CONVERT FREEWAYS TO VERTICAL FARMS

"How to solve the problem of endless, under-utilized lateral expansion? Convert freeways to farms and build upwards! Left behind in the wake of the past century of unfettered lateral urbanization, the expansive embankments that cradle the American freeway represent one of the greatest untapped spatial fragments of the contemporary built environment. What if, rather than merely lamenting or accepting these non-places as the inevitable detritus of sprawl, these sites could be reclaimed and activated in response to the pressing concerns of our time?
Inter-estates proposes a phased strategy for re-evaluating and repurposing these sites in a scenario of radical transformation that offers new development typologies, unconventional models of finance, and dynamic land use. First, freeway embankments are re-zoned for agricultural use; giving rise to community edible gardening, switchgrass and other forms of bio-fuel production, open space corridors, etc.
Next, the construction of a series of versatile structural pylons accommodates the installation of temporary billboards. Operating like a lamb in wolves’ clothing, revenue generated from the sale of advertising space is in turn invested in future improvements to the site, including retrofitting of the structural pylons to accommodate vertical axis wind turbines. As the advertising campaign is retired, the structural frames of the billboards are left intact as the armatures for future residential uses. Finally, residential development begins to occur vertically along the pylons, which now are retrofitted to accommodate domestic functions."

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