Mid-scale farms are disappearing across America in favor of small lifestyle farms and industrial agriculture. Urban sprawl, while pressuring these farms to sell for development, has also contributed to a societal disconnect from the land. This loss of a sense of place can be seen in shifting consumer attitudes towards food and a rising demand for local, sustainable, and organic products. Tapping into that trend is the farming method (optimized for mid-scale farms) championed by Polyface, Inc; a rotation of various livestock across pastures maintains the farm as an ecosystem, balancing the needs of both land and animals. Greenmont Farm lies in the Shenandoah Valley: a landscape of rolling hills crisscrossed with fence lines and overshadowed by the Blue Ridge Mountains. Currently farmed by Polyface, Greenmont's future is unclear and it is struggling to break even. Phasing in limited residential development alongside an intensification of the working farm forms a modern agricultural community, allowing Greenmont to stay intact. Thickening the boundary between protected regions of unchecked growth and the open pastures creates a narrow site for each phase. The housing units react to their placement in between the pastoral and the rugged, while common spaces reflect the inherent seasonality of a farm. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_94246 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Contributors | Grosshandler, Zoe (author), Desmarais, Marianne (Thesis advisor), Tulane School of Architecture Architecture (Degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | electronic, electronic, pages: 43 |
| Rights | Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law., No embargo |
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