Highway Ecologies is a participatory planning model to achieve context-sensitive highway design. An index of generic objects and systems found along an ordinary highway was charted, depicting the highway’s material palette and relationships: its service ecology. The goal is to transform Morrilton’s Highway 9B arterial corridor into a civic landscape, akin to the civility found in the classic boulevard or parkway. Recognizing that traffic planning has engineered urban functions out of road infrastructure, the retrofit purposes a “thickened” corridor, “green” retail parking districts, and new mobility landscapes to maximize connectivity among auto-only accessible land uses.
Awards
2006 NCARB Prize
2004 AIA/UIA Celebration of Cities Award
Client
City of Morrilton, Arkansas