Agri-metery

Academic Work - SUM 2018 - Columbia University GSAPP

Site Location: Greenwood, Brooklyn, New York

Partner: Sihan Li

Critic: Karla Rothstein, David Zhai

This project creates a new agricultural ecosystem in dialogue with Green-Wood Cemetery. With swelling populations, many cities are running out of space for conventional cemeteries. Simultaneously, the growing middle class increasingly desires fresh and local agricultural products. To address these two problems, we propose to renovate Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn, to become an “agri-metery,” integrating the memorial functions of the cemetery with the capabilities of producing various agricultural products, including flowers, fruits, and dairy.

Quantify the production

The mapping of land value based on accessibility and elevation, and the mapping of soil toxicity based on grave density

The equalization of land values based on accessibility and elevation, before and after our interventions

Promession will be used to achieve the conversion from corpse to fertilizers. An inverted wall/clearing + shed system is employed as the basic tectonic strategy to transfer materials and people between the “cemetery” and the “farm,” facilitating energy exchange and nutrient circulation. The fluctuating geometry of the system accommodates phasing the re-appropriation of land for production, displacement of monuments, soil remediation and soil replenishment, while increasingly linking the agri-metery to adjacent communities.