Seed Cathedral

Thomas Heatherwick's design for the British Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 encases thousands of seeds at the ends of 60,000 transparent acrylic quills. The cathedral rises over 6 stories and is illuminated from the inside at night. The project is in collaboration with the Kew Millennium Seed bank to showcase/ index the diversity of seeds in the world.

Unlike the Svalbard seed vault, an inaccessible fortress in the arctic circle, the seed cathedral brings the idea of seed conservation and storage to the public in a very visual and experiential way. While the pavilion does not function to preserve seeds in a physical/ scientific manner, it does so in perhaps a more important way, through public awareness and visibility.

photos by Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images; STR/AFP/Getty Images; and AP

Thinking about the ways people interact with seeds is something which could perhaps be explored further. How much does the average person in the city interact with seeds, planting, gardening, etc? While the seed cathedral is an amazing visual index of seed species, in what way can we physically act with the seeds we plant in a more meaningful way than through looking at them. For now this project is enough to inspire the public to think about seeds and lock them in a collective consciousness.

P.S. 216 – Edible Schoolyard

The P.S 216 Edible Schoolyard project by WORK Architecture Company in NYC is a new kitchen classroom for up to 30 students to participate in meal preparation and dining. The classroom is designed as a series of "Interlinked sustainable systems," which work together to produce energy, heat, collect rain water and compost.




A large butterfly roof collects rainwater, while a large mobile sliding greenhouse covers 1600sf of soil in the winter months for extended growing. The project also includes a "Systems Wall" which houses water cistersns, composting, waste sorting, solar battery storage, dishwashing and chicken coops.

This smaller scale schoolyard is a great example of how urban agriculture can engage a community, in this case children, to learn about and participate in the processes of food. Besides being a very accessible and engaging space, the projects systems are intriguing in there implementation, especially the systems wall, which serves as a kind of living organ which both services and stores the building's engergy and "nutrients."




The idea of a movable greenhouse shell which moves to cover an area of ground is fascinating as well. Implementation in a climate like Syracuse could be a great way to extend the growing season by a couple of months. I wonder kinds of technical challenges have to be overcome in order for this mechanism to both operate and function as a greenhouse.

Edible Schoolyard

Schematic Design Phase

Our studio has initiated the schematic design phase this week. We have been developing our schemes in relation to the site conditions and programmatic requirements which we set up in the week previous.

The idea of a foodHUB is one which embeds the multiple issues and systems associated with food, under one space or center. We are concerned with public access and education about food in general.

Programs:
Food Stage-
- Seating, Kitchen Set, Green Room, Equipment, Lighting
2500 Square feet

Distribution-
- Mobile market (2docks), delivery (3), Mobile Kitchen
3000 Square fee

Public Connection-
-Vending, exhibition, dining, education
4000 Square feet

We are approaching our project as a main bar of public program with a parallel grain storage root cellar. The two pieces are connected with a public path which goes up the building.
The main program bar terraces program down the site, incorporating multiple programs within one space.