Pamunkey River
Horseshoe + Beales Farm
This Land
History
1940
Habitat Place
System
Arterial Roads/Systems
Wealth
1000 Acres of Farmland
Dairy Farm
A n intricate understanding of the role agriculture plays in the United States combined with the collapse of family farms throughout the country serve as the catalyst for This Land. A multi-generational family farm operates around an untouched site of decaying agricultural
infrastructure including barns, silos, sheds and parlors that once existed as a dairy farm. The fast paced mechanization of agricultural practices has led to the decline in small family operations and unadaptable infrastructure. A Stanchion dairy barn gently rests within the envelope of accompanied buildings. An adaptive reuse program applied to the building’s interior would open the barn to public engagement with preserved character and new applications. The barn contains five new flexible studio or office spaces and an open gallery space on the upper attic level.
Nature
Wealth
Ideology
Artifact
History
System
Place
Problem
Aesthetic
CU AGRI
Hanover County, VA
A R D S H I P + CO M M U N ITY ST E W + C U LT I VAT E G AT H E R
LTURAL LAND
SCA
PE
Habitat
Richmond, VA
6.3 Million Farms
Large Family Farms 50,043 $1,000,000+
Very Large Family Farms 5,420 $5,000,000+
98%
2,204,792 farms in the U.S.
are considered family farms.
5.5
2.1
Median income in all U.S. households $63,179 (2018)
500
335
300 167
200 100 100
53
Retirement
90
Low Sales
Moderate Sales
Small Family Farms
2018 Agricultural Research Survey
72
47
Off-farm Occupation
Mid-size Family Farms
Large
Very Large
All farms
Six Major Land Uses of the United States Graphic representation of major land uses in the United States in acreage
How To See Land The landscapes and built environments of the United States are sometimes more clear to distinguish than others. While geographically these landscapes connect together like a jigsaw puzzle, the connection, or rather relationship, between the pieces layers of socioeconomic troubles and the historical and cultural erasure are hidden or intentionally overlooked. The rural and agricultural landscape serves as a looking glass to see these issues. While the two or not always intertwined, they pose the question of why they often are.
89.7 69 Million Acres
Large Scale Family Farms
2019
11.7
Land Operated
Mid-size Family Farms 111,486 $350,000 and $999,999
2.7
Median self-employment income in U.S. households $86,401 (2018)
400
2.2 Million Farms
Small Family Farms 1,812,428 <$350,000
746
Median Household Income by Farm Type 2018
Existing in an industrialized society, agriculture is just another field that invites new growth and
advancement through mechanization. Unable to follow pursuit are the endless seas of crumbling silos, roofless barnes and overgrown pastures across the country; small family farms. Furthermore the inability for generational family farms to stay afloat lies within the power and commoditization of agriculture by large corporations. The relationship of commerce and community that was held together by small family farms can no longer survive without adaptation. The stewardship and husbandry on family farms disappears when there is no longer a need to occupy the land being cultivated, furthermore when the economic gain becomes an economic loss. Instead, the symbiotic relationship that exists between people, agriculture and industrialization now results in the abandonment of rural communities and its people. Rural today means predominantly agriculturally and economically distressed. One answer is to blend urban and rural characteristics through a design that is in
19.6
12.4
21.1
47.7 45.9 21.0
20.6
Value of Production
F
Family Farm: Any farm organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or family corporation. Family farms exclude farms organized as non family corporations or cooperatives, as well as farms with hired managers. USDA Classification
F
700 600
Number of Farms
1930
800
arm: Any place that, during a given year, produced and sold—or normally would have produced and sold—at least $1,000 of agricultural products.
69 Million Acres
Medium Family Farms
654 Million Acres
Large-Scale Family Farms Non-family Farms
392 Million Acres
*Land use map does not include Alaska and Hawaii in acreage Data compiled from USDA 2012 Land Use Census Report
GRASSLAND PASTURE/ RANGELAND
169 Million Acres
539 Million Acres
FOREST-USE LAND Grazed Forests Unprotected forest Timberland
CROPLAND Land planted for crops Crops for pasture Idled cropland
SPECIAL USES National Parks Wildlife Areas Highways Railroads
MISCELLANEOUS Cemeteries Gold courses Marshes Deserts
URBAN LAND
harmony with the land.
IO AT IZ AL RI ST E DU UR IN OF ULT C RI AG
N IO AT N LIZ TIO A IA EC NIZ ION SP HA AT C N ID ME SOL ATIO N TR CO CEN N CO
N
e r. at rie ilit bar fac or to rt lly po a p i u pec as ,es ng ce mi pla n/ for in (ə) me w H a o S c fr (t) fa or an do st, /’st ea ,po eh bar th un ight ds o l n pr ho u at an th me ra af
. ing lk mi
ion ·ch n a st
Stan·chion /’stan(t)SH(ə)n/ noun An upright bar, post, or frame forming a support or barrier. A frame that holds the head of a cow in place, especially to facilitate milking.
self supporting steel ramp set into existing feeding trough. removed stanchion piping connected and filled with glass as railing
wood-framed herringbone studios with opaque glass overlay
extruded cold-formed metal piping laid over existing feeder trough
new lumber floating staircase with mounted stanchion railing
Plywood ‘Hay’ Bales Two-string dimensional hay bales (18x36x14) are modeled by corresponding plywood boxes serving as flexible seating
Glass Boxes Trap doors line the edges of the barn for entrance to hay attic. A glass encasement covers the open holes to below
Gallery Room Modeled to represent the existing parlors adjacent to the main barn used for milk refrigeration and storage
Stand-alone Gallery Wall A lightweight wire frame supports a 60 foot long panel for hanging works in line with the existing hay trolley track system that stretches horizontally at the peak of the rafters from each end of the barn to the outside