Bringing People to the Table

bringing people to the table

bringing people to the table Archeworks Mobile Food Collective

Editors Susanne Schnell Catherine Muller Visual Consultant Michelle Litvin

Copyright Š2011 Archeworks

Published by Archeworks, 625 North Kingsbury Street Chicago, IL USA 60654

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

Design and Layout Yael Breimer Production Katie Vail Yael Breimer Contributing Writers Catherine Muller Mason Pritchett Susanne Schnell Jesse Vogler

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act, without written consent from Archeworks.

ISBN 978-0-9832698-0-9

Printed in the USA

Bringing People to the Table is dedicated to our funders and supporters whose generosity brought the Mobile Food Collective to fruition and made possible Archeworks’ participation in the 12th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2010 Venice Biennale. We also dedicate this book to our co-founders, Stanley Tigerman and Eva Maddox; our Board of Trustees; Archeworks alumni; and more than 80 community partners who continue to inspire, push, expand and enrich us as designers. We are also especially indebted to our many friends and colleagues in Chicago and across the country who have supported the nurturing and blossoming of our unique design organization.

The publication team would like to thank Nate Burgos, Rick Valicenti, Erika Holmquist, and Karen Halvorsen Schreck, who generously contributed their expertise and guidance in support of this publication.

Supporters The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts Perkins + Will The Joyce Foundation The Ho-Chou Family Foundation Judith Neisser David Hilliard Anne L. and Burton B. Kaplan Elva Rubio and Scott Timcoe Howard and Pam Conant Greg Cameron and Greg Thompson Dirk Denison Architects Haworth, Inc. Jordana Joseph and Glen Saltzberg Donald and Nancy Los The Northridge Group, Inc. Roula Associates Architects, Chtd.

Studio Gang

Introduction XIII Preface XVII Foreword XXI

Seeding the Idea t 'BMM &YQFSJNFOUT

01

Germination t Prototype & Programming

13

Making it Real t Fabrication

23

Gather, Give, Grow t Film

31

Envisioning Exchange t Model

41

Si Mangia! t Venice Workshopping

51

Taking it to the Streets t Connection & Engagement

65

Acknowledgments and Credits 80

Introduction

M

any people ask about the collaborative process that defines Archeworks’ approach to design education. Bringing People to

the Table illuminates this distinctive process, giving a behind-

the-scenes look at the year-long Archeworks design challenge that launched the social and cultural enterprise now known as the Mobile Food Collective. The Collective addresses Archeworks’ central goal of improving environmental and community health through good design.

Bringing People to the Table shares the Collective’s story, revealing its genesis and evolution, and tracing its international journey from South Side Chicago neighborhoods to Venice piazzas. Our book shows just how a talented group of Archeworks student designers—with backgrounds in architecture, landscape and interior design, environmental science, and the performing arts—brought their collaborative vision to life. Bringing

People to the Table also illustrates how community engagement sustains the Archeworks design process, and how communal dialogue continues to inspire the Mobile Food Collective’s emerging public programs.

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This journey began in Fall 2009 when our student design team

exquisite diagrammatic model; an animated short film; and a student-

started investigating the needs of ‘food deserts’ in Chicago’s urban

led cross-cultural design workshop in collaboration with the University

neighborhoods. Students were deep into the development process for

of Camerino.

the Mobile Food Collective in Winter 2010 when the High Museum of Art in Atlanta invited Archeworks to be part of its bid to represent the

Sharing a stage with preeminent international designers at the Biennale

U.S. at the 12th Venice Biennale for Architecture. A few months later,

was an extraordinary honor and a defining moment for Archeworks.

we were thrilled to learn that the U.S. Department of State had selected

We could not have reached this pinnacle without our team of inspired

Workshopping: An American Model of Architectural Practice to display

designers, nor without the bold vision of our founders, Stanley Tigerman

at the U.S. Pavilion. The exhibition’s co-curators—the High Museum

and Eva Maddox. Their legacy of shaping socially responsible design

and 306090—chose Archeworks along with six other design practices to

leaders is an enduring gift to the field and society as a whole.

celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of American architects and designers as initiators of transdisciplinary partnerships that serve the public good

Since the Mobile Food Collective’s return from Venice, Archeworks

through focused research and social engagement.

continues to explore new points of connection and partnerships that can support a growing local food movement. We view these partnerships—

The opportunity to showcase the Mobile Food Collective at the Biennale

both formal and informal—as idea incubators where interactive programs

challenged Archeworks’ designers to work in new mediums that conveyed

and uses for the Collective are proposed, tested, and continually evolved

the Collective’s messages across language and cultural boundaries.

through engagement with community audiences. Going forward, the

Working with an expanded lineup of talented collaborators, our team

Collective will continue to serve as a flash point and instigator of many

produced amazing results in just a few months: a full-scale prototype; an

more experiments and conversations aimed at building a shared vision for a healthy food culture.

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Preface

Building Healthy Communities Through Design

T

hrough the Mobile Food Collective and our other emerging design initiatives, Archeworks is preparing the next generation of designers to become catalysts who push the boundaries of

the discipline and expand design’s public interest mission. Our design students are seeking new opportunities to benefit the public good by addressing social concerns of significant magnitude, such as community and environmental health disparities and food systems inequities. By definition, food has ethical value; it fortifies us, sustains our health, and enables us to lead productive lives. Our Mobile Food Collective design team tuned into these ethical dimensions, and looked for meaningful ways to connect design to healthy eating—the core of wellness.

Our designers began with a question: what new infrastructure can help us develop a more thoughtful and participatory local food culture?

They drew inspiration from a growing call among community-based advocates and policymakers to rethink, reorganize, and transform the way food is grown, sourced, marketed, and consumed in our cities. They came to understand that healthy eating is not only a challenge for ‘food desert’ communities with economic barriers to quality fresh food—it’s

XXI

a problem for all of us. In their field investigations, the design team

On a larger scale, the Mobile Food Collective embodies Archeworks’

considered a range of spatial, cultural, and skill-based barriers. The

vision for urban infrastructures that support environmental health. The

team also recognized that the hard work of removing these barriers and

Collective’s mobile structures are quite literally vehicles and tools for

changing attitudes must take place at the local scale where communities

building a grassroots healthy food movement, and can be understood

and residents can have a voice and a role in an expanding local food

as a new form of local food infrastructure. The Mobile Food Collective

movement. In short, their vision for the Mobile Food Collective grew out

functions as an open source design lab that belongs to everyone who

of a desire for social action. They wanted to create a dynamic cultural

champions and spreads its messages. In this sense, the Collective is

platform to spark dialogue and engaged learning by residents of all ages

cultivating citizen designers—people who see themselves as important

about the vital connections between healthy food and good health.

contributors to the Collective’s expanding menu of programs. By joining the effort, they are creating new expressions of social infrastructure

In my view, one of the most precious commodities that the Mobile Food

and in so doing, helping to democratize design and creating healthier

Collective brings to the table is its call for us to take greater responsibility

communities.

for our health and well-being. The Collective reminds us that change starts with individuals, and each small step can lead to better health.

In its desire to return authority to the individual and to promote selfeducating, resilient communities, the Mobile Food Collective embodies core values about good design. It encourages people to become—more

Susanne Schnell Executive Director, Archeworks Chicago, May 2011

than simply educated consumers of healthy food—stewards of their local food systems, keepers of their cultural food heritage, and creators of new community rituals around preparing and sharing food.

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Foreword

Food Matters

S

everal times a day, we eat. Each time we eat, we essentially vote with our wallets to support a particular type of food production system. Unfortunately, the histories behind these systems too

often run counter to our personal health and our community’s well being. But how could food possibly be bad for us? The answer begins by asking a simple question: how was the food I’m eating produced, and how was it delivered to me? It turns out that the food choices we make every day affect us in unanticipated ways, and also bolster an existing food industry that does not necessarily have our best interests in mind.

