
>
Block plan: Existing conditions at the block scale.
30
FenceÂł
B
Temp T Te e leton Drive
Venaables Str St eet
Parker eerr Stree treett
31
Hastings
>
Section A: Existing conditions.
>
Section B: Existing conditions.
>
Site photo: Disjointed boundaries.
32
FenceÂł
>
Site photo: Opportunity zone.
33
Hastings
A sun and rain study on a section of the block supports thresholds as zones of opportunity. On average, they receive more sun and account for a large amount of space within a properties' boundaries. In this space, FÂł would respond with edible and pollinator plantings, compost units and the intermittent placement of bee-houses. While honeybees live in colonies, wild bees are solitary, and the fence provides ample distance and elevation within the urban environment. Plantings of 4 square feet are more effective at attracting pollinators, so we propose additional wildflower plantings on lawns and green roofs to enhance this localized system. In sum, the effects would reverberate across block, neighbourhood and regional scales.
Surface run-off Groundwater flow Infiltration Seasonal sun shadow Pollen transfer Nutrient transfer Rainwater capture
>
Site photo: Existing boundaries.
34
FenceÂł
>
Site plan: Seasonal sun and rain studies and diagrammatic illustration of pollen, nutrient and water transfers.
35
Hastings
As a radical departure from the conventional fence typology, FÂł has a profound impact on the social fabric of residential life. It expands the definition of community to include lifeforms very different from ourselves who nonetheless provide services crucial to the well-being of our ecosystems and survival of our species. The design conceptually and practically situates humans as conscious, active and responsible members of these natural cycles, heightening awareness around the processes of
Ho use
ho ld
Ne
igh
bo
urh
ood
Eco sys tem
waste and renewal.
>
It starts at the bottom: Every household has the potential to strengthen and support larger systems and communities.
36
FenceÂł
>
Bee and man: Neighbours can be all sorts of lifeforms.
37
Hastings
>
Section C, evolution of the fence: The gradual replacement of chain-link with the modular units of FÂł.
The F³ base unit is a hollow rectangular box comprised of four pieces wood — new or upcycled. The unit could be prefabricated or assembled on-site by owner or contractor. The resulting volume has three cavities on top and bottom that can receive planting and bee habitat inserts or posts to form the basic structure of the fence. The base unit measures 60x20x20 centimetres.
38
Assembly diagram: Base unit.
>
>
Exploded diagram: Base unit.
FenceÂł
Organic food and yard waste is fed into the top and worms break this down into worm-castings, a rich form of solid fertilizer that can be retrieved from the bottom. Nutrients in worm-castings are highly water soluble. A water inlet allows collected rainwater to be poured into the unit, percolate through the worm-castings and produce a liquid fertilizer called ‘worm-tea’. Worm tea collects at the base of the unit where a tap can easily fill a watering can for distribution to plantings on the fence or elsewhere.
1
2
1. Food & yard waste 2. Vermiculture compost 3. Worm castings 4. Filter to contain soil 5. Filter to contain small worms 6. Compost tea 7. Base
4 5 6
7
Vermiculture compost unit.
>
>
Bee habitat insert: 4-8 millimetre holes attract a variety of wild bees
3
39
Hastings
>
Section D, little by little: Individual units are attached to an existing fence and wildflower seeds are sewn in the lawn.
>
Colours in the rain: The preferred purples and blues of bees complement grey Vancouver skies.
40
FenceÂł
Proposed Planting Palette Fence: Basil Borage Crocus Chives Fennel Lavender Lemon balm
Marjoram Mint Oregano Rosemary Thyme
Roof / Lawn: Alfalfa Aster Black-eyed Susan Borage Catmint Cranesbills
Cornflower Coneflower Fleabane Heather Hyssop Primrose Yarrow
>
Bees welcome: The neighbourhood invites pollinators to stay.
41
Hastings
The relationship between neighbours is central to human communities and is delineated by the yard and the fence. FÂł allows for neighbours to work together maintaining the fence system through planting, providing habitat and using a shared compost unit. We propose that sharing ecological responsibility with neighbours strengthens and redefines bonds between them, as well as the environmental processes and actors they depend on. By interacting with the threshold and across it, we speculate how this reimagination may change our interaction with boundaries all together.
>
Worm tea party: A toast to a stronger community.
42
FenceÂł
Founding
Stacking
Planting
Connecting
Adapting
Engaging
43
Hastings
44
FenceÂł
>
Growing together: The modularity of Fence 3 might ultimately lead to multiple households to connect their yards.
45
CROSSPOLLINATION Reimagining back yards as moments in the greater landscape
The existing consumption-waste cycle in Vancouver and around the world enables an ongoing societal disconnect from the realities of the materials we use and dispose of, never to be seen again. The present system — wherein we bring goods into our homes and then discretely dispose of packaging and waste in containers to be hauled off by government services to no particular use elsewhere — is not only unsustainable but absurd. In a world of limited resources and continually growing demand, the need for households and communities to become more conservative, or even cyclically self-sufficient, is urgent. Our proposal draws inspiration from Vancouver’s Zero Waste 2040 strategy and the Vancouver Biodiversity Strategy to critically examine the current lack of connection to our community and environment. We suggest that the aforementioned disconnect with the materiality of the products we use is also present in the household’s relationship with its immediate environment. The back yard as we know it today is a misuse of valuable land that might otherwise contribute to
46
the cycle of growth and decomposition that directly or indirectly provides for our needs on a day-to-day basis. Some of the questions we asked were: •
•
•
To what extent might dismantling physical boundaries between private lots invoke a greater communal ownership of the land? How might we repair the disconnect between residents and local flora and fauna? How might we integrate today’s waste cycle into the locally visible landscape?
We propose a step-by-step program to reinvent and ultimately dissolve the edge conditions between private lots. By removing fences, installing pollinator hedges and deploying a strategy where residents may reuse and recycle their waste for private and community benefit, we believe that communal use of the land between humans, animals, and plantlife will result, benefiting all involved. Furthermore, we believe that making the lot boundaries porous will activate the alley-ways as enhanced community space.
Kimberly Wong Jordan Yule
Our present concept of “the fence” is a single-purpose solution that under performs with regard to ecosystem infrastructure or even private utility. However, we also recognize that the private utility it does provide as an agent for privacy and some security is valued by residents. We therefore propose rethinking fences as spaces of enhanced utility and function, whilst maintaining a physical presence. By integrating a reuse of “waste” material into the creation of “units” that serve particular ecological functions, the edge conditions of lots become valuable conduits for wildlife and customizable utilities for humans. Units and pollinator hedgerows are woven into a semi-porous membrane along the present fence-line, altered and manipulated for optimal utility.
that this strategy seeks to encourage. We hope that over time the units encourage community engagement that transcends private plot lines and creates community spaces to be enjoyed by all.
Our study deploys half-a-dozen unit schematics to inspire and demonstrate a small sample of what might be possible using material formerly considered waste. The examples include “Bicycle Generator”, “Bee Pod Hotel”, “Critter Gallery”, “Owl Composter Toilet”, “Woodpecker Diversion”, and “Swallow Resort”. These were formulated and illustrated whimsically to emphasize the personality and creativity
47
Hastings
>
Context plan.
The site is a single block located in the Hastings electoral district. It is located in a mainly residential area between two commercial hubs; (East Hastings Street to the north and Commercial Drive to the west). The houses are positioned on a rectangular grid pattern, typical of many neighbourhoods in Vancouver. L wood Driive Lake
The median building age on this block is 98 years. The average home values dropped $179,996 from 2019 to 2020. (BC Assessment, 2020)
>
Site plan.
48
Cross-Pollination
Templeton Drive
Venables Vena ena Strreeet e
Parker Street
49
Hastings
>
Subject block photos: Alleyways.
50
Cross-Pollination
>
Subject block photos: Edges.
51
Hastings
>
Sun and rain study: 2136 Venables Street, Vancouver. North side of block. Opportunity zones in pink.
52
Cross-Pollination
>
Sun and rain study: 2155 Parker Street, Vancouver. South side of block. Opportunity zones in pink.
53
Hastings
>
Existing garbage truck
>
Existing waste bins
How do we define “normal”? On the same day every week, residents sort their waste into bins — garbage, compost/yard waste, paper recycling, plastic recycling, and glass recycling — and set them at the edge of their property. Following this, large trucks generally unnoticed by residents drive down alleys with workers darting in and out, emptying designated bins into the truck as they go from door to door. When the residents are back home they roll their empty bins back into their yards and start the cycle over again. Physical lot boundaries clearly separate private and public space; municipal programs clearly divide belongings from trash. Our prototypes propose that we critically redefine “normal”.
Umbrella, 2m
Monitor Pole, 1.7m
Waterproof panel roof
Bicycle, 1.7m
Pole, 2m
Power Cable Camera to display
Table Stabilizing Foot
Generator
Bench, 2m
Cable to other unit Camera
54
Critter gallery: View photos of who lives under the bench.
>
>
Bicycle generator: Exercise while powering other units.
