an [infra]structural toolkit

for the new agrarian movement

EDITH GAWLER

ARC505 Thesis Prep Primary Advisor Secondary Advisor

Fall 2011 SEKOU COOKE RAMONA ALBERT

02

03

0 . 0 CONTENTS

Contents
0 .0 CONT E NT S 1 .0 T HE SIS STAT E ME NT 2 .0 G L OSSA RY 3 .0 R E SE A R CH 4 .0 PR OG R A M 5 .0 SIT E 6 .0 PR E L IMINA RY PA RT I ST UDIE S 8 .0 PR E CE DE NT S 9 .0 R E F E R E NCE S
02 06 08 13 43 54 64 72 80

04

05

today, our

FOOD CULTURES
are MOVING in

OPPOSITE

DIRECTIONS

06

07

1 . 1 THES IS S TATEM ENT

CULTURE

STATIONARY SPACE

MOBILE UNIT

INFORMATION EXCHANGE

THESIS CONTENTION

Food cultures in America are moving in opposite directions. On the one hand our accessibility to food has reached utter globalization - there is no product that cant be shipped to our door. At the same time, masses of people are once again growing, cooking, and consuming food locally. Call it a new agrarian movement, fueled by people who want to eat food from places nearby, slurping it down with it a side of history, arts and ethics. I contend that what these new agrarians need is a toolkit, an architectural approach to reconnecting food and culture, which will allow them to knit together a food system that is enlightened, joyful, and economically viable. In the process they might create a new rural

architectural typology that will allow this type of food system to compete in a globalized marketplace, by allowing farmers to personalize products, infusing them with a culture of art, design, and lifestyle that cant be reproduced by industrial systems. My contention argues for an infrastructural toolkit that increases the farmers cultural connectivity and financial viability - one that situates itself in between the ancient need to be grounded in place by the physical act of growing food, and the contemporary need to be mobile and agile in order to reach customers and avoid the risk of irrelevance.

I will explore this position through the design of the toolkit itself and its home base: a repurposed poultry farm in Belfast, Maine. The home facility will take over the existing agricultural structures for all on-farm processes, providing space for production, preparation, packaging, and storage. The primary architectural product of this Thesis is the toolkit- a rolling kitchen/stage/retail/ educational workshop that connects people with food culture by facilitating participatory events, the processing and sales of products, and information exchange.

While on-site, the unit inserts into the existing structures and becomes the enabler of space for performance, demonstration, and workshops. When removed, the mobile unit acts as a farm extension device in order to market the local food movement in any desired location. The mobile unit houses the infrastructure essential to off-site operation, including a streamlined commercial kitchen and efficient space for retail and exhibition. Further exploration will be made into the the assembly and dis-assembly of space, in order for program to expand and compress as needed to cater to specific functions -- all which encourage a participatory culture of food.

1 . 0 THES IS S TATEM ENT

AG

RI

08

Key Words

09

culture
cultural | adjective (oxford) 1 of or relating to the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a society : the cultural diversity of the worlds peoples. 2 of or relating to the arts and to intellectual achievements : a cultural festival. + The collected decisions, practices, arts, and language of groups and individuals, shaped by time, tradition, community and place. cultivate. grow. raise.

sustainability
sustainable | adjective (oxford) 1 able to be maintained at a certain rate or level (development, exploitation, or agriculture) conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. (oxford) 2 a : of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged, i.e. techniques, agriculture. b : of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods i.e. society. Sustainability | noun (wikipedia) 3 The capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of stewardship, the responsible management of resource use. + workable livable maintainable supportable adaptable

community
com-mu-ni-ty | noun (oxford) 1 a group of people living together in one place, esp. one practicing common ownership all the people living in a particular area or place : local communities. a particular area or place considered together with its inhabitants : a rural community. the people of a district or country considered collectively, esp. in the context of social values and responsibilities; society denoting a worker or resource designed to serve the people of a particular area : community food services. 2 a group of people having a religion, race, profession, or other particular characteristic in common 3 a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals a similarity or identity : chefs who shared a community of interests. joint ownership or liability : a commitment to the community of goods. + association, center, commonality, collective, inhabitants, zone, locale, commonwealth, neighborhood, people, public, residents, territory, turf, citizenry

tool+kit
tool | noun (oxford) 1 a device or implement, esp. one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function : gardening tools. 2 a thing used in an occupation or pursuit : computers are an essential tool | the ability to write clearly is a tool of the trade. kit | noun 1 a set of articles or equipment needed for a specific purpose : a first-aid kit. 2 a set of all the parts needed to assemble something + assembly set useful implements device multi-functional engine bag collection box means

2 . 0 GL OS S ARY

vernacular
vernacular | noun (oxford) 1 (usu. the vernacular) the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region 2 [with adj. ] the terminology used by people belonging to a specified group or engaging in a specialized activity: gardening vernacular. 3 architecture concerned with domestic and functional rather than monumental buildings + everyday ordinary language approach native design nonprofessional folk informal local popular plebeian

stewardship
stew-ard | noun (webster) 1 a person employed to manage anothers property. 2 a person whose responsibility it is to take care of something : farmers pride themselves on being stewards of the countryside. stew-ard-ship | noun (Wikipedia) 2 an ethic that embodies responsible planning and management of resources. The concept of stewardship has been applied in diverse realms, including with respect to environment, economics, health, property, information, and religion, and is linked to the concept of sustainability.

mobility
mobility | noun 1 the ability to move or be moved freely and easily : this exercise helps retain mobility in the damaged joints. 2 the ability to move between different levels in society or employment : industrialization would open up increasing chances of social mobility. + state of motion ability moving freedom freely easily place agility flexibility ambulatory fluid migratory liquid motile nomadic portable roving wandering

adaptability
adaptable | adjective (oxford) 1 able to adjust to new conditions 2 able to be modified for a new use or purpose : a workforce with adaptable skills. + ability to change fit the circumstances suitable fit versatile plastic pliant malleable modifiable adjustable alterable

2 . 0 GL OS S ARY

10

Phrases

11

New Agrarians
This entire thesis project aims to support the new agrarianism movement - a movement that is not easily defined by one body of thought. According to Wendell Berry, It is not so much a philosophy as a practice, an attitude, a loyalty and a passion all based in close connection with the land. It results in a sound local economy in which producers and consumers are neighbors and in which nature herself becomes the standard for work and production. 1

part of the land community, just as dependent as other life on the lands fertility and just as shaped by its mysteries and possibilities.4 According to emeritus professor of agriculture and economics John Ikerd, the prime motives of the new agrarians are to counter the effects of industrialized capitalism: resource entropy and social entropy. From his perspective, the only way to counter resource entropy is to return agriculture to a reliance on the sun, not on fossil fuels and other extracted minerals. The only way to counter social entropy is to use culture and law to protect families, neighborhoods, and communities from intrusion by the onesided incentives of globalizing capitalism.5 My interpretation is a hybrid of them all: New Agrarians and the New Agrarian movement represent a growing body of like-minded people who believe in the cultivation of rural spaces and communities as a healthy way of living, and as an important counter balance to the growing trends towards globalizing capitalism.

Small Farm
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines a small farm as a farm with less than $50,000 in total farm sales. According to their 2010 report on local food systems, it is these small farms that produce most of the products associated with the local food movement, particularly those located in the Northeast and West Coast. (Medium farms are defined as having total farm sales of $50,000 to $499,000, and large farms selling more than $500,000 in total sales annually). For this thesis argument, I focus on the small farm in order to develop an architectural product to aid in its economic strength and viability.

