California gets a makeover proposal for how it would turn out in the future, thanks to Berkeley's design students and the participating community.
The agritourism ideas were presented by 15 students of UC Berkeley's Master of Urban Design program. Targeted for California's Salinas Valley, farmers, indigenous tribe representatives, small business owners, government officials, and other interested citizens turned up to share their ideas.
Now, the program itself is unique in California. According to ArchDaily, it makes the state the very subject of new, socially, and environmentally sustainable urban projects. At the same time, it focuses on real-world issues, which leads students to create innovative solutions By working with the community, they are aware of what appropriate range of analytics and design tools to use.
Screenshot from ArchDaily's Official Report on UC Berkeley's Master of Design News
Berkeley Students on California's Future Landscape
Part of Berkeley's program is to create balanced design proposals. Students get to explore and design new futures for post-industrial cities in the Bay Area. This includes Emeryville and Richmond, as well as rural towns like Salinas Valley, but still community-centered.
By reimagining California's future, students aim to create spaces that will foster sustainability and social interactions. For example, proposing public spaces in the urban areas of Emeryville. Or, opening a nature preserve in Richmond, to give residents access to the San Francisco Bay for the first time.
The good thing about the program is that all graduates of Berkeley's Master of Urban Design get to use their skills to work on urban development projects across the country, and not just proposals. This allows them, in return, to advocate for architectural resilience and spatial equity to urban areas.
