| Extending 51-mile in length, the history of the LA River focuses on two central narratives: the devastating floods of the 1930s & the rapid channelization of LA’s main inland waterway. Following decades of environmental and ecological advocacy, the LA River Master Plan emerged as an initiative to revitalize the river as a multi-functioning infrastructure centerpiece.
Out of 450 Parcels, 98 were selected and combined into potential project sites. And of the 98 project sites selected, more than 70% are recognized as utility right-of-way corridors. As a way to reimagine the river as a connector of culture, water, and green open space, this project aspires to implement a utility park promenade in Central Plain: Parcel #13 to incorporate a natural, recreational park and equitable educational community center. The utility park promenade recognizes the field of transmission line easements as a cadence for space-making and corridor connectivity. In turn, the familiarity of the utility easements throughout the region replaces the river as the project. The utility infrastructure sustains growth, but it is woefully underutilized.
Located between the I-710 Freeway & Garfield Ave intersection, Not a SunFlower Farm focuses on remediating, rehabilitating and reclaiming what was abandoned through the tension of soil repair vs agriculture. While this project is cropped in its true cardinal direction, the site is rotated by the 8th degree to sit perpendicularly with the LA River and Long Beach freeway. This lacing of directionality offers potential for two types of growing: one externally in the ground for remediation and the other internally in the greenhouse through permaculture farming and a closed hydroponic system for edible plants.
Historically, this strip of land sits on top of a highly industrialized wasteland limited by industrial and residential development, transmission easements, and access disconnection. In an effort to revitalize the intoxicated site, Not a SunFlower Farm initiates a long-term 4-step process:
1. Remediation - an agricultural space for phytoremediation and nitrogen-fixing plants that simultaneously heal and nurture the environment
2. Education & Preservation - foster a continued community engagement in the practice of harvesting knowledge through education of ecology & composting/sprouts workshop relational to the edible & medicinal plants used to treat the site
3. Conservation & Rehabilitation - re-introducing native flora and fauna in water and land acknowledgment to the Indigenous Peoples that have stewarded this land for thousands of years
4. Growing - community becomes interconnected with the conservation of biodiversity in ecosystems in a larger context of the river; people are given knowledgeable access to the river corridor by merging science, art, and community involvement in research
Not a Sunflower Farm is a long-term proposal that seeks greater potential in becoming the confluence center for collaborative trade knowledge networks in communicating issues of sustainable development across the discipline. Inevitably, this synergetic relation enhances opportunities to celebrate local arts and culture in an inclusive environment open to a festival of agriculture, farmers' markets, cafes, restaurants, hand-crafts, etc. |