2 . 0 GL OS S ARY

To essayist Dave Walbert, a new agrarian is someone who believes that there is and must be a future for rural places as rural places and as a fully integrated part of the 21st-century world. A future, that is, in which rural places neither wither away nor become so urbanized that they lose their rural characteryet one that is truly a future, not a hidebound extension of the past for its own sake.2
1. McFadden, Steven. Introduction. The Call of the Land: an Agrarian Primer for the 21st Century. Nashville, IN: NorLightsPress, 2011. 33. Print.

Post-industrial Food Systems

The network of planners, policy-makers, producers, distributors, and consumers that are encouraging food systems in which food is grown with direct contact between individuals and communities on a human scale, befitting environments and communities and resisting mass-production, commodification, and machine domination. Exposing and celebrating the story of where our food comes from puts knowledge, health, and culture at the center of food production and consumption.

Mobile Commercial Kitchen

A space used to process and prepare foods for legal public sale and consumption. Commercial Kitchens must adhere to strict regulatory regime, administered by the USFDA and the State Health Departments. Access to commercial kitchens is important because it allows small farmers to add value to their crops, and compete with large-scale industrial farms by adding value to their crops which can be sold at retail as opposed to wholesale commodity prices. A mobile commercial kitchen is any commercial kitchen that is free to move where it is needed most or can function the best. Extremely useful for small farms to rent for short periods of time, who dont have the money to invest in a commercial kitchen of their own.

2. Walbert, David. Whats a New Agrarian? The New Agrarian. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http:// www.newagrarian.com/whats-a-new-agrarian/>.

3. White, Courtney. Quivira Coalition: 10th Anniversary Conference. Quivira Coalition. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://quiviracoalition.org/10th_Anniversary_Conference/>.

4. Freyfogle, Eric T. The New Agrarianism: Land, Culture, and the Community of Life. Washington, DC: Island, 2001. Print.

5. Carlson, Allan C. Agrarianism Reborn: On the Curious Return of the Small Family Farm. Intercollegiate Review 43:1 (2008). First Principles Journal. 03 Feb. 2009. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. <http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=1131>.

According to Courtney Whiten of the Quivira Coalition, the New Agrarians are a force: Across the nation, a new agrarian movement, centered on food and land health, is growing into a dynamic force. Led by youth (including the young-at-heart) and their mentors, this burgeoning movement is tackling some of the most daunting challenges of our time: food security, land restoration, conservation, climate adaptation, and sustainable prosperity. In the process, they are overturning traditional paradigms of conservation and agriculture.3 To Eric Fryfogle, Agrarianism, broadly conceived, reaches beyond food production and rural living to include a wide constellation of ideas, loyalties, sentiments, and hopes. It is a temperament and a moral orientation as well as a suite of economic practices, all arising out of the insistent truth that people everywhere are

Contemporary / Progressive Farmers

Contemporary farmers, or progressive farmers, as a whole, are a crucial part of the new agrarian movement. They are the current crop of innovative growers who are distinguished by their ability to see the growing of food as part of a larger system which includes processing, selling, transporting, storing, eating, sharing, preparing, and disposing. Contemporary farming is often associated with small farms, organic farms, and young farmers, who are learning from a very small cadre of older farmers who began after WW2; and today they are driving American farming to be more than just about chemical-free and/or efficient methods of food production to re-locate/re-identify/reassociate food and culture on a broader scale.

Local Food Movement

A collection of individuals, organizations, communities, and policy apparatuses loosely affiliated in sharing a goal of increasing and strengthening the ties between eaters and their place, often synonymous with small farms. collaborative effort to build more locally based,

2 . 0 GL OS S ARY

self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place.6 The term Local Food is also associated with other characteristics, including sustainable production and distribution methods (i.e. reduced or restricted use of synthetic chemicals and pesticides, environmentally friendly and socially fair production methods, etc), associating a face to the food (knowing your farmer), and the idea of provenance and honoring local influences.

6. Feenstra, G. Creating space for sustainable food systems: lessons from the field. Agriculture and Human Values. 2002. p19.

12

13

3.0 RESEARCH

14

15

agro-capitalism
3 . 0 RES EARCH
We are slowly waking up from our long belief that large-scale, factory farms are a viable solution for providing for us all the sustenance we need. Since the early 1800s, industry and progress have completely reshaped our farming landscapes and practices, and until recently, we have been largely unaware of the negative implications of these increasingly huge, monopolizing industries. Over the past few years, countless media releases such as Food Inc, the Omnivores Delimma, and King Corn have been exposing this unhealthy food culture that weve found ourselves in, which has kick-started a growing culture of informed consumers. Now, people are realizing that by purchasing that particular chicken breast, that corn, and those potatoes for tomorrow nights dinner, they are supporting negative agricultural practices, environmental degradation, GMOs, deadly pesticide use, unfair labor, and major issues of food justice. And so, America is undergoing a renaissance in its understanding of food, culture, landscape, and commerce. A new generation of informed farmers and eaters, otherwise known as the New Agrarians, are driving a shift towards widespread public support of local, sustainable food systems.

local food movement and the rise of the small farm

These new agrarians represent a growing movement of progressive small farmers, who, with their customers, are building an alternative to bland foods from everywhere, available always. Where grocery stores pitch processed, industrialized commodity food-like products from nowhere, these new agrarians serve up whole, healthy foods, which come from people with faces, places and real stories. People you can meet and talk with, who are more than a cog in an enormous global machine. It is this new generation of farmers and eaters who are not just farmers and not just consumers. People are becoming co-producers of the food itself and other things too. Storytellers. Knitters. Musicians. Dancers. These people are liberating food from its Cartesian, industrial silos and reinventing the dense web of social connections and practices that once was food. In short these new agrarians seek to re-connect culture and agriculture, and in turn remake the food system into one that is infused with meaning and justice.

KATE HOMEL Spirit of the Young Farmer {Bioneers}. October 14

SEVERINE VON TSCHARNER FLEMMING Director of the Greenhorns. Bioneers, 2011

JOEL SALATIN Author of Everything I Want to Do is Illegal

The movement encompasses a much wider range of skills than those solely used on the field. Anything from bicycle powered pig roasting spits to radio projects to creating online networks of young farmers are included in the vision shared by many rural producers, locovores, and agro-enthusiasts.

A farm includes the passion of the farmers heart, the interest of the farms customers, the biological activity in the soil, the pleasantness of the air abo ut the farm -- its everything touching, emanating from, and supplying that piece of landscape. A farm is virtually a living organism. The tragedy of our time is that cultural philosophies and market realities are squeezing lifes vitality out of most farms. And that is why the average farmer is now 60 years old. Serfdom just doesnt at tract the best and brightest.

3 . 0 RES EARCH

This movement thrives off the realizations of your own frustrations with the system. Showing that frustration, but coupling it with an awareness and desire to change things through restorative and compass ionate action, is the most realistic approach to redesigning the [American] dream.

16

standing out in a crowded marketplace

With omnipresent agri-industrial products, small farmers need to set themselves apart in a marketplace. Although small farms and factory farms may both be selling a tomato, the purchase of one my support unfair labor and excessive pesticide use, while the other may support a living wage and a positive story. I will be exploring the use of entrepreneurial ventures as a marketing tool. By using art, design & architecture along with music, exhibition, and performance, farmers have the oportunity to reveal the story of food in an imaginative way. Value added products can become unique specialty items, resulting in the sale of something that you simply cannot get anywhere else.

