Regenerative Infrastructure for Houston’s Freeways
Highways divide neighborhoods. They concentrate heat, pollution, and displacement.
Vine of Freedom reframes freeway infrastructure as civic ground — transforming residual underpass space into energy-producing, climate-adaptive, community-supporting public infrastructure.
01 — The Framework
The system attaches to existing prestressed concrete beams using non-invasive clamp collar assemblies. No drilling into primary structural members.
- Solar petal canopy roofs
- Curved steel rib frames
- Suspended civic canopy panels
- Wind-activated ventilation assist
- Integrated moss bio-panels
- Stormwater filtration columns
The freeway becomes a structural host for climate adaptation.
02 — Living Infrastructure
Beneath the canopy, civic infrastructure supports housing stabilization, food production, and workforce transition.
- 3D-printed low-carbon housing modules (single, duo, family)
- Elevated slabs for flood resilience
- Hydroponic growing systems
- Greywater reuse loops
- Bioswale retention basins
- Market and intake hub
03 — Performance Logic
- Solar canopy offsets grid load
- Shade reduces surface heat gain
- Wind activation assists exhaust dispersion
- Living walls assist particulate capture
- Stormwater retained and filtered on-site
The intervention does not remove the freeway. It metabolizes it.
04 — Houston Pilot
The Houston pilot demonstrates how one mile of freeway edge can become regenerative civic infrastructure.
- Carbon-absorbing landscape buffer
- Transitional housing cluster
- Public market and training hub
- Renewable energy generator
- Shaded civic promenade
Vine of Freedom
Houston Pilot — 2026
sls design arts llc
Regenerative Urban Systems
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