Seed A Lot: Sidewalk Share

The Seed A Lot: Sidewalk Share project for the Chicago Architecture Biennial rewilds a 21-foot setback on a contaminated vacant lot for stormwater management, wildlife habitat, and more equitable access to green spaces. Omni Infinity Media was used directly atop an engineered barrier to retain & detain stormwater without grey infrastructure or hauling in situ contaminated soils and to green a former industrial site within a short time frame.

Uses of Omni Infinity Media
Brownfield Redevelopment & Stormwater Management
Planters

Key Takeaways
Landscape on top of an engineered barrier with NFR
Stormwater management without hauling
Template for the activation of vacant space

A gravel and asphalt lot surrounded by barbed wire, transformed into a space to enjoy nature.

The vision behind this project, which opened to the public on September 17, 2021, is to demonstrate how community members and property owners can apply innovative landscapes to activate underutilized spaces. The scale and intensity can range to fit a constituent’s budget. Both large, dynamic and simple, cost & labor effective strategies can have relatively immediate transformative effects on urban landscapes.

In addition to adding beauty and vegetation to a barren landscape, the Seed A Lot: Sidewalk Share project serves several social, economic, and ecological purposes. Socially, the addition of trees and green landscapes on underutilized, barren lots creates “tree equity” in communities that lag behind the average tree canopy in the city. Tree equity in cities is important because of the positive benefits green landscapes have on the psyche and the economic effect generated by the addition of trees to the urban landscape.

There is a positive correlation between the tree canopy density of an area and the value of the property in which the tree canopies exist. Ecologically, this project attracts pollinators to ensure the persistence of vegetation in the community, sequesters carbon from the air, produces oxygen, and mitigates the Urban Heat Island Effect via evaporative cooling.

This intervention is a springboard and proof of concept that serves to inform a broader investigation, analysis, and generation of a written and graphic framework plan. The impetus for this plan is to scale similar solutions across a variety of open lot conditions in Grand Boulevard, Bronzeville, Chicago, and beyond.

Explore the Framework Plan