Redesigning Berkeley Bart Station
This speculative project reimagines street-level access to the Berkeley Bart Station, an important transportation hub. While taking a Landscape Architecture class at UC Berkeley, we were given a design brief to redesign the old rotunda entrance that had remained there since the station was built in the 1960's. The hulking structure was dark and foreboding, and I chose to bring light and nature into the busy, urban infrastructure. The proposed design connects people to native plants endemic to the local ecosystem.
The plan for the intersection centers on connecting people to nature as a part of their daily routine. The central plaza features a glass greenhouse over the main entrance. A slim, vertical terrarium stands between the up and down escalators and extends from the roof to the station below. The inner scaffolding of the terrarium forms a map of Berkeley and doubles as the watering infrastructure for a hydroponic system. This allows for maximum light filtration into the station below. Additional plants are grown in soil on the outer edges of the greenhouse.
The programme includes additional greenspace and a food shed, improving the quality of life for commuters, students, and residents in the area. Central Street runs between the UC campus and the Bart station, acting as an important passageway. This design proposes closing it off to car traffic, allowing bike lanes and pedestrian paths to meander through a community garden. Managed by volunteers and students, the produce grown there would be available free of charge to anyone experiencing food insecurity.