Cross-Pollination
Owl house, 0.8m
Pulley
Space below entrance, 15cm Scarecrow
Log Pole, 6m
Pole
Pole, 4.5m
Misc. Material Composter, 2m
Stopper Misc. Material Composter, 2m
Drainage holes for compost liquid to drip into planter
Drainage holes for compost liquid to drip into planter
Lever
Misc. Material Planter Bed, 2m
Misc. Material Planter Bed, 2m
Woodpecker diversion: Peck this, not my house.
>
>
Owl composter toilet: Owl house-compost-planter tribrid.
Goard swallow house, 28cm
Space below entrance hole, 4cm Bird bath bathtub, 1.5m
Umbrella
Pole, 2.7m
Pole, 5m
Nesting tubes, 7.9mm diameter
Plug Lever to (un)plug tub
Bucket for nest material
Shower head to dispense overflow Mason bee house, 0.4m
Escallonia x exoniensis ‘Fradesii’ Vaccinium ovatum Pink Princess Escallonia Evergreen huckleberry
>
Swallow resort: Repel mosquitoes; engage their enemies.
>
Bee pod hotel: Attract and protect native pollinators.
Nandina domestica Heavenly bamboo
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus ‘Victoria’ Victoria California Lilac
>
Pollinator hedgerow: Semi-permeable divider between yards that provides food and habitat for local pollinators.
55
Hastings
1
2
1.
Community compost and garbage pick-up moved to end
2.
Beta tester households and community workshop.
3.
All fences taken down and flowering shrubs planted.
4.
Community recycler installed and garbage units deployed
5.
Waste sorting and reuse area grows into community
of alley.
3
across block. space.
>
Phasing strategy for deployment over time.
56
4
Cross-Pollination
5
57
Hastings
58
Cross-Pollination
59
Hastings
>
Section, after: View of the alley (south facing).
>
Section, before: View of the block (east facing).
60
Cross-Pollination
61
Hastings
>
Final implementation: Perspective view down the alley (facing east).
62
Cross-Pollination
63
Study Area 2
KINGSWAY
64
Lillooet St
E 15th Ave
E 16th Ave
65
Windermere St
66
67
OMNIATE
We exist in an epoch orchestrated by capitalism, which is not only a globally dominant economic system but also an organizational framework that defines our relationships to self and nature. 1 This epoch, called the Capitalocene, assumes the right and ability of humans to alter, control, access and hold dominion over that which is non-human. It also perpetuates the alienation of humans from the web of interconnected life while removing their reciprocal responsibilities to and with other critters. The alienation of our species is expressed by physical, emotional, spiritual, and social trauma. We have constructed the urban landscape as a mechanism which separates us from interactions with and an understanding of natural processes and non-human entities. In Vancouver this is evident through the historical destruction of creeks in favour of development, a landfill that is nearing capacity and the continued overflow of raw sewage into natural water bodies. We advocate for interventions that integrate ideas of the ecological and the social in the hope that by redefining
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relations between humans and nonhumans and cultivating connection to land and natural systems we might fight both human alienation and ecological losses. How might the residential urban landscape facilitate a “reparation ecology� in the Kingsway area and heal trauma in land and human bodies? 2 Omniate consists of two municipally implemented interventions that work across both private and public land. The first intervention supports recent efforts by Metro Vancouver to restore salmon spawning habitat in Still Creek by introducing a series of bio-structures to act as an experiential stormwater management installation. It makes use of the rights-of-way that cap each end of Kingsway’s prototypical blocks by converting them into zones for stormwater infiltration and habitat enhancement. Over time the installation will completely biodegrade, allowing vegetation to overtake the site and new species to inhabit the rights-of-way. The incremental decrease of human access reinforces the idea that perhaps we can build some
Christen Oakes Kendra Scanlon
places in our cities that are not for “us,� slowly prioritizing non-human wellbeing over the human experience. Next we present a policy change that abolishes the green bin program, requiring each household in RS-1 zones to manage food and organic waste on their property. This policy brings ritual (as a repeatable, embodied process that fosters connection with something greater than self) to food waste cycling, encouraging individual reconnection to land and food systems. By seeing topographic change proportional to household masses of food waste, this policy forces the individual to confront their own place in larger systems of food production.
1.
2.
Jason W. Moore and Raj Patel, A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet (University of California Press, 2017), 3. Ibid., 207.
Omniate activates both private and public residential land to alter conventional relations between humans and nonhumans. It addresses alienation and ecological losses by re-cultivating human connections to land and natural systems.
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Kingsway
STILL CREEK
CASE STUDY
KINGSWAY
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BURNABY
VANCOUVER
BRUNETTE DRAINAGE AREA
Omniate
BURNABY LAKE
Context map: Kingsway is a part of the larger Brunette Drainage Area that empties into Still Creek. Opportunities exist across the entire area for improved stormwater management.
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Stormwater Stormwat m mw er Manag Management a ement
Kingsway
Diagrams (top right): Quantifying the impact and potential of food waste and rainwater harvest. Case study block plan (right): The ends of the block provide opportunities for stormwater management. Individual back yards provide opportunity for the personal, ritualized management of food waste.
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The Avoider T Th h e Avoi v id deer er
The hee Gardener G Gard ener err
Mourner Thee M T Th Mour Mo Mou u n nerr
The T hee A h Artist Art Arti Ar rrtt st
Omniate
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Kingsway
Experiential stormwater management: This installation consists of a series of bio-structures which are placed on rights-ofway. They catch water in small “tidal pools� along their bases, where it evaporates, infiltrates, or wicks up into the structures. The woven polymer material biodegrades, releasing implanted seeds which may grow from the structures or fall to the surface below. Rammed earth stepping stones lead the way through the site and degrade slowly. Storm water funneled from the adjacent lane, streets, and properties is returned directly into the water table, limiting the stormwater released in Still Creek and encouraging salmon habitat along the waterway.
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Omniate
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Kingsway Year 1
Year 10
Year 50
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Temporal sections: The structures and pathway slowly biodegrade to form areas of increased infiltration, maximum habitat, and limited human access.
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Omniate
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The human experience: The first few years allow passage of humans through the structures, while stormwater infiltrates below.
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Kingsway
A change in policy: To address the alienation of urbandwelling people from land and food systems, the requirement to remediate our own food waste creates an opportunity for ritualistic reflection on the individual’s larger role in the environment. The city recommends we dig small holes in our back yard on a weekly basis. Households will approach this task in a variety of ways. We have identified four archetypes that describe possible approaches to ritualizing and managing food waste. The ways in which each household responds to the task at hand will result in new forms across the urban landscape.
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Omniate
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Kingsway
The Avoider: At first, the typical homeowner resorts to tactics that attempt to tuck waste out of view from the neighbours’ watchful eyes. This adaptation is the least labour-intensive method. It remarks upon the tension between what we consume and what we discard; we aim to avoid and forget. The pile will grow, eventually changing the landscape of their yard and gently forcing them to confront their food waste.
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Omniate
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Sections: Over time, even avoided waste will become fruitful plots for growth, including some volunteer vegetables that sprout from the scraps.
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Kingsway
The Gardener: This approach proposes what to many of us is the most obvious answer to having an excess of compostable material on hand: they take a horticultural approach and use their food waste to grow new food. Their yard becomes a series of large garden beds, increasing in number the longer the policy is in place. They can supplement their diets with homegrown food, and may have enough to give away to friends and neighbours.
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Omniate
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Sections: A dedicated approach to stewarding the land. Relationships to land and self begin to flourish.
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Kingsway
The Artist: With every new medium there is an opportunity. The artist sees food waste as a material for creating new artbased land forms. These forms will shift and change as more material is added. Vanity does not escape hard work. The artist leverages their work for social clout.
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Omniate
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Sections: Documenting the shifting land becomes a new attachment to understanding waste. Eventually, plant growth takes over.
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Kingsway
The Mourner: Recognizing all that we have lost in the urban world, this approach takes ritualism to heart. They bury food waste weekly, fully embodying the process while reflecting on their role in greater systems. The weekly ritual is revealed in successive rows upon rows of small grave-like mounds.
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Omniate
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Sections: Treating each week’s waste as an offering, the mourner sees the resulting growth as point of spiritual connection.
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Kingsway
20 Years: When Omniate is implemented over a prototypical Kingsway block, biomass accumulates and land is reallocated from human to non-human habitat. Creative landforms emerge as homeowners adapt to the new policy and new relationships between residents, land, and food form. The rights-of-way at the end of the block are now giving way to native vegetation. Non-humans are slowly claiming the space as their own. The image of this block as a sea of hardscaping and lawn is slowly fading from memory as humans find unexpected kinship with their new neighbours.
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Omniate
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Kingsway
70 years: Two generations later, Vancouver sees a new residential landscape that is more green, wild, inaccessible and unpredictable than its predecessor. Food gardens sprout up from lumpy yards, native shrubs overtake laneways, and surprising critters inhabit rights-of-way. What once was private has become public: food waste is now being composted and used wherever there is space. What once was public has become inaccessible. In redefining urban human relationships to land and nature Omniate fosters interspecies responsibility. By altering the very topography on which we live our daily lives, we at once fight ecological losses and human alienation from natural systems.