Their campeign is simple. No games - just soda. Furthermore, by allowing people to send in black-and-white photos, Jones invites the public to participate in the art of the package. The image is almost always different. Here, those who drink Jones help to shape the identity of the brand.

3 . 0 RES EARCH

telling the story of food

1. Jones soda even offers label customization for special events, and lets you choose the flavors. Prime example of a specialty item. http://quintainmarketing.com/customize-the-soda-bottles-at-yournext-event/ 2. Photographer: eric fiutak Location: cheektowaga, NY Date Submitted: May 11, 2008 Category: Music http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/index.php 3. Photographer: Matthew Leonffu Location: Westminster, CA Date Submitted: July 13, 2008 Category: People - groups http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/index.php 4.. Photographer: Kelsie Crawford Location: Battle Creek, MI Date Submitted: November 9, 2007 Category: People - groups http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/index.php

Ideally, in our information age, consumers are able to make informed decisions about what products they buy, which, most commonly, is one that stands out and affects them at some level. It is important that the architecture reinforces a program that capitalizes on the connection between consumer and product, giving the product specific value that is unique to the vendor and that speaks to the consumer. Take Jones soda for example. The back of their label reads: You gotta make a living somehow: we chose the beverage world. Good old soda with a twist. No hidden meanings, no billion dollar ad campaigns. At Jones, we want you to buy a lot of soda and recycle the bottles. The labels are kinda like our minds -- always changing. Run with the little guy... create some change. www.jonessoda.com

5. Interior, exterior design and market design scheme developed by Big Apple Development Group. http:// www.bigapplegroup.com/riches.php

4 5

6. The oblong rice shape and playful color scheme was developed on as many levels as possible by New Yorks Hassenstein Design Group. They were responsible for the design of the complete graphic identity including: logo, collateral, website, packaging, uniforms, menus and signage. http://hassenstein.com/ pages/design/design_r2r.html

This project will explore what it means to market not only a product, but an idea of a lifestyle and the story of food by integrating that story into the architectural design at multiple scales. This way, the entire project can become an engine for information, so that each architectural piece is designed to reinforce a message. It is important to look at each designed element as a way reinforce the brand, all the way from the treatment of the existing buildings on site to the packaging of even the smallest product, and even to the design of specific program and events.

9 Beyond just an indication of program, I believe that the architectural elements themselves should translate the goals and ideals of the program and the agricultural movement itself through materiality and physical space, in order to educate, inform, engage, and remain honest.

7. Architecture Parlante: architecture that explains its own function or identity. The employment of this idea reached its height during the periods of BeauxArts and Art Deco, and has since petered out almost completely.

8. The terms duck and decorated shed coined by Rober Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour in their 1972 book Learning from Las Vegas. The book argues all buildings can be classified as either a duck or a decorated shed; they are either what they are, or they are what they appear to be.

9. Image Credit: Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Learning from Las Vegas. 1972.

3 . 0 RES EARCH

The architecture, program, and products all need to embody the spirit of the project in order to become a unified marketing engine. Rice to Riches is a gourmet rice pudding restaurant and store in Nolita, New York. Everything from signage, food containers, and facade assumes the oblong shape of a grain of rice. Through graphic, product, and architectural design, they have found a way to playfully market their product - something as simple as rice from head to toe. Deliberate consideration is given to each and every element, and all seek to explain the primary why? of the project. Design considerations such as this have the ability create fodder for this new agrarian movement by exploring ways in which each piece contributes to the information and marketing vehicle as a whole.

architecture that communicates idea

17

The design challenge increases when we introduce the contemporary need to be agile into the development of a single brand. How do we use the idea of architecture parlante7 to communicate an idea? The need for adaptability in contemporary architecture largely rules out the building as duck8, where function is tied directly with form. If the program changes within the building, the structure immediately becomes irrelevant, and instead mis-communicates an idea.

18

19

3 . 0 RES EARCH

(nomads) NECESSITY

MOBILITY

STATIONARY
(agruculture)

PROGRESS

(industrial rev, cultural advancement)

EXTREME MOBILITY & AWARENESS

(physically, technically, socially) CHOICE

mobility/agility

The contemporary need for mobility affects the thesis project spatially, programmatically, and as part of the planning/development process for marketing products. physical mobility: Agriculture, at the very core of human existance, was developed over 10,000 years ago. Of all the human activities, there is no practice that is more grounded in place than the act of farming. So, how can farming practices

thrive in a contemporary environment that is so fast-paced that an architecture that does not embrace the idea of mobility, or at least adaptability, runs the risk of irrelevance? We are in an age where the idea of permanency is no longer wed to architecture. Modern life and mobility dine at the same table. We are surrounded by modern nomads. Now, more than ever, we are able to stay in the ultimate place of choice.

In the scope of this project, physical mobility enables grounded rural farm cultures to participate in and provision for urban environments. The mobile built artifact becomes something that is neither urban nor rural, but plays a key connective role for both. When the mobile unit stops, it has the ability to re-shape, re-define, and re-purpose its local context completely.
1

The Markies. Architect: Eduard Bhtlingk, Maasland, Netherlands Design: 1986 Completion: 1995 The Markies was developed as part of a design competition, and was awarded the Publics Choice Dutch Design Prize in 1996 Photos: Roos Aldershoff

3 . 0 RES EARCH

20
1 In which ways can space be made when a highly functional mobile machine is in an expanded, stationary state? Damin Ortegas Cosmic Thing, a disassembled Volkswagen Beetle. Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Photo Credit: John Kennard http://www.baystatebanner.com/arts42-2009-09-24

21

2 Architecture as swiss army knife. A collection of tools that can be assembled/dis-assembled to complete a variety of tasks.

3 . 0 RES EARCH

2 programmatic mobility: The beauty of mobile architecture is that the architect is invited to take on the role of event planner. When collaboration, marketing, subevent and advertising efforts all come together in order to pique the public interest, the result is a fully planned event, realized through architectural means. The project seeks to employ a design that can open and close specific elements for specific uses depending on the time of day and function required - to construct and deconstruct space as needed. When packed up, these elements may overlap and tuck into one another, in order to be easily transported or to make room for other programmatic space. In this way, the design as a tool-kit is like a swiss army knife2 - a collection of smaller tools that can be either present or hidden, which can complete a multitude of tasks. The design of a multi-purpose space calls for an architecture that is not tied to fixed configurations and pre-determined locations - an architecture that allows for change, built with flux in mind. Unexpected happenings in a city are delightful. Architecture characterized by mobility has the capacity to translate itself into an urban experience of unusual events. A mobile gallery, for instance, lures the pedestrians to appreciate the artworks, but it also captures them to be a part of the installation itself. A mobile library not only distributes but can also record stories and memories of public passerby. In a mobile runway, a stranger i suddenly a model. Mobile architecture has the potential to act as an urban transformer by addressing diverse lifestyles and creating unplanned happenstances. -Young Lang and Sook Hee Chun, WISE Architecture.

+ penetrable + inviting | interactive + educational | informative

+ everything is packaged for travel + fragile items are safe + size compacts | easily transportable

product agility: It is imperative that small farmers are able to be nimble in order to respond to changing food climates and consumer/public demands. By utilizing feedback loops, the business is able to make informed decisions about what and how products are made.

