Last April I traveled down to New Orleans over Spring Break to visit my daughter Emma, a sophomore in Public Health at Tulane University. She has found her way within the public health curriculum at Tulane to focus on issues of food security and justice, nutrition and community development and their interrelationship with larger issues like global warming and poverty. One of my colleagues up here in Chicago, Daniel Splaingard (then an Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow at Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp.), mentioned the Tulane City Center, a project within Tulane's School of Architecture, and their involvement with urban farming initiatives. After reaching out, City Center's Senior Program Coordinator Emilie Taylor graciously offered to give us a tour of their largest effort in urban farming, the Grow Dat Youth Farm. I found it to be truly inspiring. A great example of the power of design in service of community. Those skills taught in architecture school involving creative problem solving, overall conceptualization and conscientious decision making were all evident during our tour. More importantly all these skills as practiced by both faculty and students were devoted to the larger effort of educating youth in the city about the power and pleasure of growing, eating and eventually marketing and selling fresh homegrown food.
The entry bridge over a low lying wet area provides a nice formality to the circulation, separating and defining the compound from the start
level change from entry court leading up to main pavilion and open air classroom
The complex is a series of pavilions defined by the creative re-use of shipping containers and large overhanging roof structures all interconnected by ramps, stairs and elevated and cantilevered open air yet sheltered walkways. In the foreground, with its door open, is the shipping container dedicated to cool storage of harvested produce awaiting market. The container was modified with furred out interior walls filled with closed cell foam insulation and a simple residential air conditioner modified to keep a constant cool temperature.
looking down from upper level walkway at open air classroom with recycled wood sun shades and donated Big Ass Fan
detail of the random sunshade pattern
in deference to trees, reminiscent of FLW?
stair down from office to intersect with entry bridge, the side wall trellis will eventually be full of vegetation
concrete cleanup trough sink
Grow Dat test kitchen!
the Grow Dat mobile Farmer's Market vegetable stand, complete with sun shade collapsible awning
Finally, where the magic really happens - in this case an adaptive re-use of the 18th hole of a former public golf course