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Omniate
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GREEN CAPILLARIES Verdant vasculature in the anthroposphere
Analyzing the built form and opportunities for intervention in Vancouver’s residential neighbourhoods, a number of typologies become clear. Single-family homes — particularly the ubiquitous “Vancouver Special” and similarly constructed homes — make up the typical built environment, while each block is bisected by a rear alleyway that is used primarily for waste collection and access to privately owned parking. As the property values for many of these homes has increased at astonishing rates, the possibility of home ownership for Vancouverites has decreased. Additionally, single-family homes are being split into multiple units and owners are choosing to monetize their space in any way they can; laneway homes and short-term rental units abound. This rapid hyper-monetization of space can lead to a sense of alienation and placelessness: houses become reserves for wealth, neighbourhoods become vectors for speculation. With space at such a premium and neighbourhoods struggling with a lack of identity, the social fabric of Vancouver’s residential neighbourhoods begins to fray.
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The grid of alleyways underpinning Vancouver’s residential fabric offers space and opportunity to imagine more within our shared spaces. What we propose is simple: transform this system of alleyways from the current paved typology into a network of bioswales. This malleable intervention reduces stress on city stormwater infrastructure, emphasizes community engagement, promotes ecological networking and offers the opportunity for large-scale urban transformation. We propose restructuring these narrow roads from single-use utility zones into productive bioswales that retain water in the driest months of the year and detain it during the wettest. The baseline transformation of the alleyways into bioswales, which channel and absorb water throughout the city, can reduce pressure on the current municipal system and take on additional environmental functions. Our proposal imagines four typologies to begin: ecological corridors, urban orchards, productive agricultural operations and a network of publicly operated rain gardens.
Maxwell Slater Beau Wuthrich
The resulting naturalized corridors are designed to link disparate communities of animals, plants, people, and systems. Through the reallocation of function from collection of garbage to collection of water runoff we envision a new public network of ecological spaces that could transform urban neighbourhoods.
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Kingsway
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Imaging the first of Vancouver’s alley bioswales.
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Green Capillaries
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Kingsway
Trout Lake
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The Matrix: Alleyways can form a network with an alternative, non-anthropocentric program.
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Renfrew Ravine
3100 Block
Green Capillaries
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Timeline: Interventions at personal and governmental levels.
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Kingsway
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Shade and rain: A study revealing the alley as the hydrological and solar crux of the space.
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Green Capillaries
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Analysis: The large slab of concrete in the alley acts as a stone heat sink, and quickly channels water from the adjacent lots directly into Vancouver’s stormwater system.
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Kingsway
Utilitarian Alley: At present, the alleyway is a storage space for cars and a conduit for garbage removal. We propose situating the alley as central to each block and its community, rather than as ancillary to the roads that frame the block.
Vegetation Vege on enjoy enjoyed ed priva privately tely
Private carports orts as ent entriess to homes hom o
Physicall div Ph divisio ision n of spa pace c
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Green Capillaries
Garbage pickup in alley
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Alley detail.
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Present situation: The current ecology of the alleyway.
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Kingsway
Bioswale transformation: We propose transitioning the alleyway from a space that prioritizes the personal automobile and trash pickup to a space that emphasizes ecological and social connectivity with improved municipal infrastructure, resulting in an increase of ecological activity. The bioswale construction and localized planting pallets work in harmony and we can imagine a network of systems that begin to give highly valued city land back to humans and non-human species.
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Ecological corridors.
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Green Capillaries
Soil with high organic matter Porous sub-layer Gravel/stone base Liner/drainage g tile
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Kingsway
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Relationships: Public-private interactions change with the design of this space.
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Green Capillaries
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Resonance: A sense of place and stewardship is nurtured in these new, interstitial spaces.
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Kingsway
Single crop orchards: Emphasis on little to no labour with high aesthetic value, single fruit crops allows for identification with a particular fruit and the potential for trading with other neighbourhoods. Food, space for people, and a fruitful sense of identity could be shared and celebrated by the communities in this space. Difference of crop choice between neighbourhoods emphasizes variety, most notably in produce, but more importantly in the timings of shared annual agricultural events, such as flowering, leafing, and fruit harvests.
Soil with high organic matter Porous sub-layer Gravel/stone base Liner/drainage tile
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Single crop orchards.
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Green Capillaries
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Kingsway
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Apple allĂŠe: A low labour, high produce option.
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Green Capillaries
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Kingsway
Guilding the Alley Food for people: Nuts, Fruit, Forage Food for soil: Nitrogen, Leaf litter Diggers and miners: Legumes, Deep roots Groundcover: Swale protection Climbers: Grapes, Pollinators Support: Grasses, Shrubbery Protection: Integrated pest management
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Permaculture alleys.
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Green Capillaries
Perennial Agricultural Ecosystems: By taking the best of
The specifics of planting and harvesting are flexible; hazelnut
both worlds - a network of corridors designed to prioritize
trees form the upper canopy while legume plants fix soil-loving
ecological needs - and a system that is agriculturally productive
nitrogen underground to feed the entire system. A variety of
and socially engaging, we are afforded the opportunity to
stories builds vertical guilding and the increase of biomass
transform these alleyways into permacultural oases. These
retains more water. Habitats for birds and insects occur
low-input, high-output farms rely on a few simple principles:
naturally, and the surrounding residents benefit not only from
The agricultural systems must function perennially; they must
the food produced, but from the magnificence of a naturally
be holistically balanced; and they must be operable by the
maintained ecosystem.
community, in a low-input manner.
Overstory (high canopy cover) Chestnut, Walnut, Hazelnut
Midstory Honey locust
Ground cover Nasturtium / Clover
In swale Comfrey
Understory Berries, Perennial vegetables
Soil with high organic matter
Gravel/stone base Liner/drainage g tile
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Kingsway
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Permaculture promenade: A balance of labour and productivity.
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Green Capillaries
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Kingsway
Sowing the future: Networks of varied typology and agenda could enhance Vancouver’s urban fabric by weaving running stitches of green across our city’s preexisting interstitial networks. The first step to realizing this possible world simply involves the reconstitution of something we already share: a six metre wide alleyway.
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Expansion: The network of alley bioswales sweep Westward.
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Green Capillaries
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Study Area 3
KENSINGTON
116
Somerville St St Catherines St
E 37th Ave
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THE PLOT THICKENS A soil quality intervention
Kensington represents a typical Vancouver residential neighbourhood; single-family homes, organized neatly in rows on a grid. This is an urban pattern typical not just of Canada and the North American continent but also of much of the world. Our study block is predominantly occupied by young families with diverse economic and cultural backgrounds. As a result, the individual’s relationship with their yard varies significantly from house to house. Some yards simply serve as places to store cars, lumber and — in at least one case — old toilets. Other yards serve as maintained landscapes to frame and display the home with neatly trimmed shrubs, brick and ironwork fences and even lion statues. Some yards are furnished for socialization, featuring patio furniture or children’s play equipment. Other yards are set up for labor: growing food, building and working on things. Despite these differences, the yards all have in common the fact that they are extensions of the people who maintain them, and as such respond to the individual aesthetic desires, time constraints, financial considerations, and
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functional requirements of the residents. Because of the diversity of uses and the limited amount of unused space in many yards, our design aims to impact the whole yard while minimizing disruption to existing character. Soil is the foundation of every ecosystem. Billions of bacteria can be found in even a small handful of healthy soil, which plays an important role in the cycling of nutrients on both a local and global scale. Plant health is precipitated by soil quality. The majority of urban soil is highly degraded, making it a prime target for remediation. As cities expand, urban soil becomes ever more important. In fact, as little as 0.4% annual increase of global soil carbon sequestration could store enough carbon dioxide to halt global warming. Despite the fundamental importance of soil, it is often overlooked. Our design methodology inverts traditional perspectives of the yard and focuses on the subterranean and the microscopic. Our proposed bio-enrichment vessels offer a low effort opportunity to invest in
Ben Eisenberg Chris Rothery
the health of a yard. The vessel combines passive compost and irrigation techniques to feed nutrients directly into the soil, stimulating the mycelium and bacteria that power the soil ecosystem. Using inputs of rainwater and green waste from the kitchen or yard, the bio-enrichment vessel brews a nutrient-rich compost tea that flows through the semipermeable, biodegradable membrane of the vessel. Over its 10 year lifespan, the vessel improves soil quality, creates a thicker layer of humus and fosters a more active microbial community. Plants benefit from the increased resources in a slowly expanding radius from the vessel. The benefits continue to flow through the ecosystem.
a lush community, with all the associated benefits of an urban forest on human health and property value. In this way, the vessels even contribute socioeconomically to the community. While The Plot Thickens is envisioned here as a Kensington-specific solution, the bio-enhancement vessel has broad reaching implications as an easily scalable and transportable design with important impacts on every scale.
Eventually the vessel itself biodegrades, merging completely with the mature soil community it once supported. In a single yard, an individual bioenrichment vessel could be used to support a vegetable garden or a young tree. A network of vessels could transform the entire yard. Across a whole block, an extensive network of vessels would create
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Kensington
Tree Density High density
Low density
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Tree density: Measured in the Kensington area.
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The Plot Thickens
Of the over seven thousand street trees in Kensington, the largest concentration of established tree roots are in the southwest corner, suggesting an ideal site for a subterranean intervention. The Plot Thickens builds on that existing network with its microbial ecosystem working mutualistically with the neighbourhood’s dense street tree network.
Impermeable surfaces House foundation Tree or shrub root network Microbe plume from vessel
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Area of proposed microbial network.
