MLA students create video inventory of community

Landscape Architect & Specifier News magazine recently featured an article on a film created by MLA students Jacob Lange, Jordan Bates, and Brady Richards. The film was created as a component of a class-wide project for LAND 6030 Nature and Sustainability Studio under Professor Alfie Vick.

The class project was based in the predominantly African-American neighborhood of “Newtown” located in Gainesville, Georgia. Following the famous 1936 tornado that leveled a significant portion of the city, part of the African-American community was relocated to the residential district of Newtown, a historic landfill, after their homes were destroyed.

The film is an inventory and analysis that seeks to illustrate the juxtaposition between a historically significant and viable community and its industrial neighbors. Other student projects (featured as images at top) include alternative future uses for a junkyard adjacent to the Newtown neighborhood; a Rails2Trails proposal that connects Newtown to greater Gainesville; and a 25-year Vision Plan.