Travel Study: Informal of the USA - 01

Berkeley Community Garden, Boston MA

Overview

The lot opened up during the 1950s-60s Urban Renewal policy. As a part of Urban Renewal, many old brick buildings were demolished in hopes to make more land available for modern projects. The Boston resident eventually halted Urban Renewal, leaving many newly-created lots unclaimed and undeveloped.

Being close to Chinatown, the empty lot on E Berkeley St was used by the Asian community for gardening. The community did not have property rights over the lot, but the city did not disrupt their activities. However, in the 80s, around the time the construction picked up across Boston, the city took a renewed interest in the lot.

A threat of eviction loomed over the garden. As such, this and other community gardens of similar origin in Boston pulled their resources together and created a land fund (SELROSLT). The trust brought the community garden to the legal footing and ensured that this and other community gardens wouls stay in the public hands forever.

For a detailed history of the garden, plants they grow at the moment, and any related community news, visit the garden’s official website here…

Unique Features

I believe Berkeley Community Garden to be exemplary when it comes to the treatment of informal sites and informal architecture. While the community claimed and developed the site spontaneously, they made their stay there legal and retained the near-complete freedom over what they do there. The city enforced some safety regulations (such as keeping the passages clear in case of emergency) but left the self-built structures in place.

With the help of donations, the community did limited formalization of the site. They put in the central irrigation system by placing spigots in the central alley. They developed landscaping of the common areas. In the future, they also plan to update the perimeter fence. As of 2022, they have no plans to formalize the structures on individual lots.

What should we, as architects, do about this site? Nothing. Don’t try to fix what already works. I believe we should only learn from the Berkeley Community Garden and apply what we learned elsewhere. Below you will find my observations and what I personally learned.

Circulation and Communal Areas

The garden is easy to navigate. There are three rows of gardening pods that are organized along the central and secondary circulation streets. The Central Street connects both East and West entrances to the garden and is home to the central irrigation system. Even though both entrances are locked to prevent (further) instances of vandalism, the gardeners are always happy to let the tourists in when asked.

Central Street with centralized irrigation system

Secondary Street located near the city’s E Berkeley street

One of many alleys connecting Central and Secondary street. Those alleys are done so that the pods of the secondary street have easier access to the spigots on the Central street.

Spigot - a part of the centralized irrigation system. Because individual pods are only 90-150sf, they can easily be services with buckets.

Building Fabric

Carts, bed frames, refrigerator shelves, wooden planks, mosquito nets, and rice canvas bags are not discarded in the community but are brought here and used to form the building fabric. Old items find their second life as structural elements, storage, and rain screens. Plastic, metal, and wood are all knitted together in unexpected ways.

Rice canvas bag used for… who knows? The owner wasn’t around for me to ask. Could it be privacy? Wind block? Shades against the morning sun when the owner prefers to garden?

A hose is probably the only item here specifically purchased for the pod. Everything else was saved from going to the landfill at the last moment.

Individual Pods

One of many roofed pods. The roofs are used to support self-made plant trellises and to hang gardening tools. The most common way to connect structural elements is a string.

A pod with maximized gardening area. The circulation is essential-only. The tools area is minimized by hanging most of equipment on the wall.

Recreation-focused pod. The circulation is maximized and made inhabitable by a couple of chairs. The flowers-and-sculptures garden is pushed to the sides. The garden therefore limited in size and in the efforts to maintain it.

Only a couple of pods do not have roofs. What could be the reason? The plants do not require a trellis? Not enough discarded materials to construct the roof? Of perhaps the owner preferers the unobstructed view of the sky?

Walls, roofs, circulation, and tools are the pieces of the owner’s past year. Pods are nostalgia devices.

Gates

The informal architecture gives the owners a deep sense of ownership and pride. They created something out of nothing, with their own hands. It is theirs, customized to their unique needs. The gates are a reflection of that and are the most decorated architectural piece of each pod.

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