Edible cities

New Technologies

By studying under the title 'A Space of Waste', I found many areas in London which are exactly this, a waste of space! These spaces could be used to promote more food growing in London.

For example:

1. Using Parks to accommodate food growing in their grounds.
2. Exploring under-utilised spaces such as derelict council property, private gardens, and social housing to grow food.
3. Making use of abundant buildings in London to grow food on rooftops, up walls and in window boxes.
4. Providing education and training for new growers e.g. The Camden Good Food project

City Harvest

Having looked at living walls and urban chicken coops I also began to explore the idea of 'City Harvest' and the benefits associated with urban agriculture. It focuses mainly on food growing and sustainability.

It has even attracted the attention of the government as a way of tackling obesity, health inequalities, climate change and more.

An example of this is Changemakers - 'Good Food for Camden' a food strategy launched in October 2009 till 2012. Residents were extremely interested in 'growing their own' to save money and increase the freshness of produce. But most importantly creating environmental sustainability.

A big factor is the reduced food waste. did you know that approximately one third of the food bought in the UK is thrown away, with the average household throwing away £420 worth of edible food each year, and more for households with children.

The Benefits of 'CITY HARVEST' : (Interconnected design thinking)

1. Community - addressing antisocial behavior and decreasing isolation.
2. Environment - increasing biodiversity, reducing environmental impact of food production and food miles.
3. Education - providing training, skills development and opportunities.
4. Health - improving mental and physical health.
5. Economy - addresses poverty, strengthening green infrastructure, supporting communities to trade amongst each other.

Green Cities

I think that consumers are feeling disempowered. They want to know who's made their product, and where their food came from. City farming brings back the idea of 'local', as well as the sense of power.

For example 'OMLET' is a company started up by five designers, which sells chicken coops, beehives and rabbit houses. Helping those who live in the city to easily obtain fresh eggs of make their own honey.

Below: Beehive by Omlet

Below: City Chickens

Below: Chicken coop by Omlet

Emotionally durable design

Jonathan Chapmans has argued that in the context of sustainable product design "the methods through which we currently address sustainability are not as sustainable as we might like to think" (Chapman, 2005, p170). The rationale behind this argument is that the methods and techniques currently in use appear to go straight to the third, and least preferable, of the 'three Rs' of sustainable design - "REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE", when focus should be placed on reduce and reuse first.

In simple terms he advocates that designers need to design products which are emotionally durable, this essentially means that people connect with the product emotionally such that there is more desire to keep and repair, maintain and upgrade a product rather than dispose and replace with a new product.

Chapman, J. (2005) Emotionally Durable Design - objects, experience and empathy, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, UK.

Cradle to Cradle

The large consumption of goods and services in the western World is referred to as a drug or alcohol addiction say Robert Lilienfeld and William Rathje's in their 1998 book Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are.

"Recycling is an asprin, alleviating a rather large collective hangover . . . overconsumption." Or again,

"The best way to reduce any environmental impact is not to recycle more, but to produce and dispose of less."

"We can no longer import our lives in the form of food, fuel and fundamentalism. Life is home-grown and always has been, So is culture. And so, too, are the solutions to global problems."

(Paul Hawken, 2008)

"To be a responsible designer requires more than just talent, it requires good citizenship"

(Steven Heller - Citizen Designer, 2003)

Designers as Social Innovators

After hearing about Ezio Manzini's SusHouse I read a similar artical in Detail magazine on a housing project in Brighton, England.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The project, 'One Brighton' was designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, a practice with a track record in sustainable design.

"The objective with One Brighton was for all the environmental measures to remain in the background and to make it as easy as possible for people to reduce their carbon footprints without having to change their life style," says FCB project architect Andrew Macintosh.

The 'eco-studio' was developed, where a group of studio apartments share a communal room. The development also has a 925 meters squared community centre and 1134 meters squared of office space, as well as 28 mini-allotments.

(the picture below is an example of the 'eco-studio' )

It is Britain's first 'One Planet Living' project, containing the 10 principles: zero carbon, zero waste, sustainable transport, local and sustainable materials and food, sustainable water, natural habitats and wildlife, protect local cultural heritage and diversity, increased health and safety, equity and fair trade.

This project goes beyond sustainable building methods alone! It creates lifestyle changes such as car clubs, using public transport (next to train), and food-growing. This makes it EASY for people to live sustainably. I also think they got the combination of desirability + sustainability right making it an excellent project.

(To date, 85% of the apartments have been sold, which I think is good seeing as it coincides with the UK's credit crunch!)

Biomimicry

LIVING WALLS -

How much do you know about the sustainable materials that could insulate your home?

How about your windows and cabinets?

Have you ever considered LIVING WALLS?

• Living walls can act as insulation and help filter the air. They cool the ambient air temperature as well as cooling the building system it's attatched to.
• Glare is reduced.
• Sound insulation.
• Aesthetically pleasing, especially on barren cityscapes.
• Habitat and flora/fauna preservation, contributing to the overall health and sense of wellbeing of everyone.
• EVEN the fixing bars are made from recycled materials.

Sustainable Development

Sustainable building materials are more than just re-cycled or re-used materials. To be truly sustainable the material has to be examined from the time it was harvested as a raw material, to when it needs to be disposed of.

Considerations: Price, environmental and health impacts, energy consuption, waste, emissions, and the resources ability to renew itself.

Sustainable homes. If you could build a house that was healthier for your family as well as the environment would you?

More people are concerned with the carbon footprints of their homes. But now with environmentally friendly building materials, your home can be a sustainable one, which benefits the surrounding environment and is healthier for your family.

Local materials for sustainable building. Local materials are the most common, because they reduce the energy needed in transportation.

Sustainable Building Materials that are not made from recycled resources MUST be highly RENEWABLE. For example renewable materials such as straw, hay, adobe, bamboo, cork and clay, can be renewed quickly when harvested, have low or no emission rates, and have energy conservation qualities. They are natural materials and build healthier more eco-friendly homes.

Recycled Material are anything from steel, to granite, to polyurethane.

So use these materials, most of the time they even cost less than the traditional building materials.

Emergency Shelter Designs

UP-CYCLING : Making speedo swimsuits into emergency shelters/tents for disasters.

Some photo's of the other emergency shelters designed by Platform 5 (Re-use, Re-Build, Re-new).

Finished Shelter

Yesterday (04/11/10) we finished our emergency shelters and had a picnic Lunch in them.

Oxfam and Speedo came around to choose and judge which ones will be put into production. We will find out their choices soon.

My fingers are sore from sewing and I don't want to see another Speedo swimsuit for a long time!