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Kensington
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Subject block photos.
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The Plot Thickens
Designing for microscopic constituents requires a shift in perspective. The world manifests itself differently at a small scale. Where a small yard or garden might seem like an insignificant space to us, an insect might find a rich and complex world. Where a pile of trash tucked into a corner might only catch our attention as an eyesore, to insects it represents a dense layer of resources. A driveway that might not be a barrier to us represents a swath of land cut off to photosynthetic life. A fence that separates us from our neighbours is hardly noticeable to roots and mycelium.
Incorporating compost can increase soil carbon content by 50 - 80%
Globally, a 0.4% annual increase in soil carbon could halt the annual increase in atmospheric CO²
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Kensington
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Microscopic worlds.
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The Plot Thickens
Soil food web: Simplified from: Simplified from: H.W. Hunt, D.C. Coleman, E.R. Ingham, et al., “The detrital food web in a shortgrass prairie,� Biology and Fertility of Soils 3, no.1 (1987): 57-68. By targeting the soil-forming bacteria and fungi, our design solution supports the overall health of the yard ecosystem across multiple scales, from the bottom up. As the microbial community grows, it becomes able to support larger communities of plants, insects and birds in the yard. Healthier plant communities support human physical and mental health. The benefits of our intervention magnify themselves as they cascade across scales from microscopic to human.
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Kensington
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Bio-enhancement vessel: Interactions with soil structure and topography.
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The Plot Thickens
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Kensington
Detail 2.
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Detail 1.
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The Plot Thickens
The bio-enhancement vessel is the gateway through which humans and microbes interact with each other in the yard. Through mutually-beneficial association, quality of life can increase for both humans and soil bacteria.
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Kensington
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Year 1: At installation.
Soil forming processes take months to occur, and in low quality urban soil, the full effect of the intervention could take years to manifest. At installation, soil microbes would begin receiving new nutrients, but their effect would not yet be evident in the landscape. As time progresses, the microbial activity around each vessel would increase, thickening the plot of soil and strengthening the roots of plants in the immediate vicinity. Soil quality would begin to radiate outward. By the end of the vessel’s 10 year life, the soil community in it’s area would be established and the vessel itself would decompose into the soil.
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Year 10: The soil community is established.
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The Plot Thickens
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Kensington
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Information sign: Soil / human community.
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Microbial public art.
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The Plot Thickens
A neighbourhood with a strong soil community can be a neighbourhood with a strong human community. Soil microbes recognize no property lines, connecting the biotic community across the entire neighbourhood. Plants share resources with their neighbours and even communicate with each other via networks in healthy soil. As this project develops, humans benefit from healthier gardens, increased property values, and a greater sense of community cohesion. In an effort to increase understanding and acceptance of the bio-enrichment vessel system, informational signs and public art are recommended. This public art, combined with a flourishing of the neighbourhood’s plants, could profoundly reshape community identity.
Anticipated microbial spread: After 10 years.
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Active blocks
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Kensington
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Inverted section: A beautiful and complex world hides just below our feet.
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The Plot Thickens
A world most rich, the entirety alive. Networks outstretched, communities to connect. Intrinsically allied, together thrive. Important space - protect, no more to neglect. No need to scrap your rusty grill and old hubcaps, sit back and relax, just feed the soil your scraps. The nutrient cycling makes a soil more healthy, gardens make a community more wealthy.
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SHARED BOUNDARY The Fence Garden
The fence signifies the property line between two neighbours; a separator between two private spaces. In Vancouver, the high fence may also serve as a symbol of social isolation and social disconnection. Our project “Shared Boundary” challenges this narrative through an integration of a shared planter-box fence. This fence system speculates how food, water and waste management could be shared amongst neighbours, with the goal of connecting the community at large. Through the introduction of a shared water/food/waste system along the fence line, neighbours can contribute to the sustainable goals of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan and can build stronger connections with one another as they work together to manage the system. Rainwater is re-directed from roof drains into the fence garden boxes. Water that surpasses a certain level in water tanks could then be automatically released to the garden boxes to irrigate the fruits and vegetables. In the back yard, a shared chicken coop encourages interactions and shared ownership between neighbours while providing essential proteins.
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Household food waste and organic waste from the fence garden and chicken coop can be used for compost, and later be reused as fertilizer for the garden. The water/food/waste system will encourage each neighbour to share costs, time, material usage and storage spaces. Both benefit by increasing overall productivity and efficiency while still maintaining privacy by adjusting the height of the fences. This results in economic, social and environmental benefits through the reclamation of the fence line. The fence garden becomes a solution to the ‘metabolic rift’: the rescaling of food production, reclaiming of vacant land, and de-alienating urban dwellers from their food. By integrating a straightforward design solution along the property lines, neighbours can contribute to building a sustainable future within their community. The fence, formerly a method for protecting privacy and discouraging interaction, becomes a catalyst for neighbourhood community development through localized food production and alleyway events.
Joshua Fender Kelly Kang
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Kensington
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Shared Boundary
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Back alley.
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Typical back of the house on St. Catherines Street.
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Typical back of the house on Sommerville Street.
Typical house front on St. Catherines Street, looking east.
St. Catherines Street.
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Typical house front on Sommerville Street, looking west.
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Kensington
Kensington lot size <25%
Regular lot: 122 ft x 33 ft
Typical lot size
38% of houses have planted edibles
An average of 23% permeable and green space
St. Ca the rin es Str eet
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Axonometric: Typical conditions for the block.
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88% of houses have planted shrubs or ďŹ&#x201A;owers
Shared Boundary
So mm erv ille Str eet
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Kensington
Typical Fence Condition
Sharing table 4 x 4 x 6 ft
4 x 2 x 6 ft
4 x 2 x 4 ft
Compost Bin 2 x 4 x 2 ft
2 x 2 x 2 ft
Water Storage 2 x 4 x 2 ft
2 x 2 x 6 ft
2 x 2 x 4 ft
Shed & Market Unit 8 x 4 x 7 ft
Chicken Coop 4 x 4 x 6 ft
2 x 4 x 2 ft
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Kit of Parts: Units are designed to fit together along the centre of the property line offering varying degrees of privacy and function.
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Shared Boundary
Full Sun
1/2 Sun
Full Shade
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Design intervention plan.
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Kensington
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Current condition.
Full Sun Vegetables
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Sharing table & chicken coop.
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Full Sun Florals
Shared Boundary
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Stormwater management integration.
High Shade Evergreens
Low Shade Evergreens
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3-Zone planting scheme.
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Kensington
%
pe
Slo
1-5
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Water system: Roof drain diversion into fence.
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Full shade: Wet, shady zone between houses.
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Full sun: Dry, full sun zone in back yards.
Shared Boundary
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Front yard: Outside looking in.
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Front yard: Inside looking out.
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Kensington
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Full scale intervention: View of alleyway.
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Shared Boundary
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Kensington
February Coop Maintenance
January Cooking Classes
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Project Calendar
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Back yard view: Children & chickens.
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May Spring Gardening
March Annual Planting Meeting
April Seeds Exchange
June Summer BBQ
Shared Boundary
August Compost Exchange
July Summer Market
November Winter Planting
September Back yard Tours
October Pumpkin Carving
December Christmas Feast
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Alleyway market: Community summer market.
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Study Area 4
FRASERVIEW
154
Lancaster St E 51st Ave
Rupert St
E 52nd Ave
155
156
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THE MOVING CANOPY
The Moving Canopy is a comprehensive landscape design project for the Fraserview neighbourhood, in the southeast section of the City of Vancouver. The site shares many similarities with other residential blocks in Vancouver. The site is an RS-1 zoning district and restricted for single-family housing only. As in traditional western landscape planning, single-family houses in Vancouver often have a front yard and back yard as private greenspaces. Public or semi-public greenspaces such as Killarney Park and the Fraserview Golf Course are within walking distance. The project is designing the yards at the single house scale, block scale, and community scale. This project addresses urban heat island effect in Fraserview by increasing shade on impermeable surfaces through staged tree planting, starting in the back yards. Besides increasing shade, we would like to improve the physical and mental health of individuals by enhancing tree canopy in residential areas and connecting community members by introducing a plant-sharing program. By promoting sustainable design solutions, this project
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will raise public awareness of urban ecological issues. After site research and analysis, the design program is divided into two parts: movable planters and a community sharing program, both managed by the community centre. The design intent of movable planters is to allow people to change the position of the plants for optimal shade throughout the seasons while keeping the existing pavement in the back yards. The design of the movable planters emphasizes user experience. The wooden planters have a simple structure, a safelock mechanism and dimensions directly related to the human body. The planters can hold the suggested plants and soil and be rolled around on flat surfaces easily. There are screen planters, shade planters, supporting planters and a compost box to support healthy soil. The screen planters have high recreational value because they create a sense of relaxing space by blocking views and providing seating. Trees in shade planters will cast shadows, thus mitigating urban heat island effect. Air quality will also be improved by tree planting. Once the trees outgrow
Vicky Cen Jenny Tang
the planter, they can be transplanted into lawns in the back yard, or they can become public street trees as permanent landscape elements. Supporting planters are designed for habitats in urban ecosystems and urban agriculture. Planting vegetables and fruit trees will support local food production, meaning more organic food, less ecological footprint and a sense of achievement. Mature fruits and vegetables can be shared with neighbours in the community sharing program. Once the tree canopy of the block has been increased to capacity, plants can be more widely distributed to public spaces or to other blocks. The community program includes weekly food exchanges and seasonal events where people gather in the alley to socialize. The dates of these events along with planting and composting strategies are organized into a calendar that is given to households when they first receive a planter. The benefits of this program are strengthened social cohesion and community building, as well as education about agriculture and recycling systems.
