Forbes Lipschitz, Patterns of Production in Mississippi, 2014

Forbes Lipschitz, assistant professor at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, has received a research development grant from the Graham Foundation for the Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts for her project, “From Pond to Plate: The Landscape of Catfish Production and Processing in the Deep South.”

The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts awarded more than $520,000 to 68 projects that demonstrate innovative thought-provoking ideas in architecture. The funded projects were selected from a competitive pool of more than 700 applicants.

Lipschitz’s project maps the landscape of catfish production, processing, and distribution centers across the Deep South. The study examines existing architectural and operative typologies, from fish farms and feed mills to processing facilities and worker housing. By examining the American catfish industry through the lens of landscape infrastructure and industrial urbanism, her research engages architecture in contemporary agro-industrial discourse and uncovers untapped opportunities for design intervention.

As a single chapter within a larger study on the landscape of American meat production, her project raises the following questions: Can design employ the agency of existing corporate, agro-industrial infrastructure to ecologically, socially, and economically reshape the region? Can meat and fish production, processing, and distribution facilities inform future patterns of urbanization? Can the balancing of existing resources with industrial demands suggest a new model for sustainable protein production and peri-agricultural urbanization?

The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations and produces public programs to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society.

Visit grahamfoundation.org for more information.