3 . 0 RES EARCH

22

now, more than ever, we feel ADVENTUROUS................................ we have the ability to continue to be in the ULTIMATE PLACE OF CHOICE

23

3 . 0 RES EARCH

ICE FISHING VILLAGES

1. Image Credit: http://celebrratecanada.wordpress. com/category/snow/page/2/

TRUCK FARM
King Corn filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis have developed a creative way to relieve agriculture from its earthly bonds. Albeit on a small scale, they are able to provide fresh food for a 20-member CSA. Food is delivered fresh to the subscribers door via the mobile farm itself. Using green-roof technology, lightweight soil and heirloom seeds ... they planted between the wheel wells with arugula and tomatoes, parked the truck on a Brooklyn street, and waited for sun and rain to work their charms. When the first sprouts came up, Truck Farm was born.3 Now, more than a dozen truck farms have sprouted up around the country, adding to the growing fleet of mobile food vendors and farmers in America.

The MARKIES, NETHERLANDS

From 1986-1995, architect Eduard Bohtlingk developed the design prototype for a roadready, mobile holiday home. What resulted result is not an ordinary caravan, even though it can be easily and legally towed according to B-road requirements. However, when it arrives at a destination, the walls can fold down, increaseing the interior space threefold in a matter of seconds. The space inside has a flexible layout, and houses all of the essentials for living: storage, benches, up to four beds, a fridge, stove, and sink, and even a shower and toilet. In 1996 it was awarded the Publics Choice Dutch Design Prize, and since 2002, has become a part of the traveling Vitra exhibition, Living in Motion.

BANGKOK, THAILAND, 1994

Bangkok is world-renowned for its street vendor culture, and every day sidewalks and streets are re-shaped by traveling vendors, seeking out the best location to sell anything from clothes, produce, and trinkets, to fully cooked meals. Often times, tables and chairs are put up around clusters of tables, transforming the pedestrian sidewalk into open air restaurants.
4. Image Credit: http://celebrratecanada.wordpress. com/category/snow/page/2/

2. Image Credit: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/ travel-outdoors/its-a-truck-its-a-farm-and-now-itsgoing-to-be-a-movie.html

3. www.truck-farm.com

These fishing villages only exist for a few months in the wintertime. A culture that has stemmed from need (fish=sustinance), the temporary village celebrates a culture of its own with yearly festivities. And after the ice melts, the village can no longer exists in the same capacity until the following year.

5. Image Credit: Jodi Cobb of National Geographic. www.nationalgeographic.com

3 . 0 RES EARCH

24

25

encouraging information exchange / feedback loops

3 . 0 RES EARCH

1. photo credit: Pilobolus Shadowland. http://www. flickr.com/photos/pilobolusmadrid/3886066185/in/ photostream.

1
2. Molly Gawler of Pilobolus reveals the creation of the dog girl that features in Shadowland while doing a press preview in Berlin, July, 2011. photo credit: China Daily Information Co (CDIC). http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2011-07/22/ content_12960140_9.htm

The mobile unit acts as a tool for gathering information about the customers and marketing environment, and brings this information back to the base of operations. Outlets for the public to provide feedback should be integrated into the architecture, products and processes wherever possible. But what exactly does this information exchange look like? How does it work? The best way to give and receive information depends on the context, and may include a combination of analog and digital tools. Some methods that encourage the the public to provide feedback might include financial discount at the mobile market to those who complete a survey, or other creative incentives to those who help to develop a product or idea. In this way, the public takes on the role of co-developer, instead of just the receiver of products.

This project will explore how best to spark the curiosity and interest of the public by playing with spaces of conceal and reveal. In this way, even the passerby gets a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the story of the food. Architecture can facilitate public engagement on a range of levels - from the sneak peak for the passerby to the larger public events, such as cooking workshops, harvest/planting festivals, and community dances which wed the public to the culture of food on small farms. In this manner, we are telling the story of the farm and the food, spreading information, encouraging a participatory culture of food, while inviting the community to become an integral part of this story.

3 . 0 RES EARCH

Critical to the agility and profitability of the small farmer as producer is the use of feedback loops for information exchange with the consumers. Most farmers depend on their records for information needed to complete the supply for the consumers demand. This supply and demand process functions on the principle that consumers vote with their dollar. But in this system, consumers are only able to vote for what is already on the market. Built into the program of my contention is the outlet for the public to voice demands that might not yet be on the market.

participatory culture of food / public engagement

By giving the public a behind the scenes and, whenever possible, participatory view of the processes of small farms and food production, we are able to use natural curiosity to engage the public by revealing the know-how of food operations. By lifting the veil and inviting the public eye, otherwise mundane farm and food operations become interesting and informative when exposed in public.

This reveal of behind the scenes processes can be a powerful tool. Polobolus, a popular modern dance company, has recently developed an entirely new classification of dance that incorporates this idea of conceal and reveal. The dance, shadowland, uses a series of flood lights and screens to create complex shadows with the dancers bodies, resulting in a dance production made up of beautiful and imaginative shapes and movements that tell a narrative. For the audience, the thrill is the discovery of how the shapes are made; the most popular seats are the ones that allow a view behind the scenes, and the audience is let in on the creative secret.

26

rural food cultures/ provisioning landscapes

Belfast, ME The chosen agricultural site for the project is a 50 acre parcel located just outside the suburbs of Belfast, ME; 1.5 miles from the center of town. The site was chosen for multiple reasons, including the proximity to an urban center in the middle of Waldo County, one of the most agriculturally progressive counties in New England. Within 25 miles there is a wealth of progressive small farmers, eaters, artists, and thinkers who have been attracted to the area since the 1960s because of its beauty, distance from metropolitan centers, and its strong support network for land-based lifestyles. This community centers around Belfast and nearby Unity, Maine, home of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), which for 40 years has been supporting and promoting people who are immersed in blending traditional and modern, non-industrial methods of food production and consumption. MOFGA hosts The Common Ground Fair1, which welcomes over 40,000 people to the county to celebrate rural living each September. This has become a major market for local farmers, and an annual community-wide celebration of newagrarianism.
1. 2010 Common Ground poster. Artwork by John Bunker.

27

3 . 0 RES EARCH

These institutions are invaluable resources for new and old farmers alike, as both customers and promoters of a food system that is relocalizing quickly. The result is an area with an abundance of fresh, delicious food, grown fairly and joyfully. Historical Significance As most small New-England towns did, Belfast thrived as an agricultural community after it was settled in the 1770s. The 1850s marked a transition to shipbuilding2, and the city produced hundreds of schooners out of lumber that was shipped down the Penobscott River from the Maine woods. In the early 1900s, shipbuilding was phased out to make way for new industry. With the invention of the refrigerator came the booming seafood industry, and the local economy quickly shifted to harvesting lobster, sardines, and a few saltwater fish package and ship down to Massachusetts and New York markets. After seafood came the shoe manufacturing industry, and after the 1950s came a huge shift towards the poultry industry. Belfast then adopted the title Broiler Capital of the World and large scale processors helped

Before the recession hit, however, the town of Belfast re-routed its main artery (Route 1) around the entire city in order to cross over a new bridge. When the recession came around, the flourishing city took a huge hit, and many blamed it on the re-routing of the road. It took a long time for Belfast to bounce back, but finally in the 1980s, a rebirth began when artists, students, and farmers started to move back into the area. In hindsight, the re-routing of Route 1 helped to preserve the citys special qualities, and today the city flourishes with a vibrant artistic and agrarian community. Local Traditions / Implications Although the identity of Belfast shifted focus several times, it always maintained a culture of craftsmanship, boat building, and agriculture. Many times, boat builders would also build houses, and there is a particular attention to detail and efficient use of space in the citys architecture. The tradition of contra dancing3, or folk dancing, is commonplace in agricultural NewEngland cultures. Today, particularly in Belfast, there has been a re-birth of this tradition, and the young and young at heart flock from all over the state to participate. Historically, these

Physical Parcel The project within the site re-purposes an old poultry farm - one of the larger operations in Belfast that was in full swing before the recession. The 50 acre parcel has a balance of existing infrastructure, fields, and forest, and lots of potential for an array of programs. The site intersects with multiple movement systems - a primary road on west side, and secondary road, railroad, future walking trail, and waterway on the East edge. It is at these intersections where the program has the most potential in the joining of on-farm activities with the public.

