Out & About

I'm back home, back down south and, boy, does it feel good. No rest for the wicked, however. It's time to write my dissertation. Over the last week I have visited a couple of schemes that I am using as case studies: FARM:shop in Dalston, East London and Incredible Edible Todmorden in West Yorkshire. They're two completely different takes on solving today's food issues and both are definitely worth a visit. 

Top: Salad leaves at FARM:shop 

Bottom: Rhubarb in Tod

Food Futures

So I'm supposed to be packing. After work tomorrow, I'm heading back up to Manchester for the next semester of study. I really need to get back into my dissertation reading, so this distraction is valid. I've just received the current issue of Icon magazine and it's called 'The Future of Food'. Just up my street and they have an article on my favourite architects, Work AC. I must keep packing, but I'm looking forward to sitting down and having a read of this when I get back up north!

Image from Icon

Farm Yard

Architecture is back in full swing. CAD, modelling, reading, research, teaching even... there's no rest for the wicked. I'm collecting together sources for my dissertation and I think this video might just be useful. I think I'm going to look at urban agriculture and food production in the city, so I've been saving videos on Vimeo to get started.

Video from chow.com

Sheep Shack

I've been designing houses for people for the last year, and it's something that I am really keen on and want to do in the long term. Having watched The Secret Life of Buildings last night on C4, it got me thinking again about housing and whether what we're currently designing is up-to-scratch and how we can make it better. It's also about looking at the wider community and how we sustain ourselves. Through my web-wandering I came across this petting farm by 70f. They seem to do a few buildings for agricultural animals, and after all farming is something else I am interested in. So designing homes for creatures on all fours: this could be my calling!

Images by 70f

Technology & Gardens

Today Claire and I went for a wander around London south of the river. First we saw my friend Nick's final year exhibition, Made In Brunel. In the Bargehouse warehouse under the Oxo tower there was some fantastic work from all realms industrial design, engineering, futures - there was both simple and ergonomic design as well as innovative industry specialist work. After lunch we wandered through Borough Market, I bought some gooseberry and elderflower jam and spotted some mini gourmet radishes! Lastly we headed to the launch day of the Urban Physic Garden on Union Street, were we sat and sipped at cider in the sun and absorbed to beautiful smells of the medicinal plants all around us.

Farm Yard

The other night, just before I went to sleep, I had an epiphany. Whilst studying I had really got into urban agriculture and "food architecture" but looking back to my design outcomes, I'm not entirely satisfied. So I decided at this late hour, that I'm going to get back to my research and continue to develop my ideas.

As my searches started I came across BRACKET, a design collective who produce topical publications the first being [on farming]. It's a collection of essays and investigations by various people. There are some great images and once I have got my ethos, I hope to make some fab images of my own.

Image of Art Farm from BRACKET

Urban Orchard

On Bankside in London there is the Union Street Urban Orchard, on now until 19th September. It was part of the London Festival of Architecture but is carrying on over the entire summer. It brings about plant adoption and exchange, workshops and urban food growing, things that I got really interested in during my modular housing project at uni (not to self: must post work!) Therefore I really want to go along and visit...

Images from Urban Street Urban Orchard

Cluck Cluck

I want chickens! Last year on holiday the gite that we stayed at had some (above) and then watching The Edible Garden, Alys Fowler had a couple. And a family down the road do! For the last year or so I've been really getting into the idea of urban agriculture and my vegetable cultivation has started slowly. So why not add hens into the equation.

We've been researching getting some former battery hens, who would otherwise be slaughtered. The British Hen Welfare Trust has lots of info and local co-ordinators - even one in our town! So I reckon it won't be long til we have our own cluckers in the garden...

Farms and Forests

In the Evening Standard last night there was an article called 'Architects Go Green For 2010' so obviously my ears pricked up. Mitchell Taylor Architects are taking the site where Rogers' "cheesegrater" building is supposed to be going and temporarily will be an urban farm (above).

Another, WWM Architects, are turning the area outside Tate Modern and turning it into an urban forest. The article highlights that it's these community projects not the supposedly "iconic" buildings which make the most difference.
Also I really like the different ways in which the architect firms present their ideas, most especially these mixed media montages! Hopefully mine will turn out just as successfully!

Chow chow

Whilst reading Frankie's blog last night I came across a video about a dear old boy in the US who is a Soda Pop Obsessive!

It's on chow.com, a food site which has loads of videos on it. The Obsessives series has people who make jam, who are urban farmers, winemakers, someone into pickling... they're definitely worth a watch! After my current vegetable escapades, guess which caught my eye!

URBAN FARMING!

I could honestly spend a lot of time watching all these! Plus I can make it work related!

papertissue

More Veg

Having a flick through some old magazines I came across an article in Icon about this urban farm called PS1. It was an installation in New York by architects Work AC.
In cardboard tubes, 50 varieties of vegetables are grown, irrigated by collected rainwater and heated via solar panels. The spaces between some of the tubes allow for people to pop up and collect the vegetables!

I think it's a different way of approaching the subject of urban farms and at the same time producing something aesthetically pleasing.