HIGHWAY TO HARVEST-WAY, REIMAGINGING BALTIMORE THROUGH URBAN AGRICULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Abstract

Earth has seen exponential growth in population within the modern area, requiring human society to respond by expanding the boundaries of the built environment to accommodate. This expansion - coupled with climate change - threatens food production for an increasingly reliant global community. Recent geopolitical events have highlighted the delicate balance of food supply chains, emphasizing the need to plan accordingly. This thesis explores how new infrastructure can challenge the American food system and the relationship that rural communities and urban centers have with sustenance. The city of Baltimore, Maryland will act as the nexus of change due to its high food scarcity rates and history. Highway to Harvest-Way examines the architecture of agriculture, cultural traditions of food within the region, and investigates how a modular approach to growth can respond to a community it services at varying scales to redefine the paradigm of food within cities.