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Fraserview
2 Years Later
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Site photos: Exposed paved back yards and front lawn can cause heat island effect.
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Project diagram: From temporary to permanent.
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Concept collage: Planting and composting on wheels
The Moving Canopy
Planning Zone Short-term Opportunity Zone Long-term Opportunity Zone
Killarney Park
Comm munity Centre
Frasservi eerv rv rvieew Golf Courrse se
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Context plan.
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Fraserview
Axonometric
Rupert St.
3
E 52nd St.
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Block plan: The block has a low canopy cover, as there are few street trees. The front yards are mainly lawns with low shrubs, whereas the back yards are paved as parking space.
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The Moving Canopy
4 5 1
Lancaster St.
2
163
Fraserview
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Existing physical conditions.
Rupert St. Low stone fence
Planting rack
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Section 1: Existing conditions.
Rupert St.
Lawn
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Section 2: Existing conditions.
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Deck on top of a garage
Paved back yard as parking space
Garage
The Moving Canopy
Max. 3.7m height Max. 48m2
Max. 1.9m height
Max. 8% of total permitted ďŹ&#x201A;oor area Max. 3.7m height 10
Lan cas ter
m 10
St.
m
2m
Max. 9.5m height Max. 30% depth
Max. 20% depth
45
m
5m
45
m
Ru
per
tS
12
t.
m
Min. 45% depth
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Existing legal structures: RS-1 zoning regulations.
Lancaster St. Paved back yard as parking space
Add-on deck and carport
Dense vegetation with tall conifer hedges
Lancaster St.
Paved surface
Lawn
Add-on shelter
Lawn
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Fraserview
Cherries
Onion
Apricots
Broccoli, Cabbage, CauliďŹ&#x201A;ower
Peaches
Carrots
Pears
Lettuce
Apples
Peas
Composting
Eggplants
Weekly goods exchange
Peppers, Tomatoes Spinach
Seasonal market event
Screen Planters
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Movable planters catalogue.
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Shade Planter
The Moving Canopy
Supporting Planters
Compost box & Aerator
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Fraserview
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Compost boxe boxess Grow w ing i vegetables e i n planters Fruii ts and vegetable b s ready for trad t e Planters stay in bac Plan a k yards after m ma rket hour or if owners donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to trade Owners can contribut b e street treess t o enhance the exis ting landscape character La er trees moved Larg d o ut of plantee rss
6 Rupert St.
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Site plan with rain and sun studies.
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The Moving Canopy
4
1
2
3
5
169
Fraserview
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Section 3: Bamboo planters create a protective boundary and sitting space.
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Re-arrange the bamboo planters to form a relaxing space.
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Bamboo planters form screens while playing basketball.
The Moving Canopy
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Fraserview
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Section 4: Local food production supported by fruit trees and vegetables grown in the planters.
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The Moving Canopy
Winter arrangement: Supporting planters on south edge; shade planters in the middle; parking on shaded north side.
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Summer arrangement: Shade planters on south edge; supporting planters on north edge; parking under shade.
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Fraserview
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Section 5: Neighbours gather at the back alley to exchange food and socialize at the seasonal community event.
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Weekly vegetable exchange in the alley.
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Mature fruit trees are transplanted to street trees.
The Moving Canopy
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Fraserview
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Neighbours are celebrating the seasonal community event and trading their food products in the alley. Households customize planters, fitting the existing back yard space.
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The Moving Canopy
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Fraserview
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Existing site condition: Back yards are fully exposed to sun.
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2 Years: Households are transplanting mature trees from planters to lawns.
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1 Year: Multiple households are using movable planters.
5 Years: Full of trees, the site is well shaded; canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t grow vegetables any more; household are selling fruits picked from trees.
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3 Months: One household starts using movable planters.
The Moving Canopy
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6 Years: Mature trees in planters will be transplanted and become street trees in surrounding blocks or the local community centre.
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Study Area 5
LANGARA
180
Columbia St W 45th Ave
Alberta St
W 46th Ave
181
182
183
DE RECONSTRUCTION Rejuvenating yard soil
Approximately 45% of houses in the Langara neighbourhood range in age from 60 to 70 years old. The city of Vancouver’s Green Demolition By-law encourages people to opt for greener alternatives when demolishing old homes.¹ Deconstruction is a more environmentally responsible form of demolition wherein the reuse and recycling requirements are greater than usual. Pre-1950 homes must follow the green building demolition bylaw, and certain deconstruction companies such as the ‘Unbuilders’ in Vancouver are working within those parameters. The age of the houses in the neighbourhood prompted us to rethink the fate of the yard while the house goes through the process of deconstruction. We propose an entrepreneurial approach that takes up the task of protecting, reconstructing and rejuvenating the soil during this time. The process of home deconstruction takes 2-3 months, while the construction of a new home takes 7-12 months on average. We propose that a series of compost pits are dug in the hot and dry parts of the yards of the single-family
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homes undergoing deconstruction. The deconstructed materials such as wooden planks, which are normally stored on the yard during the deconstruction process, will be used to cover these compost pits and the topsoil. Community members and neighbours are invited to contribute their compostable kitchen and yard waste to these compost pits. In the well-drained soil of the neighbourhood, the compost is ready in 2-3 months, a timing aligned with the completion of deconstruction. The soil in the Langara neighbourhood is of Bose-Heron type.² This soil type is well-drained but has a low cation exchange capacity, meaning that it lacks a nutrient holding capacity. The compost adds nutrients to the soil. To further rejuvenate the soil, we propose planting nitrogen-fixing plants such as clovers, lupines, legumes and peas in the yard in the next phase. The rich healthy soil will be able to support the growth of staple underground food crops such as potatoes, yams and earthnuts. Heavy feeders such as tomatoes, pumpkin, corn and winter squash will ultimately be able to grow in the yard’s rejuvenated soil. With the help of annual species, a plant rotation
Anjani Batra Prashi Malik
strategy will help the soil as much as the community. Tables set up outside the yard enable food harvested from the yard to be distributed and shared with everyone in the community. In this neighbourhood, where the average individual income after taxes is $20,000 to 30,000 per annum, free community grown food would be a welcome resource and potential new way of life.Âł
1.
City of Vancouver. 2018. Administrative Report: Green Demolition By-law Update. Accessed at https://council.vancouver. ca/20180516/documents/pspc2c.pdf
2.
University of British Columbia. N.d. Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources. Interactive Soil Map. Accessed on February 25, 2020. https://vancouversoils.ca/
3.
Census Mapper. N.d. Canada Census 2016. Average Income Explorer (Individual After Tax). Accessed February 25, 2020. https:// censusmapper.ca/maps/1535?ind ex=1#14/49.2308/-123.1139
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Langara
<$40,000
Built before 1955 ~45%
>$40,000
Built after 1955 ~55%
Building age.
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>
Income per person.
Houses built before 1955 Single-family dwellings
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Impact: Single-family dwellings built before 1955, showing extent of the impact of soil transformation in the neighbourhood
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De - Reconstruction 2015 2011 2006 1995 1991 1979 1979 1978 1952 1952 1949
1951 1951 1951 1951 1951 1951 1951 1989 1990 2009 2014
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Aerial view: Houses built before 1955 in the block.
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Langara
20% DEPTH Lot Size
35% Building Maximum Depth
45% Back Yard Minimum Depth
9.8m
Min.
Max. 1-storey
Min. Distance
7.9m
3.7m Max. Ht. Flat Roof
4.9m
0.6m
Max. 1½ storey
4.6m
Min. 0.9m
Max. Ht. Sloping Roof
Min. 0.6m Max. Area = 0.16 x Lot Area
HEIGHT Max.
9.5 m 2½
LWH
or floors LWH
1 CarPark Min. (Permeable) Min. 1m Landscape Setback
40% Maximum Site Coverage
WIDTH 10% Minimum Side Yard Width
20% Maximum Side Yard Width
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Axonometric of typical city by-laws.
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Site images: Typical 1950’s bungalow.
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Min. 26 sqm
Front Yard Minimum Depth
De - Reconstruction
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Axonometric of existing physical conditions.
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Site images: 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s housing typology with new construction beyond.
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Langara
A cyclic process is created each time a house is deconstructed and the lot is prepared to host a new house, beginning a new phase in the lotâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. The community shares its compostable organic waste with the yard of the house under deconstruction. The soil is replenished with the compost and nitrogen-fixing edible annual plant species. The replenished soil is used to grow food such as potatoes and peas for the community. The community also recycles and reuses the wood from the house for planting beds in their own yards. The timeline shows each part of the process aligned with its preceding process. The vision for the future is that the community supports and participates in the soil rejuvenation process, and the new home owners are assured of the quality of their yard.
