Project Description: 

“Appalachia Rising: West Virginia” is a multi-media report featured as part of The Architectural League of New York’s American Roundtable project. The American Roundtable project brings together on-the-ground perspectives of the condition of American small to mid-sized communities and what they need to thrive. Through photography, video, audio clips, mappings, and renderings, the Appalachia Rising report, led by a landscape architect, asks “How can we build momentum for alternative landscape futures in West Virginia?”

A Post Carbon Future, Leveraging Land as the State’s Greatest Resource

Led by a team of female-identifying Appalachian designers and documentarians, Appalachia Rising collectively envisions a post-carbon future, 100 years from today, that leverages the resilience of West Virginia’s people and places and builds upon its greatest assets — its land.

Existing Places, Alternative Futures

The Appalachia Rising report aims to build momentum toward alternative landscape futures in two parts. First, the report showcases emerging examples of land-based projects as precedents across the state. Second, the report features visions of alternative landscape futures inspired by letters written by West Virginians. 

Existing Places | Emerging Land-based Projects Actively Shaping West Virginia’s Future

Through the lens of the five American Roundtable themes (Infrastructure, Health, Work and Economy, Environment, and Public Space), the report includes five multi-media features that document emerging land-based projects currently providing inspirational counterpoints to the state’s declining extraction economy. 

In a powerful short documentary film, the theme of Public Health is addressed by highlighting the natural beauty and outdoor recreational assets available across the state. The video advocates for sustained investment in structured outdoor recreation in order to dramatically improve public health and reduce drug use across the state. Through a series of writings and mappings, the theme of Infrastructure explores the history of infrastructural investment in West Virginia communities marked by decades of precarity and neglect, and how reframing the landscape as foundational infrastructure is necessary for the state’s future. Through writing and audio clips, the theme of Work + Economy is explored through profiles of three experimental land-based ventures that provide economic benefits and novel work opportunities. The theme of Environment is questioned through vivid photography capturing the impact of Wheeling-based urban agriculture initiative Grow Ohio Valley. How can the environment provide a source of inspiration in places where the landscape has been systematically dismantled and exploited? Through three project profiles, the theme of Public Space is explored across a variety of scales of West Virginia public spaces. This feature asks what defines public space in Appalachia and how can public spaces support the region’s future by celebrating the unique identity of a place. 

Alternative Futures | Land-based Visions Inspired by West Virginians’ Words

West Virginians were invited to shape alternative narratives by writing letters to future family members residing in the state in 2120. These speculative futures offer glimpses into collective hopes and dreams —clean streams filled with salamanders, statewide passenger train networks, solar and nuclear energy jobs, fertile soil for home-grown produce, well-funded public health care systems, recreational tourism to rival the Rockies, and secret pepperoni roll recipes. These future visions inspired renderings visualizing a series of alternative landscape-based futures. 

Regional Focus, National Impact

The American Roundtable project became a national dialogue focused on understanding pasts, documenting presents, and imagining futures for communities across America. As an initiative instigated during the COVID19 pandemic, the digital reach of the project provided national dissemination through dozens of Zoom events, online content, and digital lectures.