2. Construction of the Jennie Flood Kreger, completed in 1919. She was the largest ship that was built in Belfast, measuring 245 feet overall and weighing 1844 tonnes. Images courtesy of the Belfast Historical Society and Museum. http://www.belfastmuseum.org/jennie_flood_kreger.html

Belfast is home to the Belfast Co-op, one the oldest community-owned natural food stores in the country. It is a reliable customer of local farms, and serves as a nexus for the co-producers in the county, balancing the

3. Contradancing at Havens House Barn during the 2010 Plant & Sing festival on Shelter Island, NY. Image Credit: Bennett Konesni

3 . 0 RES EARCH

rural setting of MOFGAs headquarters. The Co-op has been a magnet that has brought progressive, food-minded people to the community, and a healthy community of localfood inspired restaurants have sprung up around it.

drive the local economy for the next 20 years. Every year in July, thousands flocked to the city to feast on barbecued chicken on Broiler Day. When the recession rolled around, the chicken industry collapsed.

dances were held in barns as a way to bring people of all ages together, to let loose, and dance. It is events like this, in particular, that strengthen and encourage a rural character. By providing space for contra dances and other community events to take place, the farm is able to invite a variety of people onto the site, increasing public involvement and the financial bottom line.

28

29

Belfast, Maine

Certified organic farms, by zip code: 10,159 70 10 1

Organic Farms
vs.

Total Farms
Total farms: 2.2 million 1 dot - 200 farms

Pockets of Increased Organic Production

There is a significant difference between the two maps, especially when you zoom in to New England. Areas in the Northeast and Northwest have many small organic farms that sell produce directly to consumers. Large organic farms, which some critics call agribusiness, have flourished in California. The largest organic markets by far are for vegetables, fruit and

dairy products, according to Catherine Greene, an economist at the Agriculture Department. Organic vegetables now account for 5% of all vegetable sales; organic dairies, which are the fastest growing sector, now produce 1% of the nations milk. - Hannah Fairfield for the New York Times
From METRICS - The Hot Spots for Organic Food. By Hannah Fairfield for the New York Times. Published: May 2, 2009. Data collected from 2007, the most recent agricultural census. http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/05/03/ business/03metrics.graf01.ready.html

3 . 0 RES EARCH

30

31

SITE
3 . 0 RES EARCH
Coordinates: 4425-33-N 690-42-W Country UNITED STATES State MAINE County WALDO Incorporated (town) June 29, 1773 Incorporated (city) 1853 1 mile AREA Total 38.4 sq mi (99.3 km2) Land 34.0 sq mi (88.2 km2) Water 4.3 sq mi (11.2 km2) Elevation 85 ft (26 m) Population (2010) : Total 6,668

2 miles

RT

RT

0.5 MILES N

BELFAST, maine

32

Passagassawakeag River
16-mile river // runs South and East to its estuary in Belfast Bay

33

Projected s ite
two hillside fields (SW and NE facing slopes), dense woods on steep slopes on West. Existing Buildings along main road

3 . 0 RES EARCH

Footbridge
Connects the active downtown center with the less-pedestrian-friendly North Shore.

Public Landing Marina

Provides fuel, moorings, slips, amenities & services

Belfast Co-Housing and Ecovillage

Future home of 36 co-housing units with shared fields, forests, and amenities.

Belfast Reser viors & Hiking Trails

Network of trails along resivoir Number One and Number Two, from the ocean to the Ecovillage Site and beyond.

water

environment

woods contour lines at 10 ft. intervals

0 0.5 MILES 1

34

Downtown Belfast
Where art galleries and studios abound, as well as a polethora of stores, eateries, and bars.

35

Front St. Shipyard

(currently under construction, in the place of the old sardine/seafood processing facility)

Commercial Sprawl
3 . 0 RES EARCH
easily accessable off of ft. 1 exit ramps; Belfasts only flavor of anywhere USA.

Waterfront Parks
Belfast Common and Herritage Park are both feature generous lawns sloping towards the water.

Belfast Co-op
Community owned market and deli/cafe: Social center of the town. Only co-op in the area, providing a market space for larger local farms in Central Maine

Business Park
Only two food producers: Ducktrap River (salmon) and Maine Maratime Products (wholesale seafood distributio)

Waldo County YMCA

Extremely active, community gardens on site.

commercial

zones

civic industrial
0 0.5 MILES 1

36

Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad

weekend excursions and rail-bikes - long term plans for bike trail along tracks

37

Projected s ite
situated inbetween secondary road to west and tertiary road, railroad, and waterfront access to east

B&ML Upper Bridge Station

3 . 0 RES EARCH
Temporary parking and loading area for B&ML., and for rail bike excursions

Rt. 1 Bypass
Rt. 1 bypasses the downtown area and divides urban from rural

Public Landing Marina

Provides fuel, moorings, slips, amenities & services

Regional Roads
East: Augusta // North: Monroe, Bangor // West: Searsport, Ellsworth // South: Campden, Portland

Belfast Municipal Airport

Average 27 aircraft operations per day // 60% local general, 20% transient general, 20% air taxi

suburban

transportation

urban center railroad

0 0.5 MILES 1

38

client

39

The program of the thesis focuses on the design development for a small entrepreneurial farming business on a re-purposed agricultural site in Belfast, Maine. However, as a toolkit for encouraging a movement, my clients, in a broad sense, are the farmers that take a stand against the corporate controlled foodscapes that are currently the predominant food production system. I hope to develop the mobile piece of the contention as a prototype that can be adapted to a number of situations and locations.

IF IT DOESNT EXIST, INVENT IT YOU ARE YOUR OWN FOOD CULTURE LET THE PIG HAVE HIS PIGNESS

DONT PITY US, JOIN US ERUPT INTO JOYFUL NOISE

3 . 0 RES EARCH

the new faces of food

This project has the potential to join several key players who are leading the way in the local food movement: Wendell Berry The grandfather of the new agrarian movement, Wendell Berry has penned dozens of nonfiction, fiction, poetry books and articles which take as core themes rural life, traditional farming and communities, the pleasures of good food and connection to place. His perspective rejects industrialized food and life, and embraces values like fideltiy, frugality and peace. Berry farms in the Ohio river valley on the Kentucky side and his perspective on the world is born from his place but is relevant to almost everyone in todays world. Eliot Coleman Eliot Coleman, author, inventor, farmer and developer, is probably one of the most profitable small farmers in the country today. He is constantly inventing new tools and developing better farming methods, aimed at increasing the efficiency and profitability of the farm. Although he lives in a remote part of Maine, Eliot still manages to be everywhere - in the informed decisions of the farm manager and in the inspiration behind the development of a new dibbler. Joel Salatin Self-described Christianlibertarian-environmentalistlunatic-Farmer, Joel Salatin has developed an intensive rotational grazing system that keeps animals on fresh pasture. His systems are environmentally sound, ethical, and profitable and have inspired an entire generation who are searching for a better way to farm. Joel is intensely local- if someone asks him to ship food to them, hell refuse and ask them to find a local farmer. Severine v.t. Flemming Networker-in-chief of the young farmer movement, Severine has farmed in the Hudson Valley of New York and is co-founder of the greenhorns, a film and an organization seeking to recruit, promote and support young farmers in America. In embarking upon this work she has entered the world of public policy, through the National Young Farmers Coalition (a Greenhorns spin-off) in which farming, environment, economy, and education are interwoven. Bennett Konesni and the Worksongers Led by Bennett Konesni, this group of farmer-musicians is exploring the use of music on an organic educational farm on Shelter Island, NY: Sylvester Manor. They believe that songs transform mundane moments in the field into a flow-state that exists between work and play, and that music can be used to add value to their crops by creating robust customer networks (concerts, dances, and increased publicity) as well as diverse and profitable product lines (CDs, Books, Posters.)

