Nest We Grow is a project built by a team of students from UC Berkeley College of Environment Design for an architectural competition in Tokyo in which they won. Their proposal was to a holistic garden to connect the community with the cyclic nature of food. The space holds elements of the cycle such as planting, growing, harvesting, cooking and dining to composting and the cycle repeats. It is capable of being replicated in different sizes and scales. The nature of the project bringing people closer to the production, consumption and decomposition of food is an aspect to consider for my pop-up installation as I wish to consider the idea of no food waste and this ties in with the food cycle. Also, the idea of it being replicated relates to the theme of a temporary pop structure and it being easy to put up again.
Designed by selgasano, this transparent structure serves as a food market and welcomes locals and visitors by its light filled and vibrant yellow interior. It is constructed from light metal, clear ETFE membrane shell, and poly-carbonate panels. There is a food market on the ground floor and seating on the top floor and a spine that runs in the middle where stalls are displayed on either side. The core includes a lamp that illuminates the structure at night acting like a lantern. This structure serves the purpose of being a food hub which is directly associated with my Unit 2 premise. It feels light and airy whilst providing a shelter for all food stalls and eating to be done in one place. It invites people in, with it’s grand aesthetic and space making it feel welcoming.
This Expo in Brazil wanted to capture the essence of efficient global food production through flexibility and fluidity. This design creates an element of porosity that communicates the idea of erasing boundaries necessary for achieving balance (Grozdanic, 2015). It has a netting pavilion, to create a breezy atmosphere and exposing the vegetation beneath. I believe that this can aid me in my project as the use of netting for me has connotations to food packaging and holding food, and with its appearance of it providing visibility, there can be an increase of food and human connection.
The project was for a competition held by a performing and visual arts festival in Switzerland and the program was looking for a way to intensify the social gathering aspect of the event. This proposal focused on the ritual of cooking and eating as a detonator for socialization and idea exchange. It implements an open system which transforms the entire space into an open kitchen. The modular table system was inspired by the flexibility of camping equipment and becomes a place to eat, to cook and to relax. This project is a great inspiration to my own as it considers all aspects of communal dining and encourages this simply through the seating arrangement. It feels continuous and unbroken, creating a sense of togetherness.
References:
Valenzuela, K. (2015) Nest we grow / Kengo Kuma & Associates + College of Environmental Design UC Berkeley, ArchDaily. ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/592660/nest-we-grow-college-of-environmental-design-uc-berkeley-kengo-kuma-and-associates (Accessed: February 24, 2023)
Ieva, V. (2015) UC Berkeley students designed a wooden community food hub with the help of Kengo Kuma, Archilovers. Archilovers.com. Available at: https://www.archilovers.com/stories/7103/uc-berkeley-students-designed-a-wooden-community-food-hub-with-the-help-of-kengo-kuma.html (Accessed: February 24, 2023)
Brasserie 2050 ADCN. Available at: https://www.adcn.nl/archives/brasserie-2050#:~:text=Brasserie%202050%20is%20the%20restaurant,Design (Accessed: February 24, 2023)
Zeitoun, L. (2022) Selgascano uplifts London’s Design District with transparent, yellow-toned food market, designboom. Available at: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/selgascano-design-district-canteen-london-10-25-2022/ (Accessed: February 24, 2023)
Grozdanic, L. (2015) Brazil’s Porous World Expo Pavilion erases boundaries with net-like …, Inhabitat. Available at: https://inhabitat.com/brazils-porous-world-expo-pavilion-erases-boundaries-with-net-like-ramps-and-walls/ (Accessed: February 24, 2023)
Louro, A. (2012) Moov + benedetta maxia: Kitchain, designboom. Available at: https://www.designboom.com/readers/moov-benedetta-maxia-kitchain-4/ (Accessed: February 24, 2023)