Friends of Urban Ag is participating in Arlington County's Park Master Plan 6 month process for Amazon's HQ2 at Metropolitan Park in National Landing (beginning February 20, 2020) with the goal of integrating our urban ag concepts into the final selected design. The site is expected to be completed in 2023. (See the County's website: https://projects.arlingtonva.us/projects/metropolitan-park-public-space-project/). The Metropolitan Park site will offer approximately two acres of publicly available space for neighborhood residents, visitors, and Amazon employees to enjoy. We see this as a unique opportunity to cultivate urban agriculture features at what will assuredly be a transformative space for Arlington. Additionally, this is a chance to influence Arlington and Amazon's commitment to biophilic, urban landscape design.
We propose the following 5 functional design concepts:
- Beautiful Biophilia: We champion the confluence of aesthetics and functional design. Urban agriculture features should seamlessly complement the surrounding built and greenway environs, creating a focal point of art, culture, nature in public gathering spaces.
- Sustainable Production: We envision sustainable growing practices that include, but are not limited to, ecologically-friendly materials, locally-sourced growing media, regionally appropriate plants, non-invasive pest mitigation strategies, and stormwater catchment to supplement active irrigation.
- Maximize the Margins: In addition to a centralized growing site, Metropolitan Park offers novel opportunities to leverage both the common and peripheral spaces: tree canopies brimming with apples, peaches, pears, and figs offer food and shade to the linear parks and sidewalks; uniquely curated vining crops augment the shapes and textures of installed public art works.
- Common Ground: Agricultural installations will incorporate the rich history and culture of Arlington and Washington, D.C. These sites will offer visitors, residents, and employees a unique perspective of how urban agriculture enhances Arlington’s sense of place and community.
- Learning Laboratory: With an education-forward approach, the growing sites will invoke curiosity to experience agriculture and offer students - of all ages - the opportunity to expand their knowledge, and experiment with novel growing techniques in a changing climate.
Check out our vision (download here).
Met Park At-A-Glance- Phasing: 1st of 2 Amazon Campuses (second site will be Pentagon City's PenPlace: TBD)
- Size: Approximately 2.5 acres of public space
- Note: FOUA is advocating for a small portion to be allocated for UrbanAg use
- Timeline: Site construction to start 2020 through Summer 2023
- Ownership: Park will be owned and maintained by Amazon with the intent of open, public use
- Budget: Amazon will pay for park's design and build costs, and will fund all operating & maintenance costs
- Landscape Architect: James Corner Field Operations
- Stakeholders:
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 Updating... Ċ Arlington Urban Agriculture, Feb 29, 2020, 1:30 PM Ċ Arlington Urban Agriculture, Feb 29, 2020, 1:30 PM
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