40

personal agenda
SUPPORTING STRUCTURE Sustainability. It is my belief that sustainable architecture is a relationship in which the built environment, natural environment, and the cultural environment all benefit from one another, with solutions that teach lessons of ecology, culture, and economics. It is imperative to me that this belief is infused into my work as much as possible. Community Involvement/ Handcrafted Architecture At this point in my architectural education, I have a deep interest in architectural program and processes that serve and strengthen communities. More and more, we learn, communicate, produce, and build through industrial devices. I believe that architecture that supports local knowledge and materials by using a hands-on approach and increased public involvement is equally important to technical and globalized progress, and can fulfill and regenerate a community in a qualitative way that the industrialization and prefabrication of architecture cannot do. At the heart of my personal agenda and this thesis is the desire to explore a ground up, participatory architecture that balances out the increasing tendency for top-down, industrial design solutions. Many of the projects I am interested in call for a paradigm sift, where solutions cannot be found on a shelf. Post-Thesis Goals It is important that this thesis project maintains a level of practicality and buildability, as I intend to complete the construction of the mobile unit as a prototype after design completion in the spring.

41

3 . 0 RES EARCH

ASSEMBLY/DISASSEMBLY OF SPACE with implications in: makers tradition intimate knowledge of materials deep connection with ecology self-reliance of using your own products beauty of natural patterns/grain as decoration regenerative material that sequesters carbon/ regulates temperature/captures runoff/builds habitat/etc.

Joinery

In this thesis project, joinery serves as both a physical mechanism for creating space and as a metaphorical idea of the joining of otherwise separate elements. It is the idea of the intersection - the intersection between culture + agriculture, mobility + locality, rural + urban, construction + deconstruction of space - that acts as the Modus Operandi of the project.

This joinery reflects and supports the ultimate joinery I seek to encourage- that of communitythrough my architecture. Community is in fact the joinery of separate individuals into a coherent whole, and by highlighting the physical act of joinery in my project I hope to encourage this joinery of individuals into a mutually supportive and well-functioning whole.

3 . 0 RES EARCH

REMOVABLE NODE IS ABLE TO SLIDE IN & OUT (when node is present, structure is stronger and able to take on more programmatic/structural load)

42

43

4.0 PROGRAM

44

45

PROGRAM FUNCTION CLIENT

S O TA FF C IC CO M ST E S M O O RA DA G TI M E O O (fo NS BI L o W EK da O RK ITC nd o EX SH HEN the O r) HI BI P S PE TIO PA CE RF N S O ST RM PAC AT AN E IO N CE G RE AR SP EN Y A PE HO KIT CE RE US CH EN N E AN NIA NU L CR M AL O AR P C KE RO S : PS p FL T E X SP : f erm lex A a IB ib nen PR LE CE le t F O CE UR E A SS NIT TE UR IN G R SP E PA Y AC CK E AG IN G SP AC E

G UE

program
The proposed program addresses the needs of the client - a start-up business as a contemporary small farm that will be operating on-site. As a crucial part of the new agrarian movement, these farmers are increasing the amount of tasks they address in-house, all the way from the stewardship of the land to the processing/packaging/storing of the product, and eventually the sale - all with the aim of telling a narrative and enforcing an idea along the way. My client will see the production of food all the way from start to finish - the complete loop from growth to sale of a product, while giving and receiving information whenever possible in order to encourage the new agrarian movement and to re-locate/re-identify/re-associate food and culture on a broader scale. It is very exciting to be able to develop a business proposal in conjunction with the design proposal - both have the ability to inform one another and make the project stronger as a whole. From this point on, the farm refers to the program within the site; the farmer refers to the client running the business, and the mobile unit refers to the rolling market/ event/kitchen space.

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

SITE

AGENDA

The strength and enthusiasm of the architectural design lies in the facilitation of the connection between the stationary and mobile; the agriculture and culture.

What: An on-farm processing facility with a detachable mobile component that houses an integrated commercial kitchen, retail and performance space. How it Works: Allows farmers to go to markets, give and get information from the community (feedback loop), create value added products, host concerts and cultural events, display and market products and story/movement, host workshops and hands-on experiences.

Who: Progressive Small Farmers and the New Agrarian Movement Where: Based in Belfast, ME, with the ability to extend the realm of influence with the mobile component. Why: Re-connect culture and agriculture, help small farms become successful, to tell the story of food, to create and share a joyful & healthy life. to encourage a participatory culture of food. In essence, to aid in the rise of the new agrarian movement.

LOCALITY

MOBILITY

AGRI

CULTURE

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

46

47

The farm is committed to the full process of food production - there is no middleman. Their efforts can be summarized into the following areas:

and can be elaborated into a functional sequence of activities:

Each stage in the programmatic process can be seen as an opportunity to gather information to help make informed business decisions as a form of internal information exchange. Opportunities for information exchange with the public should also be taken advantage of at each stage, making the entire program act as a communication machine.

STEWARD

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

NT/

CULTIVATE CULTIVATE
INF OR M/ INV OL VE /E

GRO

HARVEST PROCESS

XC

HA

NG E

R HA

VE

ST

MAKE/PROCESS

PRESERVE/PACKAGE
M /PERFOR DISPLAY

FUNCTIONAL SEQUENCE OF ACTIVITIES

MAKE/P

ROCESS

MARKET

STORE

ET

MARKET

M AR K

DISPLAY/PERFORM INFORM INFORM/INVOLVE/EXCHANGE

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

PLA

STE RD WA
STORE

PR ES ER VE K AC /P E AG

48

49

ice

rv

se

se

rv

ed

cooking/making/processing station washing packaging PROCESSING robust commercial kitchen walk-in fridge/freezer food storage (root cellar, cheese cave, canned, etc). workshop space dance floor stage/performance space gallery/exhibition space lounge offices BUSINESS

cooking/making/processing station washing packaging PROCESSING robust commercial kitchen walk-in fridge/freezer food storage (root cellar, cheese cave, canned, etc). workshop space dance floor MULTI-PURPOSE EVENT SPACE stage/performance space gallery/exhibition space storage (unused infrastructure) lounge offices BUSINESS meeting rooms reading room/resource library office storage field office workshop/woodshop
CULTIVATE HARVEST MAKE/PROCESS PRESERVE/PACKAGE STORE MARKET DISPLAY/PERFORM INFORM/INVOLVE/EXCHANGE
MOBILE retail streamlined commercial kitchen eatery/lounge checkout stage/performance space storage (market products) gallery/exhibition space workshop space cooking/making/processing station cooking/making/processing station washing packaging robust commercial kitchen walk-in fridge/freezer food storage (root cellar, cheese cave, canned, etc). lounge offices meeting rooms reading room/resource library office storage workshop space dance floor STATIONARY stage/performance space gallery/exhibition space storage (unused infrastructure) field office workshop/woodshop greenhouse guest accomodations staff lockers/support area storage (implements, tractors, tools, etc.)