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Project diagram: Flow of food & waste in the community in the process of soil reconstruction
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De - Reconstruction
1951 1952
Months
DECONSTRUCTION
COMPOSTING
NEW HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
NITROGEN-FIXING PLANTS
HEAVY FEEDERS/UNDERGROUND TUBERS
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Timeline: Minimum, maximum time (in months) requirements and relative placement of the different processes involved.
191
Langara
Axonometric
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Site plan.
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De - Reconstruction
193
Langara
COLD & DRY
(78
)
COLD & DRY
HOT & DRY
(78)
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267, W 46th AVE: Shadow and rain study.
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HOT & DRY
De - Reconstruction
HOT & DRY
COLD & WET
(79)
HOT & DRY
COLD & DRY
COLD & WET
HOT & DRY
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260, W 45th AVE: Shadow and rain study.
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Langara
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Conceptual collage.
House built before 1955.
Step 1: Putting up the hoarding.
Step 2: Digging pits in the yard for composting.
Step 3: Covering compost pits with construction wood planks.
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De - Reconstruction
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Prototype.
Step 4: Planting nitrogen-fixing edible species.
Step 5: Planting edible heavy feeders in nutrient rich soil.
Step 6: Planting annual nitrogen fixing edible species again.
Step 7: Sharing harvested food with the community.
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Langara
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Visualising soil reconstruction in yards of multiple lots.
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De - Reconstruction
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Langara
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House under deconstruction: Compost pits and spot trenches covered with wood planks while the house is deconstructed.
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Composting: Soil with increased worm activity.
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Waste sharing: Neighbours give to deconstructing lot.
De - Reconstruction
Future yard: Healthy soil supports a healthy ecosystem.
>
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Nitrogen fixation: Yard soil supplemented with nutrients.
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Food yielding yard: A front yard where soil has been restored by a landscape architecture firm and food bearing plants grow.
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Langara
WINTER January
February
SPRING March
April
May
Edible Annuals Nitrogen-Fixing
Edible Underground stems / roots
Edible Annuals Heavy Feeders
00
-0.35 m
-1.20 m
Compost: 60% Carbon, 40% Nitrogen Layering in spot trench, 2-3 months
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Seasonal planting scheme: Section details of phasing through seasons.
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Nitrogen Fixing Plants, Staple underground tubers in nutrient-rich compost
June
De - Reconstruction
SUMMER July
August
FALL September
October
November
December
00
-0.35 m
-1.20 m
Heavy feeders flourish in regenerated soil
Distribution to community Sharing is caring!
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CRISIS COMMONS A permaculture-based landscape resource sharing scheme
As global climate change disrupts Vancouver’s social-ecological systems, our project envisions a collective response to the anthropogenic climate crisis. Radical in its approach, Crisis Commons outlines a block-level resource sharing scheme in the Langara neighbourhood to be implemented by residents in collaboration with municipal experts. The project draws on David Holmgren’s twelve permaculture design principles in delegating tasks to individual lots which go on to share their outputs and function collectively as a holistic regenerative system. By adhering to permaculture principles, the proposal establishes a complex adaptive system that engages with food production, waste management, microclimatic regulation, hydrology, and soil formation. In our initial stages of design development, we focused on increasing urban tree canopy within privately-owned yards to promote a comfortable microclimate to mitigate urban heat island effect. Central to this proposal was the establishment of successional planting guidelines to manage urban tree canopy, alongside the sharing of soil-building materials — such as mulch derived from aged trees slotted
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for removal — across lots to facilitate tree health. As we expanded our project to consider opportunities for collective urban food and waste management within the residential block, our focus on succession and soil-building was broadened to include permaculture as a holistic design approach. The final design proposal covers four areas: the food forest, animal inputs, forage and medicinal plants, and stormwater management. The food forest consists of crops and edible plants which are actively cultivated for harvest. These are located in back yards for ease of access and to facilitate the relatively messy soil-building treatments such as sheet mulching. The guidelines determining placement and selection of food plants account for plant succession across a 20-year period, i.e., crops are planted considering the shifting shade conditions as trees are eventually lost and replaced. Animal inputs consist of cricket farms and chicken coops. Crickets are farmed in solar-heated containers within back
Jennifer Reid Noora Yunus
yard sheds, consuming plant waste and ultimately serving as chicken feed. Meanwhile chickens are raised in back yard coops, laying eggs and providing fertilizer. Forage and medicinal plants are located in the front yard. These plants require relatively little maintenance and conform to the aesthetic conventions expected of a front yard, while serving as an emergency food and medicine supply. Finally, the many retaining walls and shallow sloped topography of the block are leveraged to facilitate stormwater filtration and storage in the front yard. Deep soils of varied composition planted with deep-rooting species are used to filter stormwater, which is stored in a cistern below the road. This component relies on collaboration between municipal engineers and the lot owners, and presents an opportunity for municipal incentives. As an exploratory document, this proposal attempts to establish a conceptual foundation for design guidelines and a collaborative framework to inform pragmatic design proposals going forward.
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Langara
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Permaculture systems diagram: The holistic network within which this permaculture design proposal operates.
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Crisis Commons
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Soil informational diagram: A comparison of Podzol soil horizons common on undisturbed sites in Vancouver (left) and urban soil (right).
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Langara
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Succession: Life phases of a tree from seedling to mature.
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Food forest: An ideal back yard food forest. Lush canopy combined with food production can increase food security in neighbourhoods while adapting to climate change.
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Crisis Commons
Animal yield & waste Plant yield & waste Plant co-management Sequential soil filtration
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Context plan: We are focused on the block of 45th and 46th Avenue between Alberta & Columbia Street. Colours indicate proposed changes at a neighbourhood scale.
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Langara
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Existing condition: Many under used spaces in the laneway.
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45th & 46th Avenue: Existing conditions looking west.
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Crisis Commons
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Proposed: Laneway planting in contested spaces.
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Langara
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Existing condition: On site, two old western red cedars.
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Years 1-5: Remove dying western red cedar and replant new tree.
Crisis Commons
Successional planting strategy over 10+ years: This series of plans illustrates changing canopy structure over time as trees are replaced to adapt to climate change.
Tree removed
New tree
Years 5-10: Remove and replant.
Years 10+: New canopy and shade.
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Langara
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Existing Condition
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Year 1
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Year 2
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Crisis Commons
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Year 6
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Year 7+
Project phasing: How the projects unfolds in one yard over time.
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Year 5
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Langara
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Particle sizes for mineral soils.
Target Soil Volume for a Large Tree ~150 m² canopy | 3 large trees per 1000 m² = 40 % canopy cover
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Ideal soil volume for large tree on whole lot, typical soil volume for large tree in an average garden planting.
>
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Soil informational diagrams: Average lot area, average garden planting area.
Crisis Commons
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4-Lot axonometric: Axonometric illustrations of existing and proposed conditions on four southern lots.
217
Langara
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Initial sharing scheme: Sharing of soil-building materials and the growth of a successional tree canopy on two target lots.
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Crisis Commons
219
Langara
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Permaculture sharing scheme: Plan of permaculture resource-sharing among six target lots.
220
Crisis Commons
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Langara
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Crisis Commons
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The permaculture sharing scheme: Implemented throughout the block.
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Study Area 6
QUILCHENA
224
Highbury St W 21st Ave
Wallace St
W 22nd Ave
225
226
227
HYPERNATURE High performance grids
In the 21st century, biodiversity loss, food insecurity and loneliness present challenges for sustaining cities. Each of these issues can be addressed through modifications to the natural environment. In response to these three issues, we raise the question: can we create an artificial nature that can catalyze the restoration of lost habitat, the production of local food, and the creation of community? We believe that we can simplify, accelerate and optimize natural processes to address these challenges. Our intervention seeks to achieve this by maximizing the potential of the yard in the Quilchena neighbourhood in Vancouver. In Quilchena, we found that space and sunlight are being wasted on single-function yards planted with monocultures, but both can be better harnessed to maximize growth. We also found that there is relatively little canopy cover in the yards compared to the neighbouring Pacific Spirit Park. We propose placing a grid of scaffolding across entire lots to maximize the use of vertical and horizontal space on properties. To address biodiversity loss, we propose planting climbing plants in
228
the scaffolds to accelerate the process of habitat creation for birds living nearby in Pacific Spirit Park. To address food insecurity and further maximize the use of space in the lot, we propose growing squash and cucumber monocultures along with algae bioreactors in the grid. Crop yields can be optimized with bee boxes for pollinators, while â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bird toiletsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capture bird droppings to be harvested for nutrients to fertilize the plants and the algae. Finally, introducing solar panels that power 24hour grow-lights in the grid can maximize plant growth by capitalizing on solar energy. The lighting will also address loneliness by fostering an inclusive community atmosphere where neighbours can experience nature together in the evening after the work day. Collectively, these design interventions culminate in a grid across the urban fabric to create a superblock of hypernature. With the rise in average temperatures due to climate change, the scaffolding system will also help to make temperatures in the yard more tolerable through shading and evapotranspiration from the climbing vegetation.
