The Middle West has always held the notion of being at cultural crossroads. In the Middle West the prairie is contextualized as an idea and also as a reality. The prairie spirit existed as an idea that could be fundamentally expressed through the direct use of plants native vegetation. The reality of it came when it was presupposed that the native vegetation would be planted and grouped to come up with a naturalistic composition of the ecosystem (Miller 13). Culture and race played a significant role in the settlement of the Middle West. Majorly the people who settled in the Middle West were driven by the cuisine, culture and were in search of better farmlands. As the settlement was taking place in the Middle West, there was a great influence from railroads and other forms of transportation. People settled along the transportation forms. The transportation forms were viewed as spatial structures that would bring in urbanization quickly and thus encouraged to settle along them for economic gain and social interaction.
The presence of Iowa State University has been influential in the designed spaces that of the Midwest. The Iowa State University has programs that continuously support and encourage the culture of the Midwest. The college of agriculture and life sciences at the university has over the past decade influenced the agricultural designs and practices carried out in the Midwest. The college of agriculture has through its programs encouraged natural resource conservation so as to sustain productivity and quality life experienced in the Midwest. We have courses from the Midwest Permaculture where essential people are taught on how and the importance of leaving the planet in a better condition than they find it. The permaculture relies heavily on ethics and design principles of the Midwest that assist individuals to solve the problems they encounter (Miller n.p). The Iowa State University also acts as the Middle West cultural center and has a campus public art collection where art and design objects can be accessed. The university influences the designed space of the Midwest by hosting performers and cultural events which as a way to support and encourage the Midwest culture.
Agriculture and design in the Middle West have greatly moved forward leading to implementations of multifunctional landscapes. This has allowed provision of new economies and opportunities to farmer and landowners allowing them to establish perennial “energy crops” in the Midwest (Milner, Helen and Andrew 10). The culture in the Midwest in relation to agriculture has been connecting social, economic and ecological performance of the sector to improve on the livelihood of the residents (Wratten et al. 10). The culture of the Midwest has been to encompass forest in its agricultural practices for the support of local communities and provide clean water to American.
The Middle West has put in place good design and water management strategies which include conservation drainage in which management practices are carried out to improve tile drain water quality without hurting the crops. They also carry out the controlled drainage in which water level is managed above the tile lines (Crawford 21). The world’s fairs and international expositions greatly contributed to the development of the Midwest idea. The world fairs were used as exposition, and the Midwest used this commentary to put the showcases of science, manufacturing and technology into development thoughts (Sisson et al. n.p). The Middle West has under designed spaces for sustainability and resilience that is important in history and to the nations. The social changes that have occurred in the Midwest are recognized, and perceptions are easily appreciated.
Works Cited
Crawford, Linda. Face to Face Advisories: Bridging Cultural Gaps in Grades 5-9. , 2013. Print.
Miller, Wilhelm. The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press in association with Library of American Landscape History, 2002. Print.
Milner, Helen V, and Andrew Moravcsik. Power, Interdependence, and Nonstate Actors in World Politics. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2009. Print. 81
Sisson, Richard, Christian K. Zacher, and Andrew R. L. Cayton. The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press, 2007.
Wratten, Stephen D, Harpinder Sandhu, Ross Cullen, and Robert Costanza. Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes. , 2012. Internet resource.