MULTI-PURPOSE EVENT SPACE

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

meeting rooms reading room/resource library office storage field office workshop/woodshop

FARM

greenhouse guest accomodations staff lockers/support area storage (implements, tractors, tools, etc.) retail eatery/lounge checkout storage (market products)

MARKET

ua

di

co l

in

lec tiv

vid

cooking/making/processing station washing packaging PROCESSING robust commercial kitchen walk-in fridge/freezer food storage (root cellar, cheese cave, canned, etc). workshop space dance floor MULTI-PURPOSE EVENT SPACE stage/performance space gallery/exhibition space storage (unused infrastructure) lounge offices BUSINESS meeting rooms reading room/resource library office storage field office workshop/woodshop FARM greenhouse guest accomodations staff lockers/support area storage (implements, tractors, tools, etc.) retail eatery/lounge checkout storage (market products)

STEWARD

FARM

greenhouse guest accomodations staff lockers/support area storage (implements, tractors, tools, etc.) retail eatery/lounge checkout storage (market products)

MARKET

MARKET

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

storage (unused infrastructure)

50

51

COMMUN

OS ITY COMP

ITO T DEPOS
O TW RK SH

RY

STEWARD

OP

CO

MP

OS

PLANTING FESTIVAL

STATIONARY SPACE

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

COMM

ERCIA

L KITC HEN

WORK

SHOP

MOBILE UNIT
S ON

IES! , HOT, P / FRESH RENTAL ITCHEN CAN RCIAL K NIN COMME GW CO ORK MM SHO UN P ITY RO OT CE LLA R/ CH EES EC AVE STORAGE MODULES
W OR KS

MAKE/COOK/PROCESS

PRESERVE/PACKAGE

STORE
HO PS :W OR

L UB

TI CA

MOBIL
KS ON GS

E FARM STA

ND

RE

E CIP

,D

MARKET/SELL
ES IG N, AR

FIL

EDIA / ART / M POSTINGS COMMUNITY INFO / JOB AR T / MEDIA / HOW TOS / DE SIGN

DESIGN

MS CR

EEN

MOB ILE S TAG T, E MU SI ING C, S/ SLI AG DES RI HO CU WS LT U

DISPLAY
RE

TEACH/EDUCATE/PERFORM INFO PACK/ MEDIA INFRASTRUCTURE: ROBUST MINIMAL

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

PLA

NTI

NG

DEM

OS

/H

PO ERB

SEE T/

DL

SAL ING

ES

PLANT/GROW

HARVEST FE STIVAL

HARVEST

52

crops

53 that take place on the land, in the greenhouse, and in the bay (not many farms have the advantage of saltwater access adjacent to their crops. Aquaculture could prove very profitable as well as increase diversity). By developing agricultural spaces for each of these crops, the farm can obtain maximum flexibility through its growing environments. However, here is where a major design consideration comes into play. Many different growing conditions may mean increased flexibility, but not necessarily increased efficiency. One avenue for architectural exploration is: how can design make up for this efficiency loss? Is there a way to make it spatially play to our advantage?

The crops chosen for the site have the potential to affect procedural and architectural design greatly. Here, I will suggest a few potential crops with the idea that they may change throughout the design process. In order to maintain maximum agility and durability as a business, i propose that there be a diverse range of crops; a balance between year-round and seasonal, indoor and outdoor, and perennial and annual. My initial proposal includes crops with the most value added and thus profit potential in each category - crops

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

YEAR ROUND - PERENNIAL - INDOOR

i.e. herbs, rosemary

YEAR ROUND - PERENNIAL - OUTDOOR

i.e. aquaculture - oysters, lobster, seaweed

diversification? efficiency?

YEAR ROUND - ANNUAL - OUTDOOR

i.e. cold hearty lettuces

YEAR ROUND - ANNUAL - INDOOR

i.e. greens, cilantro, basil, arugula

SEASONAL - ANNUAL - OUTDOOR

i.e. garlic, dry beans, carrots, onions, cabbage etc.

SEASONAL - ANNUAL - INDOOR

i.e. tomatoes

SEASONAL - PERENNIAL- OUTDOOR

i.e. blueberries, raspberries, mint, rhubarb

SEASONAL - PERENNIAL- INDOOR

i.e. ginger

4 . 0 P ROGRAM

54

55

5.0 SITE

0.5 MILES

56

4 . 0 S ITE

HI GH ST

BELFAST

SITE
57

4 . 0 S ITE

58

59

N
10 ft 100 ft 200ft

contours at 10 intervals

4 . 0 S ITE

60

61

NE FACING SLOPES

stream

SW FACING SLOPES PASSAGASSAWAKEAG RIVER & BELFAST BAY

4 . 0 S ITE

N
10 ft 100 ft 200ft

WALDO AVE / RT 7

CITY POINT ROAD

BELFAST & MOOSEHEAD LAKE RAILROAD

DIRECT TO DT

BOAT TO

TO U

TO AS LF BE IA TV MA IN . ST

PPER BRID

H BELFAST

BELFAST

GE S TION T. STA

ARBOR

62

site specifics:

63 One of the more compelling aspects of the site is the wide range of transportation systems moving through it, while on-farm processes move perpendicular to them. At each intersection of movement and activity, there is opportunity for public involvement, or participatory program. The main architectural product is the potential design intervention at each intersection: major road, minor road, walking/biking trail, railroad, water Design interventions become the activator/catalyst of public interaction within the normative farm processes.

The site offers two large structures (former poultry barns) for adaptive re-use, the interiors of which provide open plans and large, flexible space. The stationary program will be housed in one or both of these structures, where the vehicle(s) for the mobile program will be designed and built from scratch, using a chassis of sorts. It will be beneficial to explore ways in which to preserve the character of the stationary structures, as to accentuate the shift in farming practices in the area from large scale broiler production to smaller, diversified, contemporary farming practices.

4 . 0 S ITE

64

65

5.0 PRELIMINARY PARTI STUDIES

66

preliminary design strategies

6. 0 P RE L I M INARY PARTI S TUDIES

CULTURE

strategy 1

AG

6. 0 P RE L I M INARY PARTI S TUDIES

There are three slightly different ways to develop an architectural argument for testing my hypothesis:

1. Agility as design problem. Focus on development of mobile unit as primary architectural product. Existing buildings receive minimal treatment - focus on the mobile TOOLKIT as much as possible, assume it can plug into multiple spaces. Marketing, branding, and information exchange is explored as architectural problems. Assembly/ dissassmebly of space is central to the success of the efficient, customizable package; joints, details and the how will be earnestly examined. Design Challenges: efficiency, mobility, adaptability, marketability, viability, - all in a very small space.

67

RI

68

6. 0 P RE L I M INARY PARTI S TUDIES

strategy 2

6. 0 P RE L I M INARY PARTI S TUDIES

2. Site as design problem. Focus on what the site has to offer: intersections between movement systems as opportunities for intervention. The project here manifests itself as several mobile pieces, or interventions, as mechanisms to draw public onto the site. Mobile units as TOOLKITS will still be explored - here, there are several, all addressing different forms of movement. This strategy expands upon the previous one, perhaps diluting the specific investigation into one unit, but perhaps strengthening the argument as a place-based design solution.

