gardens

The Harvest as Resiliency

In today’s rapidly urbanizing world, resilience is no longer just a buzzword but necessary for a thriving community. At Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing (CHUC) in Seattle, resiliency is not an afterthought but an instigator for the community-built project. CHUC is a lived prototype for architects and Schemata Workshop co-founders, Grace Kim and Mike Mariano, who live upstairs and work in the street-level office space. In this 5-story building, nine households create a thriving, interdependent community rooted in shared values, meals, and mutual support. Privacy and the individual are supported by the knowing and understanding of each other. As with any group of people, it’s imperfect and requires commitment and working together. This is not just architecture or just housing, but a vision for urban living that fosters connection and resilience for generations to come.

Ariel Footage from Uytae Lee’s About Here on Youtube

Resilience goes beyond sustainability. Grace and Mike heard an architect at an international conference once describe sustainability like a personal relationship. If I said I had a sustainable relationship with a partner, that doesn’t sound like it’s very positive. If I have a resilient relationship, then we’re able to weather the ups & downs of a relationship, and a community can be resilient during environmental shocks and stresses. Resilience is embedded in every design decision now reflected in the building that nine families have called home for nearly a decade.

A recent post on our whiteboard for the garden reminded us of resiliency in the context of the harvest.

We harvest daylight through our community courtyard at the heart of our community, bringing daylight and cross-ventilation to the homes. There is no enclosed, windowless corridor here; residents move throughout the community on covered outdoor balconies. Resident life is visible in this intimate courtyard space, plants draping over balconies, the sound of resident life coming through open doors and windows, and activity on every level.

We harvest energy from the sun through the photovoltaic panels on our upper roof. We’re a small site, and the payback on solar panels is long due to our (currently) low-cost hydroelectric power provided by one of the cleanest utility providers in the nation.

And, of course, the garden harvest on the lower roof. Photosynthesis generates fresh food that nourishes our community – produce used on site by residents, and an entire bed of produce cared for by one resident family is delivered to the nearby Byrd-Barr Place food bank.

Grace shares her lived experience and work in cohousing in her 2017 TED Talk about how cohousing can make us happy and live longer.

As profiled in the book Ideal Cities, CHUC exemplifies the kind of intentional community that contributes to the neighborhood social fabric while addressing environmental challenges.

CHUC is not just a place to live but a model of what’s possible when architecture, community, and sustainability intersect with intention.

Learn more about CHUC at our monthly Saturday tour!

Click the link and use code RESILIENCE for free tickets until the end of 2025!

Best Urban Gardens in Seattle

Schemata Workshop will be hosting a model-building workshop for youth aged 11-16 on Saturday, March 26, in collaboration with the Seattle Architecture Foundation about the design of urban gardens (more information here).  We'll be exploring the issues we faced while designing the rooftop garden with Seattle Urban Farming Company at our new space and cohousing community. This got our froggers thinking about their favorite urban gardens in Seattle.  Here are some of our staff's well-loved lesser known parks in Seattle we hope you get to visit.  Happy exploring! 


Abigail's Pick:  Seven Hills Park (Capitol Hill)
1514 E Howell St, Seattle, WA 98122

"I feel like Seven Hills Park is a hidden gem, so I almost don’t want to share it, but it’s such a great spot. There’s a little community garden, some public grills and picnic tables, a few trees for shade, and an ample lawn perfect for laying out a…

"I feel like Seven Hills Park is a hidden gem, so I almost don’t want to share it, but it’s such a great spot. There’s a little community garden, some public grills and picnic tables, a few trees for shade, and an ample lawn perfect for laying out a blanket and sharing a picnic, readinga book, or just soaking up some late afternoon rays. It’s a little off the beaten path, and with Volunteer Park and Cal Anderson Park nearby, most of the visitors to Seven Hills Park live in the neighborhood, which makes for a cozy community feel even on the most crowded summer day.


Brian's Pick: Kubota Garden (Rainier Beach)
9817 55th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98178

Kubota Garden.jpg

Grace's Pick: Belltown Cottage Park and P-Patch (Belltown)
2512 Elliott Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

"I like that people hang out there. It can be quite lovely on summer evenings to walk through and see people picnic as well as working on the lots."

"I like that people hang out there. It can be quite lovely on summer evenings to walk through and see people picnic as well as working on the lots."


Margaret's Pick: Streissguth Gardens (Capitol Hill)
1640 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102

"I love how tucked away this park is – if you’re coming from 10th it’s easy to miss the stairs that lead down to it.  The hillside gardens are really beautiful and have a wildness to them that I really like. There also is a pretty great view of…

"I love how tucked away this park is – if you’re coming from 10th it’s easy to miss the stairs that lead down to it.  The hillside gardens are really beautiful and have a wildness to them that I really like. There also is a pretty great view of Lake Union and the Olympic Mountains from the top."


Mike's Pick: Loveless Building Courtyard (Capitol Hill)
806 E Roy St, Seattle, WA 98102

"The Loveless Building scale is outstanding along the sidewalk, as is the material textures, and expression of uses. The glimpse of the courtyard seen passing by the gate is very compelling, followed by the traditional sequence of compression of vie…

"The Loveless Building scale is outstanding along the sidewalk, as is the material textures, and expression of uses. The glimpse of the courtyard seen passing by the gate is very compelling, followed by the traditional sequence of compression of view in the tunnel, and expansion into the garden, and the tree canopy overhead."

Mira's Pick: Waterfall Garden Park (Pioneer Square)
219 2nd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104

"Waterfall Garden Park is such a secret oasis in the middle of the of Pioneer Square.  I love taking visitors there when touring Pioneer Square since the waterfall and lushness makes for a nice break from the noise and harshness of the city."

"Waterfall Garden Park is such a secret oasis in the middle of the of Pioneer Square.  I love taking visitors there when touring Pioneer Square since the waterfall and lushness makes for a nice break from the noise and harshness of the city."


Roma's Pick: Federal Courthouse Plaza (Downtown)
700 Stewart St, Seattle, WA 98101

"While there is a lot of critique regarding the Federal Courthouse Plaza, and though some of it is valid, I just really love the space."

"While there is a lot of critique regarding the Federal Courthouse Plaza, and though some of it is valid, I just really love the space."


Will's Pick: Guerrila Gardens
Throughout Seattle

"Guerilla Gardening happens when people garden in places where they don't have a legal right to utilize the property, like these little traffic roundabouts that you find all over Seattle.  I find it so neat that people have taken it upon themse…

"Guerilla Gardening happens when people garden in places where they don't have a legal right to utilize the property, like these little traffic roundabouts that you find all over Seattle.  I find it so neat that people have taken it upon themselves to garden wherever they can and to beautify their environment. It really adds to the city."

Cheers!

-The Froggers

 

*All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Google Streetview.