college of built environments' interdisciplinary design studio at the university of washington
Branden Born, Associate Professor of Urban Planning
Gundula Proksch, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Ken Yocom, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture
In the United States, it is estimated that about 30% of the agricultural output originates within or on the edges of metropolitan areas. In response, a field of research and practice has emerged that focuses on the productive effectiveness of urban agricultural practices locally, regionally, and globally. In fact, locally, Seattle just declared 2010 "The Year of Urban Agriculture."
Using multidisciplinary skills from both undergraduate and graduate levels, this BE Lab is building upon these urban initiatives and their interrelated goals by developing strategies for integrating agricultural practices into the built environment. In particular, into the sustainable design of a large urban site containing multi-story residential buildings. Working at multiple scales, we are examining and synthesizing the intersections between socially equitable urban agricultural strategies with "high tech"/state of the art sustainable building systems.