The Studio is shortlisted for a grant to support ongoing research, grounded in historical ecology, on the conservation (and critical adaptation) of Napa Valley in response to recent wildfires.
This project considers Napa Valley as an agricultural region beset with wildfires and in urgent need of design attention. It draws on the historical ecology of the region to consider how the valley evolved over time from a pre-colonial landscape managed, intentionally, with fire to an agricultural region where microclimates and soils are paramount. It further examines how the more recent history of agricultural and urban development (and its attendant land use patterns) disrupts the landscape mosaic and its historic fire regimes. Through a design research methodology typical of landscape architecture, the project examines the vulnerabilities inherent in the landscape itself to show how a problem (often understood merely as a devastating situation over which we have no influence) is, in fact, a product of how we live. In short, it argues that the valley’s ecological resilience, or lack thereof, stems from how we collectively inhabit and manage it.