Emma Gosselin Jingzhou Sun
In Hypernature, we redefine the concept of waste as the lost opportunity of not using a resource to its full capacity. Populating empty space and capturing unused sunlight can help foster growth of community to reduce loneliness, growth of plants to create food, and habitat for organisms that support our food systems. Exploiting supporting ecosystem services such as fertilizer from bird droppings and pollination from bees â&#x20AC;&#x201D; indirect benefits â&#x20AC;&#x201D; can help to promote provisioning services such as crop production for human consumption â&#x20AC;&#x201D; direct benefits. Ultimately, we redefine nature as a system that functions to benefit humans.
229
Quilchena
>
Hypernature: An instant forest manufactured by humans.
230
Hypernature
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Study site: Typical scaffoldings for construction on singlefamily homes in the Quilchena neighbourhood.
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Quilchena
Wallace Street
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Context: Quilchena, adjacent to Pacific Spirit Park.
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Study block: Existing conditions.
232
Highbury Street
Hypernature
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Quilchena
3848 W 21st Ave
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Study Block: Existing conditions on two adjacent properties. Canopy Coverage: 5.7%.
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Hypernature
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Pacific Spirit Regional Park: Typical canopy coverage, 98.7%.
3847 W 22nd Ave
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Quilchena
West 21st Avenue
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Section A.
West 22nd Avenue
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Section B, study site: Existing conditions and details of the yard, cutting through the block North-South.
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Hypernature
West 22nd Avenue
West 21st Avenue
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Quilchena
Scaffolding is installed in the yard, capitalizing on the unused vertical space on and above the lawn. The scaffold provides structure for climbing vines (virginia creeper) to accelerate the process of habitat creation on the site for warblers, woodpeckers, nuthatches and various songbirds. Nesting can occur in the scaffolding and the vines. Virginia creeper produces berries for birds in fall and thrives in both sun and shade.
>
Birds nesting in scaffolding and vines: Responding to biodiversity loss.
238
Hypernature
Vertical algae farms in the scaffolding provides a food source for humans with efficient use of space. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bird toiletsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at the base of the scaffolding collects droppings from the birds living above. The droppings are harvested for nutrients to fertilize the algae and plants in the scaffolds. Bird droppings containing seeds also contribute to new plant growth on site.
>
Algae and bird toilets: Responding to food insecurity.
239
Quilchena
Bee boxes in the scaffolds provide habitat for mason bees to promote pollination of cucumbers. Cucumbers are planted in the yard and grow vertically in the scaffolds. Bars of 24-hour grow lights in the lower scaffolds promote growth of crops and algae.
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Cucumbers: Neighbour sharing harvested food.
>
Bee boxes, cucumbers and lights: Responding to biodiversity loss and food insecurity.
240
Hypernature
Solar panels installed at the top of the scaffolds capture solar energy and power grow lights. The grow lights provide light during the night in the alley and the yard. The lights help to maximize daily growing time and crop yield. They also illuminate the alley to make it a more welcoming and safer space for people to socialize with their neighbours in the evening after work.
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Lights: Socializing at night in a illuminated public space.
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Solar panels and lights: Responding to loneliness and food insecurity.
241
Quilchena
full sun light shade full shade rain
>
Deployed scaffolding: Layering of sun and rain study, existing site, and design interventions on the plan across four lots. Design interventions occur throughout the grid.
242
Hypernature
solar panel and grow lights
solar panel and grow lights
virginia creeper vine
virginia creeper vine
songbird
bird toilet
bee hotel
mason bees
songbird
bird toilet
cucumber and squash
algae
residents
residents
Function solar energy habitat fertilization direct human use pollination
solar panel and grow lights
residents
>
Network: Exchanges of solar energy, nutrients, and pollen, and the relationships between species and structures.
243
Quilchena
Private Space (Instant Forest)
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Deployed scaffolding: Layering of bird habitat, food production zone, and social space across one lot.
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Upper Canopy (Bird Habitat)
Emergent Layer (Bird Habitat)
Hypernature
Private Space
solar panel
Understory (Production Zone)
Lower Canopy (Bird Habitat)
Public Space (Alley)
virginia creeper
algae panel cucumber monoculture 24 hr grow light
245
Quilchena
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Scaffolding: Design deployed across multiple blocks.
>
Scaffolding: Over time, different residents start adding scaffolding across their lots. Squash and cucumbers start to cross boundaries into neighbouring lots.
246
Hypernature
247
Quilchena
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Existing condition: Pre design intervention.
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6 AM
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24 hour time series: Throughout the day and night, there is a continuous supply of light for plant growth and people.
248
12 PM
Hypernature
6 PM
12 AM
249
Quilchena
Day 2
Year 50: Day 1
Day 2
Phasing of crop production: Change from years 1, to 50 and 100 showing growth and harvest. Over time the weather and people change. Each year new crops are produced.
Day 2
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>
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Year 100: Day 1
250
Hypernature
Day 48
Day 50
Day 48
Day 50
Day 48
Day 50
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ALICEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S RETURN Challenging the lawn
The lawn is the most common ground cover for private residential yards in Vancouver. 70% of the households have a lawn in British Columbia. While the lawn connotes prosperity and recreation, it is a mono-functional space with a complete lack of biodiversity. Vancouver has set out various initiatives to help people contribute to increasing biodiversity in the city, and our proposal extends these recommendations to the space of the private yard. In our time of critical habitat loss and widespread species extinction, we believe that it is unacceptable for the lawn to continue as the normal strategy for covering private space. We challenge the pervasiveness to nonproductive space by proposing that every lawn is replaced by a multi-functional natural system that contributes in one of 4 ways: 1.
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The Aesthetic Yard: a beautiful and colourful alpine garden.
2.
The Urban Livestock Yard: with chickens for meat and egg production.
3.
Low Maintenance Food Forest: planted with native berries that attract pollinators and produce food.
4.
The Waste Control Yard: relying on soil regeneration and compost re-use through underground mushroom networks.
These approaches can be used individually or combined, and can be adapted to any site because they respond to a variety of environmental site conditions. Additionally, the community can be brought together through the management and trade of resources using a neighbourhood sharing platform. Although we are removing the lawn, we are returning a wonderland that is healthy, diverse, abundant and vibrant.
Suzy Zhan Zhijie Ma
253
Quilchena
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Site photo: Typical lawn condition.
254
Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
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Block plan: Area of experiment.
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Quilchena
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Site analysis: Understanding the existing conditions.
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Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
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Design components: Chickens, berries, and mushrooms.
3
1
2
1. Chickens + eggs + sharing + education
2. Berries + food + low maintenance + beauty
3. Mushrooms + waste control + recycling + biodiversity
zone 2: Sunny & Wet
RAIN STUDY
NATIVE ALPINE zone 3: Shady & Wet
MUSHROOM
zone 1: Sunny & Dry
ALPINE BERRY
zone 3: Shady & Wet
MUSHROOM
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Design zones: Study of unique environmental conditions.
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Quilchena
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Design response: Front yard, option 1.
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Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
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Quilchena
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Design response: Back yard, option 1.
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Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
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Quilchena
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Design response: Front yard, option 2.
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Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
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Quilchena
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Design response: Back yard, option 2.
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Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
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Quilchena
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Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
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A new wonderland: replacing lawns with a dynamic landscape.
267
Quilchena
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Building community: A prototype for an online sharing platform.
268
Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
269
Quilchena
Time to Harvest Your Berries
>
Timeline: Community members come online as they transform their yards and remove their lawns.
270
Chicken Adoption
New Plant Growth Expected
Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
Recipe Sharing
Online Course
Q-messages
New Plant Growth Expected
New Plant Growth Expected
Post-it!
271
Quilchena
272
Aliceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Return
>
Study model.
>
Planting palette: Without the constant green lawn, the landscape now changes colour with the seasons.
273
Study Area 7
POINT GREY
274
Sasamat St W 5th Ave
Tolmie St
W 6th Ave
275
276
277
DECOMPOSITION AND RENEWAL Point Grey green burial
Vancouver is currently in uncharted territory in terms of the climate change crisis, habitat loss, and a lack of adequate urban waste and food cycle systems. This is exacerbated by a cognitive dissonance surrounding the natural cycle of life and death. This design intervention seeks to reconfigure the notion of death in an urban context and realize our contribution to the urban eco-system before and after our passing through decomposition and renewal. Waste and Food: Green Burial Vancouver has many action plans and green initiatives, but one element of civic life that remains overlooked is the waste cycle associated with death. Cremation emits approximately 540 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air per year. Traditional burial, which comprises embalming and burial in a steel and wood casket, requires approximately 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde per year, while a 10-acre cemetery contains 1,000 tons of steel and enough wood to build over 40 houses. A green burial seeks to minimize impacts on the local and global environment and
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provides an alternative to people who are mindful of the cyclical nature of life. Every human body contributes 6 pounds of nitrogen, 2 pounds of phosphorous and 1 pound of potassium, all of which are key elements to the production of healthy soil. Our proposal offers a new perspective on decomposition and renewal by encouraging residents to opt for green burial within their own properties. Along with our green burial strategy, we have designed a complimentary growth and food cycle that memorializes the interred and celebrates their life-giving potential. In order to encourage the cycle of decomposition and renewal, quails become another essential part of the system. Quails are non-destructive, a natural fertilizer, quiet, provide fresh eggs and meat and can bring joy to a topic that can be quite heavy. We also propose that small burial mounds are built with mulch as they provide a sense of memorialization and encourage further decomposition of the body. Eventually these mounds will return to a flattened state. Once the mound is built, we encourage property owners to plant Calendula officinalis (pot marigold) as
Kevin Parsons Yaying Zhou
they are heat, shade and drought tolerant while also having medicinal properties. Not only does it provide an affective memorialization, but it also has high feed potential for quails. Stormwater Management: Moss Stormwater management has been integrated into this study to tackle the combined challenges of the blocks 9% slope and below average stormwater pipe size. With major storm surges expected due to climate change, we propose that selected species of moss replace grass to increase water retention capacity. Moss is also a powerful symbol of renewal and decomposition, as it produces its own food source through photosynthesis but also helps to break down organic matter into nutrients.
dead or dying tree. Point Grey is near both Jericho Park and Pacific Spirit Park. We propose that snags are cut to 6 feet to not cause any damage to humans and properties. By integrating snags in Point Grey, it will provide critical habitat to more than 100 bird species and is an excellent opportunity for citizens to witness the life-giving potential that comes from decomposition. It is our hope that through this design we can create a multifaceted urban landscape that integrates socio-ecological values. In turn, providing citizens with opportunity to discover intimate links between decomposition and renewal.
