Project Statement
“Plugging In” is comprised of garden
corridors extending throughout the Watts Branch watershed
that will filter and collect stormwater and people.
At its heart is a hybrid environmental education center/park,
a living room in the neighborhood: a safe place to be
together with neighbors and the stream, a place to which
one can belong. This proposal is predicated on the idea
that rediscovering one’s immediate environment
can be a source of collective neighborhood identity.
Project Narrative
Design Intent:
“Plugging in” reclaims Watts
Branch as the watershed’s backyard.
It provides a safe playground for children,
where they can take risks and learn about where they
live. This new Lederer Environmental Education Center
is a hybrid park, the neighborhood living room
where residents can gather to play,
learn, and work. The building bridges the street and
the stream, reinforcing the idea of watershed. The park
provides an ideal space to observe change: gardens highlight
the seasons, the riparian terraces flood, children grow.
Through a common understanding and everyday
experience of the watershed provided by the
park’s extension into corridor gardens,
the children reinforce their sense of belonging to Watts
Branch.
Project Location:
The project is located in northeastern
Washington, DC along Watts Branch, one of the primary
tributaries of the Anacostia River. This area is the
“other Washington,” neglected
and forgotten, where poverty and violent crime is a
daily reality and parks have become a haven for criminal
activity. The home of its iconic historical figure,
Marvin Gaye was unceremoniously torn down, its location
all but forgotten. Along the Watts Branch, the recently
renamed Marvin Gaye Park extends from the Anacostia
eastward to Maryland. “Plugging In” is centered
on the portion of the park currently occupied by the
Robert F. Lederer Nature Center and Youth Garden and
extends to the edge of the Watts Branch watershed.
Site and Context Investigation:
Site and context investigation was done
through archival research, analysis of existing mapped
data, and interviews. The site visits helped provide
a sense of place and understanding of the quality of
the neighborhood and its social characteristics: a trash
filled stream, an open drug market in broad daylight,
children being held hostage by the street crime. The
week after our visit the mutilated body of a 15-year
old boy was found. The stories shared by the residents
further reinforced the desire and need for safe places
in the park for children to play. A local non-profit,
Washington Parks and People, provided information on
the types of activities they believed would help the
park regain its former importance.
Design Program:
The program was to design an expanded
facility for the Lederer Center. The corridor
gardens filter and collect people and water
from the ridgeline to the creek. The hedge filter
at the northern edge of the site allows eyes on the
street to provide a sense of security in the gardens.
The gallery, classrooms, research facility, basketball
courts, and chess tables collect people from all walks
of life, discouraging an open drug market. Along the
creek the back porch terraces down
to the creek, expanding the floodplain, and creating
an enclosed stream-room for gathering.
Environmental Impact and Concerns:
As an environmental education center,
the purpose of the new Lederer Center is to improve
and monitor Watts Branch Creek. Corridor gardens provide
biofilters to minimize the effect of street runoff on
the quality and quantity of water in Watts Branch, rejuvenating
the stream. From the green roof on the building to the
onsite demonstration gardens of the bioinfilters, the
project is to be a demonstration of responsible stormwater
management. These areas also provide much-needed habitat
for migratory birds and riparian animals. While the
intended increase in human interaction with the riparian
corridor will have a negative impact on the lives some
species, the benefits of a community that understands
the ecological, cultural and social value of its watershed
will far out weigh these impacts.
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