Whats in your back yard?
In the third unit of my junior STEAM class "Urban Planning," we spent the past couple of weeks learning about sustainable design. In this class, we talked about different local and global community design projects. We looked at many community designs from across history. My favorite places that I researched design were Oak Park and Austin township. I enjoyed learning about these different communities and how their housing design and transit design changed over time and what factors contributed to those changes. While researching during our internal investigation, we viewed and listened to James Kunstler’s, Majora Carter’s, and Ellen Dunham-Jones' Ted Talks. They all presented 3 different subjects on communities and cities. These subjects talked about the architecture of cities and how it’s gotten lazy, the inequality and segregation created by designs of some communities, and how we can fix these issues with concepts such as retrofitting. There were also other terms my classmates and I dissected like white flight, R.C.I. (Residential Commercial Industrial) communities, and N.I.M.B.Y. (Not In My Back Yard).
For this project, I used the information that I learned in this class to help redesign a vacant plot of land in my community into a community garden space. I designed a digital sketch and digital 3D model of my design, as well as a 3D model of my design out of cardboard, popsicle sticks, and a ton of hot glue.
The current area I am redesigning is a vacant lot on 4600 W. Parker Ave. This lot restricted from the community. There is a lot of empty land in that area that could be used for a park, garden, or other community spaces. This lot is near the freight or Metra train tracks. So there will be some loud noise from time to time. If I was to redesign this spot, I would add a large community garden. In this green space, I would add park benches for people to sit down and enjoy the garden. I would also add a small playground structure for small children, this would be primarily used by neighborhood kids and kids whose parents are spending time in the community garden. I decided to add a large community garden because there is a community garden across the street from this vacant plot, but the land that the garden sits on is very small. Creating a community garden in this spot would help create a better space and a larger space for members of the community to enjoy fresh locally grown produce and create a larger space for neighbors to safely gather.
According to the 2015 land use inventory, there is vacant land east of 4629 W Parker Ave, Chicago, IL 60639. This lot is right next to a residential area. It is also right behind a commercial strip. The area is undeveloped and is overgrown with grass and weeds. ( according to the pictures on google satellites) The downside of this site is that it is right near the train tracks. Another downside of this site is that it is hidden from the main streets since it is right behind busy commercial buildings. According to the City Health Dashboard, 33.8% of Chicago adults in the area surrounding reported being physically inactive during 2018. This is a 30% increase from Chicago's 26% adults who reported being physically inactive during 2018. Creating this community space in this neighborhood could help increase physical activity in adults that live near that area.
CH. "current space." Google Maps. Google Drawing, 2021.
A project that inspired my design was the City of Seattle P-Patch Community Garden Program. With this program in place, the city recommended that “appropriate ordinances be strengthened to encourage, preserve and protect community gardening particularly in medium and high-density residential areas” (City of Seattle, 1992). The city also set a goal to add community gardens throughout the city, aiming to create at least one garden per 2,500 households. I was also inspired by the Bedford Stuyvesant Community Garden in Brooklyn, New York. The new design which included the help of many community members included raised vegetable planters, fruit trees, unique “vine screens”, and central lawn space for all types of social gatherings.
Adding raised plant beds will help encourage people in the community garden to spend time outside. Adding large garden plots will allow people to grow larger produce that they can sell or eat. This will also encourage people to become more active. Both of these alterations will encourage people to eat local foods and choose healthier options. The picnic and park benches give people a place to rest and relax, making this space for people in the community to gather and spend time together. The playground offers an active and safe space for kids to play while their parents spend time gardening or talking with other community members in the garden. The shed offers a space for shared tools and resources.
CH. "Blueprint." Home.by.me. Google Drawing, 2021.
This design relates to 2 different targets from SDG 11:
Target 11.7: Provide access to safe and inclusive green and public spaces - "By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible, green and public spaces, particularly for women and children, older persons, and persons with disabilities." All things that I added to my design are accessible to all and used by people in the neighborhood. In making my design I thought about how everyone could be involved in this space no matter their age, race, and disability. I wanted to design a space for all.
The area that I want to redesign is a rectangular undeveloped plot of land. The dimensions of this vacant lot are 110ft by 60ft. The total area is 6600 sq. ft. My design has two buildings, a shed and a greenhouse. The shed is a rectangular prism with a right triangular prism on top. The dimensions for the shed's rectangular prism are 16ft * 12ft * 12ft. The volume of the bottom part of the shed is 2304 cubic ft. I know that the base is 12ft while the height is 6ft. We know the dimensions of the right triangular prism; base: 12ft, height: 6ft, and prism length: 16ft. 16ft * 0.5 * 6ft * 12ft = 576 cubic ft. Adding both together 2304 + 576 = 2880. We can get the total volume of the shed, 2880 cubic feet.
The greenhouse is a rectangular prism with a triangular prism on top. The dimensions for the rectangular prism are L: 20ft, W: 12ft, H: 12ft. 12 * 12 * 20 = 2880. The volume of the bottom part of the greenhouse is 2880 cubic ft. The dimensions for the greenhouse triangular prism are Face1: 10ft, Face2: 10ft, Face3: 12ft, Length: 20ft. equation for calculating volume of triangular prism : volume = length * 0.25 * √( (a + b + c) * (-a + b + c) * (a - b + c) * (a + b - c) ). | 20 * 0.25 * √( (10 + 10 + 12) * (-10 + 10 + 12) * (10 - 10 + 12) * (10 + 10 - 12) ) = 960 .| The volume of the triangular prism is 960 cubic ft. If you add both together, 960 + 2880 = 3840 you get 3840 cubic ft as the total volume of the greenhouse.
CH. "before - digital 3D model." Home.by.me, 2021.
CH. "physical - 3D model." 2021.
The scale of my model is 1 cm: 2 ft. The 3D model includes a small playground, raised planter boxes, large garden plots, a greenhouse, a shed, a picnic bench, park benches, a water fountain, and a fence surrounding the entire lot. I created the fence, raised planter boxes, picnic bench, park benches, playground, greenhouse frame, and shed roof out of popsicle sticks. I had to measure each section and popsicle stick out before I would make any additions or cut anything. I did this just to make sure that I got the scale right. I used cardboard for the base of the shed and the trees. I used tissue paper for the tree and bush. I used real sandpaper for the sandbox. To create the transparent appearance of the greenhouse, I used Saran wrap.
It was challenging working with this since I was using a hot glue gun and it would melt through the wrap. It was challenging to complete this model overall because I accidentally dropped the glue on my foot and fingers when it was still hot. The advice I would give to someone else if they had to do this problem would be to make sure you have collected all the materials you need to put together your model so you're not running to the store when you realize you ran out of hot glue sticks. Overall I learned more about urban design from all over the world and I learned a lot about scale when creating my 3D model.
Sources Cited:
- Ritchie, Roser, Mispy, Ortiz-Ospina. "Measuring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals." https://sdg-tracker.org/cities, website (2018)
- NYU Langone Health. "City Value for Physical Inactivity in Chicago, IL." https://www.cityhealthdashboard.com/il/chicago/metric-detail?metric=25&metricYearRange=2018%2C+1+Year+Modeled+Estimate&dataRange=city, website (2018)
- Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. "Land Use Inventory." https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/data/land-use/inventory, website (2015)
- City of Seattle, Department of Neighborhoods. "P-Patch Fact Sheet." http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/documents/FactSheet2010.pdf, PDF (2010)
- https://www.nyrp.org/en/gardens-and-parks/bedford-stuyvesant-community-garden/
- https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/13619899.pdf
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