Terra Preta.

Terra Preta (Black Earth) was shortlisted for the New York ‘LAGI’ design competition for Freshkills Park on Staten Island and featured in the book publication that followed. The project was published in Regenerative Infrastructures, a book which explores solutions to the critical issues of sustainable development, energy generation and waste management.

Terra Preta challenges traditional paradigms of public space by proposing an initiative that allows the city to self-organise the public landscape. The public is involved in the ‘algorithmic processes’ of growth, harvest and space creation. The algorithm is based on a series of autonomous ‘agents’ used to control the patterns of soil rejuvenation, bamboo plantation and harvest. The algorithm factors in real site conditions - and demes areas to be harvested and cleared to create public open space. The public are invited to simulate their own management scenarios via the web and pitch for their implementation.