Barre Granite Trail
2024
With Millie Johnson
Published in Retrospecta 47
The profound influence of vast granite reserves in New England resonates deeply with the region's evolution. From sculpting landscapes through extraction to shaping infrastructure, labor dynamics, and architectural styles, granite has left an indelible mark on the spatial, social, and environmental fabric of the area.
Barre Town, Vermont, stands as a testament to this legacy, recognized as 'The World’s Granite Capital.' Its rich history, rooted in a prosperous granite industry, is embodied by the dormant quarries, now intertwined with nature's reclamation.
“Barre Granite Trail” is a series of architectural landscape interventions, responding programmatically to Barre’s Economic Development Strategic Plan. Through exploration of the various landscape expressions, each intervention aims to develop new approaches to the manipulated land, the existing trails, and local materials.
Active Quarry and Existing Granite Pile: Landscape Section
Site Plan: Proposed Granite Trail Connecting Active Quarry (Left) to Forest and Historic Abandoned Quarries (Right)
Landscape Study- Site Model
01 Active Quarry
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Positioned at the edge of an active extraction site, this material archive and visitor center offers a sensory relationship to the quarry’s ongoing operations. Through exposed granite samples, historical records, and spatial thresholds, it narrates Barre’s geological and cultural legacy.
-1 Entrance Floor Interior View
-1 Entrance Floor Plan
-2 Material Archive Floor Interior View
-2 Material Archive Floor Plan
02 Abandoned Warehouse and Granite Piles
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Set within a disused granite-processing warehouse beside towering piles of leftover stone, this intervention introduces an infill strategy using granite blocks to form new interior rooms and studios. Supporting a nearby artist residency and aligning with Barre’s plan to attract young creatives, the space facilitates material experimentation, workshops, and public engagement through lectures and shared production.
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Transformation of the Abandoned Warehouse into Granite Processing - Workshop Interior View
Granite Processing Workshop and Walkway: Section
Granite Processing Workshop and Walkway: Plan
Granite Piles Walkway
03 Town Forest Office and Community Center
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Located at the threshold between Barre’s forest edge and a growing residential area, this intervention weaves together a forestry office, community center, and artist residency. Constructed from a hybrid of granite blocks and cast concrete infused with local granite powder, it anchors civic and creative life within the evolving landscape.
Town Forest Office and Community Center: Exterior View
Town Forest Office and Community Center: Site Plan
Town Forest Office and Community Center: Site Plan
Town Forest Office and Community Center: Site Section
Town Forest Office and Community Center: Interior View
04 Viewpoints and Water Access
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At the core of the forest, where century-old quarries have filled with water, this minimal timber intervention offers pathways and landings at the water’s edge. It emphasizes movement through the site and improves access to both the forest and the quarry pools.
Water Access View
Water Access Section
Viewpoint | Forest Sections
