central california history museum competition

location: fresno, ca

This museum competition entry honors the contribution of agriculture in California's vast central valley through the integration of water, land and sustainability to the urban design and architecture of a central block in Fresno, California. The museum is one component of the downtown block master planned to include urban roof gardens, park space, cultural, educational, commercial and housing uses that utilize the cyclical process of nature as a design model. This project illustrates regenerative design processes and the patchwork of agricultural fields as an organizational inspiration.  Rammed earth construction, biological waste treatment, and hydrogen fuel cell power generation are not only sustainable aspects of the project but are symbolic of the museum’s purpose as a museum about agricultural history.