The University and the Question of the Commons
The University and the Question of the Commons asks how campus land might become more participatory in institutional life.
A commons is more than open space.
It is a practice: deciding together how shared spaces are used, cared for, changed and passed on.
Beginning with the lawn beside Bromfield-Pearson Hall, the project treats landscape as a shared, governed space. It does not assume every lawn should disappear. Some lawns support recreation, ceremonies and gathering. The question is where turf is necessary and where land could support more life, learning and shared use.
Histories
A lawn can look timeless. It is not. Follow the land through continuing Indigenous homelands, institutional ownership, construction, maintenance and turf.
Enter histories →Research
Student research asks what happens when campus grounds are designed for water, habitat, native plants, sound, food and ecological recovery.
Read research →Design
The pilot is being developed through workshops, site observation and collaborative design. Its components remain movable and revisable.
See design →Not a finished plan.
A process for asking better questions about shared land.
Design sessions organized ideas around food, gathering, outdoor teaching, habitat, climate adaptation and shared stewardship.