Green New Deal Superstudio
By OLIN Labs
2021 is the Year of the Green New Deal at OLIN Labs!
OLIN’s Practice-Based Design Studios
What is the Green New Deal?
House Resolution 109, “Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal” was introduced in 2019 by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey “as an RFP of sorts, defining the scope of the GND and asking for collaborations on projects.” HR 109 merges the interests of blue-collar workers, environmental activists, and frontline communities around the core goals of jobs, justice, and decarbonization. Work is needed on the part of professionals, academics, and communities to put forth concrete plans and priorities that will define solutions that meet the compounding scale and urgency of the existential threats of climate change, fossil fuel dependence, and social, racial, and economic injustices.
What is the Green New Deal Superstudio?
The Green New Deal Superstudio is a nationwide conversation, led by The Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) in association with the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology, the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, that envisions how actual projects will shape a Green New Deal future. The Superstudio aims to address questions such as: How can the GND framework translate into real projects? What parts of the country should be prioritized for these projects? What will GND projects look like? Who will the projects serve? And how will they be implemented?
Participants in the GND Superstudio include academic design studios from over 140 universities nationwide, as well as individuals and practitioners. The material produced as part of the Superstudio (between Aug 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021) will be presented at a national summit and compiled as a curated collection to be used by policy-makers and advocates to advance the goals of HR 109.
How will OLIN contribute to the conversation?
OLIN’s practice seeks to realize just, ecologically sound landscapes, creating opportunities for all forged from our diverse talents, cultures, and perspectives. Today, our common futures are threatened by numerous inequities and the dire environmental dilemmas perpetuated by our carbon-dependent economies. House Resolution 109, which charts how the climate crisis exacerbates environmental, social, and economic injustices, and proposes an immediate and large-scale response, is a powerful platform for realizing this design agenda.
OLIN and the landscape architecture profession are positioned to assist in the crucial effort of designing for conservation, transformation, and climate and community resiliency. We recognize that this urgent work must build on the efforts—and recognize the sacrifices—already made by frontline and vulnerable communities.
Strategy
OLIN has developed a two-prong strategy. The first is to submit a selection of current and past projects that most align with the Green New Deal’s aims to the Superstudio initiative to provide tangible examples of successes and challenges. The second initiative is for OLIN Labs to commit to making 2021 the Year of the Green New Deal through research, vision, and design that leans on the fabric of actual projects and living relationships with partners, clients, and communities. We are excited to undertake this commitment in solidarity with our field, nonprofits, activists, researchers, planners, allied design and engineering professions, and policy and governmental partners.
These are our objectives, which we hope to update you about in the months ahead:
Envision and communicate the role of Landscape Architecture practitioners in realizing a Green New Deal.
Strengthen OLIN’s capacity to address systemic challenges by running a series of internal design studios and research initiatives through the spring of 2021.
Develop and utilize tools to measure our work’s impact and outcomes across social, economic, ecological, and environmental spectrums.
At the time of this writing, nine “teams'' within our office are organizing practice-based design studios run by OLIN staff through June 2021. Many of these teams will utilize existing external partnerships with community groups, public representatives, and allied professionals. We are thrilled to see the diversity of ideas that these teams have developed. Studios range from expanding our profession’s toolkit for good job creation, to a new biochar economy, large scale land management strategies, carceral landscapes, LGBTQ+ cultural heritage sites, and social justice for fenceline communities impacted by fossil fuel production. Most of these initiatives are tied to real, current projects, clients, and communities and offer real potential for concrete, sustained action.
