geof bell

baarch, LEED GA

Urban landscapes is a short conceptual project to examine the potential for a new type of urban farm. Lexington, Kentucky is widely known for its farmland, however only very rarely is the farm allowed to encroach upon the largely arbitrary limits put in place by the urban growth boundary. What was set up to prevent the development of Kentucky's surrounding horse farms has also had the effect of separating us from the landscape that gives us our identity. I propose a hybridization of farm and city life in a new building type that combines farming, commerce, and community life into a single iconographic structure that mirrors to rolling landscape of Kentucky and works with, rather than against Lexington's urban growth policies.

In tandem with this project I developed a marketing campaign for the nearby community to demonstrate the potential that a project of this type would bring towards revitalizing the area. I compiled film of several of the farms around Lexington and projected these images onto an abandoned building in the heart of the community. There was a great response from residents and many expressed interest as they viewed the projections and at the community meetings that I attended.

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