69

70

6. 0 P RE L I M INARY PARTI S TUDIES

strategy 3

6. 0 P RE L I M INARY PARTI S TUDIES

3. Program as design problem. Focus on the development of the farm processes efficiencies, movement, patterns - explore what it means to design for a profitable, sustainable farm in a deep ecological way, one that situates itself in-between the need to be grounded in place yet mobile and agile. Let the events and processes dictate architecture. This might also include the development of the second barn structure as a co-operatively owned resource for local farmers, so that the program and architecture acts as a toolkit for the movement, equipping farmers all over the county. In other words, the entire project becomes a provisioning site at different scales. program provisioning for the movement, site provisioning for the business, stationary structure provisioning for mobile unit.

71

72

73

A band of food trucks that create impromptu hubs of culinary activity in the Bay Area. Food carts arrive in an empty square, and soon the crowds converge to participate in a unique, delicious and hip celebration of food. OFF THE GRID SF as an organization is a wealth of knowledge, collected and digested as a tool for for start-up street food businesses. Their online and e-book collections include prototypes, guidelines, and an abundance of information - everything you need to know, and lots more that you didnt know you needed to know. OFF THE GRID is a major part of encouraging a ground-up approach to dining in San Fransisco, and enables a creative environment for farmers, chefs and entrepreneurs to sell their food.

8 . 0 P RECEDENTS

OFF THE GRID SF

74

DAIRY HOUSE
Buro2 Old Dairy redux, Somerset This is one of the greatest adaptive re-use projects I have ever seen. Uses special program to break out of the mould - in this case, a bathouse. During the day, one might mistake it as a shed, peculilarly placed on top of the wall. However, at night, this structure draws you in with its illumination, and the quasi-reveal of the bathing ritrual adds to the excitement. + consistent use of noble materials: glass, wood, stone. + the extension, made out of of interlocking pieces of glass and live-edge oak, was constructed by a local cabinet maker. Truly a work of art - he measured to the millimeter. + even the glass was laminated by a worker nearby.

75

8 . 0 P RECEDENTS

76

BARN HOUSE
Buro2 Adaptive Re-Use - Barn redux - Belgium This project breathes new life into an otherwise discarded agricultural building. Rita Huys of Bruno2 emphasizes the importance of bringing together tradition and innovation in this design.

77

8 . 0 P RECEDENTS

+ flexible open space + importance in keeping rural character of buildings + diciplined simplicity

78

PUBLIC PIE
Public Pie bakes cakes on location. Maaike Bertens & Marieke van der Bruggen, The Netherlands Looking at food as a product for design. In the front we serve the food, in the back, we bake the apple pie. A seat is located above the oven, so you can get the hot butt for free. Its about the total experience - were not just giving people pies, its a little more like slow living. you can see directly how pure it is, you can see every step - the apples, the dough, the peelers, and the end result, so its kind of a very honest thing. We consider the whole environment on location, and thats why its called public pie - in public - for everyone.
transcribed from dezeen magazine Food and Design report (video) http://www. dezeen.com/food-and-design-films/

79

Lessons Learned: Delight in the unexpected.

8 . 0 P RECEDENTS

80

Bibliography
Berry, Wendell. Bringing It to the Table: on Farming and Food. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2009. Print. Carlson, Allan C. Agrarianism Reborn: On the Curious Return of the Small Family Farm. Intercollegiate Review 43:1 (2008). First Principles Journal. 03 Feb. 2009. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. <http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles. aspx?article=1131>. Khan, Lloyd. Shelter. Bolinas, CA: Shelter Publ., 1973. Print. Kim, Seonwook, and Miyoung Pyo. Mobile Architecture. Seoul: DAMDI Pub., 2011. Print. Martinez, Steve, et al. Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues, ERR 97, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, May 2010. McDonough, William, and Michael Braungart. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point, 2002. Print. McFadden, Steven. Introduction. The Call of the Land: an Agrarian Primer for the 21st Century. Nashville, IN: NorLightsPress, 2011. 33. Print. Nearing, Helen, and Scott Nearing. Continuing the Good Life: Half a Century of Homesteading. New York: Schocken, 1979. Print. Noll, Terrie. The Joint Book: The Complete Guide to Wood Joinery. Edison, NJ: Chartwell, 2006. Print. Salatin, Joel. Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front. Swoope, VA: Polyface, 2007. Print. Salatin, Joel. Folks, This Aint Normal: a Farmers Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World. New York: Center Street, 2011. Print. Salatin, Joel. The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer. Swoope, VA: Polyface, 2010. Print. Schwarzer, Mitchell. Zoomscape: Architecture in Motion and Media. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004. Seike, Kiyoshi. The Art of Japanese Joinery. Boston, Mass.: Weatherhill, 2010. Print. Sloane, Eric. Eric Sloanes an Age of Barns. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1966. Print. Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Learning from Las Vegas: the Forgotten Symbolismus of Architectural Form. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT, 1977. Print. Vitra Design Museum. Living in Motion: Design and Architecture for Flexible Living (Touring Exhibit). Available online at http:// www.design-museum.de/museum/ausstellungen/l_i_motion/ index.php (Accessed 20 September 2011). Von Tscharner Flemming, Severine, Sarita Role Schaffer, Tyler Webb, and Bennett Konesni. Growing Growers: The 100,000 New Farmers Challenge. 2011 Bioneers Conference. California, San Rafel. 15 Oct. 2011. Lecture. Walbert, David. Whats a New Agrarian? The New Agrarian. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http://www.newagrarian.com/ whats-a-new-agrarian/>. Wirzba, Norman. The Essential Agrarian Reader: the Future of Culture, Community, and the Land. Washington, D.C.: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2004. Print. White, Courtney, and Avery C. Anderson. New Agrarians. Green Fire Times. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://greenfiretimes. com/2011/10/new-agrarians/>. White, Courtney. Quivira Coalition: 10th Anniversary Conference. Quivira Coalition. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://quiviracoalition.org/10th_Anniversary_Conference/>. Whyte, William. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. New York: Project for Public Spaces, Inc. 2011.

81

9 . 0 REF ERENCES

Carlson, Allan C. The New Agrarian Mind: the Movement toward Decentralist Thought in Twentieth-century America. New Brunswick (New Jersey): Transaction, 2004. Print. Coperthwaite, William S., and Peter Forbes. A Handmade Life: in Search of Simplicity. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2007. Print. Drengson, Alan. The Deep Ecology Movement: An Introductory Anthology. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1995. Print. Ellis, George. Modern Practical Joinery: a Treatise on the Practice of Joiners Work by Hand and Machine, for the Use of Workmen, Architects, Builders, and Machinists ... Fresno, CA: Linden Pub., 1987. Print. Freyfogle, Eric T. The New Agrarianism: Land, Culture, and the Community of Life. Washington, DC: Island, 2001. Print. Hormel, Kate. Spirit of the Young Farmer. {Bioneers}. Elephantjournal.com. Waylon H. Lewis Enterprises, 16 Oct. 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. <http://www.elephantjournal. com/2011/10/bioneers-2011-the-young-farmers-movement/>.

9 . 0 REF ERENCES

Carlson, Allan C. Compassionate Conservatism: Ten Lessons from the New Agrarians Intercollegiate Review 36:1-2 (Fall 2000/Spring 2011). First Principles Journal. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?articl e=1198&theme=home&page=3&loc=b&type=ctbf