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Abstract
The average age of the American farmer is 58. Since communities are not reproducing the next generation of farmers, universities are establishing training centers to model new concepts and technologies in farming. The Farmers Training Center is both an immersive program in the rhythms of farm life and a public facility for hosting gatherings that celebrate value-added food products. Part of the University of Arkansas’ farm operations near campus, the center is the public face of agriculture where farmers and the public meet. Student farmers learn by farming, from organic vegetable production in fields and greenhouses, to machine repair, marketing, business planning, value-added food innovation, and cooking. Akin to farmsteads, the training complex arranges different building types around a barn yard. Entry is laminated from parking gardens and orchard, to garage/shop, greenhouses, and barn yard towards a formal training loft amidst the fields. The training loft updates barn technology through its structure made from cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction. CLT construction is expressed in the entry porch and other formal parts of the training center, while the center presents a monumental front to the public highway far east of the farm. The training center articulates the farm as next-generation civic infrastructure central to community well-being.
Description
The average age of the American farmer is 58. Since communities are not reproducing the next generation of farmers, universities are establishing training centers to model new concepts and technologies in farming. The Center for Farm and Food System Entrepreneurship is both an immersive program in the rhythms of farm life and a public facility for hosting gatherings that celebrate value-added food products. Part of the University of Arkansas’ and Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s farm operations near campus, the center is the public face of agriculture where farmers and the public meet. Student farmers learn by farming, from organic vegetable production in fields and greenhouses, to machine repair, marketing, business planning, value-added food innovation, and cooking.
Akin to farmsteads, the training complex arranges different building types around a barnyard. Entry is laminated from parking gardens and orchard, to garage/shop, greenhouses, and barnyard towards a formal training loft amidst the fields. The training loft updates barn technology through its sustainable timber structure engineered from glued laminated timber (Glulam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction. A reticulated timber structure at the entry porch and public area of the Training Loft provides a sense of warmth and intimacy within the Barnyard, while its opposite edge presents a monumental front to the city east of the farm. The Center for Farm and Food articulates the farm as a next-generation civic infrastructure central to community well-being.
Publication Date
2018
Document Type
Report
City
Fayetteville, AR
Keywords
architecture, agricultural operations, cross-laminated timber, resiliency, food systems
Disciplines
Architectural Engineering | Environmental Design | Landscape Architecture | Other Architecture | Urban, Community and Regional Planning | Urban Studies | Urban Studies and Planning
Awards
2019 American Architecture Awards
Citation
Community Design Center. (2018). Center for Farm and Food System Entrepreneurship. Project Reports. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cdcpr/5
Included in
Architectural Engineering Commons, Environmental Design Commons, Landscape Architecture Commons, Other Architecture Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, Urban Studies Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons
Comments
Project Team:
University of Arkansas Community Design Center (UACDC): Stephen Luoni, Director
Charles Sharpless, AIA, Project Architect Ethan G. Kaplan, Project Designer Garrett Grelle, Project Designer Claude Terral, RA, Project Architect
Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design: Peter MacKeith, Dean Dr. Ethel Goodstein-Murphree, Associate Dean
University of Arkansas Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Dr. Wayne Mackay, Department Head, Department of Horticulture Dr. Jean Francois-Meullenet, Director, Division of Agriculture Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Dr. Jennie Popp, Associate Dean Honors College, Professor, Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Heather Friedrich, Program Manager, Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability