Lichen Village

For LA 1420 Grounding in Landscape Architecture during Spring 2017 in Ithaca, New York, USA with Ella Ackerman.

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A lichen is a single organism made up of many organisms, simultaneously a community and a single being. Our project was to manifest this concept in redesigning a virtually empty plot of land a few miles from Cornell.

Based on research into soil types and more, my partner and I designed a viticulture-based cooperative. The Lichen Village is aimed at bringing together those who have recently lost loved ones. The Lichen Village’s farming operations and therapeutic aims are carried out through the lichen philosophy, meaning that everything is done only in relation to each other, and all actions, products, and people somehow affect all other actions, products, and people.

 

The farming is permacultural, in that all the plants and livestock contribute to each other in some physical way, aiding in each other’s growth and productivity.

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Likewise, the healing process for the members of the co-op is entirely driven by the relationships of the community members with their settings and with each other. Members are placed in a natural setting conducive to healing, and through growing plants, raising animals, crafting products, and producing wine, they grow closer to one another, to their work, and to the earth. It is through this complex web of relationships that products are made and members are healed.