Land of Sky - Brownfield Site

My studio this semester is undertaking a brownfield site located along the French Broad River, in the River Arts District, of Asheville, NC. The site was originally the home of a tannery that used the tannins from chestnut oaks. Now it is a dilapidated squatters paradise.


The developer would like to see it as an extension of the existing River Arts District with low rent spaces for artists and businesses. The River Links Organization and the City of Asheville have other ideas since it is located in the 100 year flood plain. They see it as a recreational extension of the French Broad River - not a mixed use development.


It is our duty to decide and design the best possible solution for the site given the the constraints and wishes of the involved parties. Also, did I mention that this is indeed a design competition? It is focused for Architectural and Landscape Architect students. We have departments and studios from NC State, West Virginia, VA Tech, Arizona, and Clemson competing.

More on the competition.

mooreSQ

Competition. Competition. Competition... Its healthy right?

The Moore Square Design Competition is the City of Raleigh’s first public design competition. The design competition is a one-stage conceptual design competition with an invited jury of five individuals chosen to select the winning concepts. Cash awards will be presented to the first-, second-, and third-place winning concepts.

The State of North Carolina owns the Square and the City of Raleigh maintains it. Pending approvals of the Raleigh City Council and the State of North Carolina, the first-place winning design concept team will be provided the opportunity to participate in the master planning process.



So I was approached by a group of colleagues from a development firm in DT Raleigh: one architect, one graphic designer and one community liaison, back in June. They were interested in working with a student landscape designer and I was referred to them by a colleague.

So now 2 months later we are working full steam ahead with a solid design... The deadline looming in the near future... September 29th, 5 PM... Pray for us.

More on the competition...