Habitat Creation: Snags The design also proposes the reconfiguration of dead, damaged or dying trees. We encourage policy makers to change regulations that allow for property owners to utilize what is known as a snag. Snags refer to a standing,
279
Point Grey
>
Decomposition and renewal: A representation of the various elements of decomposition, renewal, and their relation.
280
Decomposition and Renewal
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Death and rebirth: A collage of the main project components.
281
Point Grey
Moss species Shorter hours of shade Racomitrium lanuginosum Dicranum scoparium Polystrichum commune Hydocomium splendens Longer hours of shade
Impervious surface
Opportunity zone Green burial Quail coop Tree snag
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Decomposition and Renewal
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Existing conditions: Including slope, hydrological flows, shade and impermeable surfaces. Also identified are potential opportunity zones for intervention.
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Point Grey
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Propositional collage: Life regenerated from death.
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Snag
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Four Principles of Decomposition and Renewal: Moss
Decomposition and Renewal
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Green Burial
Propositional collage: Life and death spent underground.
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Quail
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Lot study: Provides an intimate look of two separate sites of intervention on the North and the South of the block.
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Block study: A view of the entire block which offers an opportunity to witness the interaction of different components of the design.
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Scene one.
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Scene three.
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Scene two.
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Decomposition and renewal throughout time: Four detailed views throughout the course of an average lifespan.
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Stage 1: Pre-design intervention with specific attention to the dying conifer tree.
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Stage 2: Establishment of a snag, quails and vegetation, and the state of the green burial one year post-intervention
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Stage 3: Three years post-design with increased habitat, quails and vegetation
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Stage 4: Eight years post-intervention; the property has reached noticeable productivity.
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CAPRA TILAPIA
Capra Tilapia is an integrated goat and fish farming system that is shared â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in land, commitment and the resulting product â&#x20AC;&#x201D; amongst a minimum of four neighbouring properties in West Point Grey.
highly productive fish and goat farm while maintaining a sense of ownership of their property.
Capra Tilapia is a circular exchange of land, production and people. A transformation of topography is evenly exchanged between homes; fill from the creation of two ponds on the south properties is used to create two hills on the north properties. The farming system itself is a continuous cycle: fish, goats, plants and compost all interact and depend upon one another to function. These two central features of the design require a third component: continuous collaboration amongst neighbours.
The tilapia portion of Capra Tilapia consists of one large tilapia pond and one run-off pond. It is a closed-loop aquaponics structure in which no waste is created. Up to 1,500 Blue Tilapia are raised in the fish pond. The wastewater is channeled through a series of filters and a berm, consisting of a gravel layer and a topsoil layer, is installed. The gravel acts as a biofilter, providing a surface for ammoniaeliminating bacteria. Worms provide further filtration and suppress plant disease. Nitrogen-loving lettuce is planted on the berm, uptaking the nutrients in the water. The clean water then travels to the overflow pond, ready to be returned uphill to the tilapia pond. This pond structure is designed to be a biodiverse wetland ecosystem, providing habitat for other wildlife as well as producing food. The southern properties could produce 680 to 1,300 kilograms of tilapia and 5,000 kilograms of lettuce per year.
This project responds to the social dynamics of West Point Grey. The selected area of study is a block where people greatly value their privacy; 100% of the residents use security cameras. We are challenging this concern for privacy by encouraging people to strengthen their community by collectivizing resources for a shared food-growing system. Participants become an active part of a
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South Properties: Blue Tilapia and Lettuce
Marije Stryker Sara Tavakoli
North Properties: Nigerian Dwarf Goats Pastures consisting of a variety of native grasses and wildflowers are proposed for the two north properties. A pair of Nigerian Dwarf goats is rotated from one property to another every four days. The fill from the creation of the ponds is used to construct hills and the goats are able to access the garage roofs, now planted with pasture vegetation. The hills allow for the pastures to remain dry, a critical aspect of goat raising in Vancouver. The goats provide many benefits to these two yards: they control invasive species such as ivy and blackberry, and the manure keeps the pastures fertile. The goats can produce around 340 kilograms of milk per year, which can be used to make a variety of products.
on the social and economic structure of the West Point Grey neighbourhood, as well as other neighbourhoods that choose to become a part of this type of shared, cyclical farming system. Capra Tilapia addresses the issue of the large amount of predominantly unused lawn space and transitions these areas into high-production, biodiverse and attractive green and blue spaces.
These two separate farming components are integrated to optimize resource management. The goat manure is used to grow phytoplankton, a food source for Blue Tilapia. The lettuce raised on the southern properties becomes a supplemental food source for the goats. The produce and resulting revenue is shared amongst the participants; this could have a large impact
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The expanded system: A representation of how Capra Tilapia could be situated within a larger cyclical farming network with a variety of integrated production.
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Capra tilapia concept diagram. A closed-system goat and fish farm; all aspects are interconnected. Also illustrated are the resulting products.
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Site plan.
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Capra Tilapia
Detail Design
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Year 0, existing condition: Homeowners value the appearance of their front yards, but the back yards are predominantly impermeable surfaces or unused lawn space.
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Year 1, installation: Ponds are dug, hills are created, green roofs are installed.
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Year 2, high production: Goats are introduced to the system; fish, vegetables and dairy products are being produced. The yards are now attractive and biodiverse green spaces.
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Year 3, establishment of a market: A variety of products are sold in the Capra Tilapia Market.
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Tilapia wetlands, section cut. A detail study of how the installation of a tilapia pond will dramatically alter the yard; transforming the area into a wetland ecosystem.
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Capra Tilapia
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Private garden: A pond and berm are situated to allow for maximum sun exposure and capture the flow of stormwater through the site.
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The yard is now productive, attractive, and biodiverse.
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Custom topography: The transformation of the neighbourhood through the creation of the fish ponds and goat hills.
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Heightened production: An overall view of the alley demonstrating the circulation of people and their interaction with Capra Tilapia.
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The goat farmers: The neighbours benefit from the shared farming system while maintaining their sense of private ownership.
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The tilapia farmers: Sharing food builds community, without sacrificing security and privacy.
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Fionn Byrne
Stephanie Braconnier
Fionn Byrne is an assistant professor at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. His research focuses on the relationships between nature, aesthetics, and ethics, using speculative design to challenge dominant environmental narratives.
Stephanie Braconnier is an adjunct professor at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia. She is a designer who works in landscape architecture and urban design, collaborating with firms in Canada, the USA and Europe to visualize resilient urban landscapes and vibrant public spaces.
Prior to joining the faculty at UBC, Byrne served as the Daniel Urban Kiley Fellow at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Byrne has also taught at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto and at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.
In 2016 Stephanie founded FUTURE LANDSCAPES Design + Visualization with the ambition to pursue a more versatile and integrative approach to design that encompasses the spectrum of scales within graphic representation, from typography and digital media to landscape planning at an urban scale. FUTURE LANDSCAPES focuses on projects that have a significant and meaningful impact on enhancing biodiversity, developing natural infrastructure, and fostering human connection in the public realm.
Studio Instructors Fionn Byrne Stephanie Braconnier
Studio Report Designer, Cover Image, Neighbourhood Maps, and Site Photos by Fionn Byrne Studio Report Editors Fionn Byrne Stephanie Braconnier School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture The University of British Columbia 402 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6333 Memorial Road Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z2 Tel 604 827 7252 2019/20 Winter Session Term 2 Studio Report LARC 502 Design Studio II Change in common: Climate change and the future of the yard
2020 Copyright of all drawings, texts and photographs held by the authors and contributors.
2019/20 Winter Session Term 2 Studio Report
Students Anjani Batra Vicky Cen Ben Eisenberg Josh Fender Emma Gosselin Kelly Kang Berend Kessler Ivana Lexa-French Zhijie Ma Prashi Malik Christen Oakes Kevin Parsons Jennifer Reid Chris Rothery Kendra Scanlon Max Slater Marije Stryker Jingzhou Sun Jenny Tang Sara Tavakoli Kimberly Wong Beau Wuthrich Jordan Yule Noora Yunus Suzy Zhan Yaying Zhou