Context Designers & Developers Pre-Development Implementation Project Data
Pre-Development
The Corbetts’ initial discussions about how the project should be designed took place with a group of friends and interested families. According to the Corbetts, in group’s discussions “centered on a shared sense of dislocation, disconnection, and powerlessness and on a concern for the environment…We believed it should be possible to design a community so that one might live more lightly on the land.” (Francis 2003, 27)
After a year the group disbanded, discouraged by the fact that they were unable to find a site and secure funding. But the Corbetts persisted with their vision, one combining environmental and social ecology. Ultimately, they purchased 60 acres of tomato fields west of downtown Davis and drew up plans for a housing development that would combine residential, commercial and agricultural elements in an unprecedented mix. (Jackson 1999)
Judy Corbett recalls, “The rest of Davis thought we were a bunch of nutty hippies.” (Francis 2003, 22)
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| Image source: Francis 2003, 17 |