Rosa Parks Elementary School Chicken Coop & Garden

Visible from Japantown’s Peace Plaza, the Coop and Garden are a joyful contribution to the area’s growing vitality, inspiring children and passersby. The project is part of an ongoing all-volunteer effort to take modest, mending steps in an urban area still-marked by 20th century displacement and division. As an interactive model for environmental stewardship, it brings excitement to the outdoor education program at Rosa Parks Elementary.

The interactive display of sustainable agriculture includes a coop, rainwater catchment system, water garden, and solar-powered irrigation system. Resident chickens teach animal care and nutrition, and empathy for the natural world. Donated cedar gives the coop resilience to pests and weather. The roof’s form collects rainwater while evoking a sense of flight. Collected rainwater replenishes the irrigation tank for the edible garden, and any excess diverts to the water garden. All is designed to showcase stormwater management in a fun and legible way.