Safe Haven
PROJECT INFORMATION
Community Design | 20,000 sq ft
Stinnet, Leslie County, KY
Professor Katherine Ambroziak, Spring 2014
Partner: Karen Harber | Fifth Year Studio, Appalachian Studies
Over the past decades, the support system of the youth in Appalachian culture has begun to transition away from reliance upon the traditional family. As this shift becomes more evident, we felt as though it was important for the younger generation to have a place to call their own and reconnect them into this, once prominent, community. “Safe Haven” not only provides an area of retreat through outdoor recreational areas, multipurpose spaces, and agricultural components, but also transforms into a shelter for the surrounding areas in times of disaster.
This program focuses in three areas: Culture & Community, Conservation & Education, and Food Security. Through these three features, we feel as though the area will begin to understand their roots to a larger extent and grow with one another as they develop into an even stronger community. They will be able to understand their land, as they once had, and cherish the resources and learning opportunities that come from the mountainous terrain. Finally, it is important to provide an opportunity to grow and learn about food as they develop a community food supply addressing the ongoing disaster of poverty in the area while teaching the younger generations the value of seeing food from crop to table.