In cities today, the three main concerns about the food we eat are production, distribution and access. There is a growing awareness surrounding the quality, safety, security, and environmental and social impacts caused by contemporary practices of food production. For example, millions of truck miles are logged each year to move food around, with well-documented environmental impact. In addition, a great deal of attention is focused on the fact that many people have difficulty accessing fresh, affordable and nutritious food, leading to profound physical and emotional health disparities in underserved urban

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communities. Looking more closely at the non-beneficial impacts of our

The larger point is that new thinking is required. One response is to

food choices might lead us to question the intelligence of the systems we

break down traditional divisions between the rural and urban—in short,

have designed, and the way urban environments in particular function.

to grow food in cities. Local food systems can provide solutions to food production, distribution, and access challenges simultaneously. Today,

In his essay, The Attack of the Killer Tomato, Peter Bahouth tracks a tomato

urban communities throughout the U.S. are investigating ways to grow

from source to his table. It was grown on land acquired by a multi-national

food locally using an array of land conversion techniques such as

corporation with the help of the Mexican government. The tomato seed was

backyard gardens, neighborhood gardens, shared greenhouses, edible

a hybrid, owned by another multi-national corporation. Prior to seeding, the

‘greenrooms,’ and modestly scaled commercial agricultural systems

land was fumigated with potent ozone-depleting chemicals—by farmers

such as aquaponics.

on poverty-level wages. The tomato was stored in a plastic container— made using chlorine, which contaminated local waterways in Texas—and finally placed in a cardboard box. Dioxin-contaminated fish are a problem for residents near the Great Lakes-region pulp mills that manufacture the cardboard boxes made from British Columbia’s 300-year old trees.

The tomato, after all, is but a tiny piece of a vast industrialized network.

Much work is already underway by policymakers to remove barriers such as arcane zoning regulations that restrict and prevent community-based agriculture from growing to scale. Many are beginning to understand how what appears to be a monolithic, unchangeable way of doing things can in fact be improved with new design thinking.

Every fruit, vegetable and grain—seen as friendly, ‘natural’ products— has the potential to damage the environment. Each of these networks was designed with almost surgical precision to meet consumer needs while directly harming only a few. But when these networks

Martin Felsen Design Director, Archeworks Chicago, May 2011

are combined, there are unwanted and threatening repercussions.

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Seeding the Idea

Fall Experiments

1

E

arly in the 2009-10 academic year Archeworks’ student design team focused on how cities feed themselves, looking at relationships to food in urban areas from a number of perspectives. The mission

we developed: to inspire a new food culture that incorporates heritage, ownership, exchange, and connection. In pursuit of our goal to promote a ‘rethinking’ of food, the student group embarked on a number of field experiments as a means of engagement around these four ideas. One such exercise yielded playful, out-of-the-box approaches to seed dispersal. In this extended exploration, the seed served as both vehicle and metaphor for probing the possible reach of our team’s endeavors. The many unique possibilities included: affixing small seed packets to grocery bags; filling biodegradable balloons with seeds; planting impromptu gutter gardens; tossing seeded shoes over power lines; and hanging fresh produce from trees on busy Chicago streets.

Another team experiment evolved into Growables™. Taking our cue from the ubiquity of convenience food, we appropriated the format and visual language of a popular lunchtime snack to promote simplified growing of vegetables and worm composting (vermiculture). We prototyped three

3

home herb planting and vermiculture kits as a whimsical vehicle for do-it-yourself growing and composting. These kits provided consumers with ready-to-use soil, seeds and compost, or a supply of bedding, food starts and live worms packaged in 100% biodegradable containers with instructions and “growing facts” modeled after nutritional labels.

As a more interactive investigation, the team staged a series of public performance interventions designed to raise questions about the rites and rituals of sharing food in an era of growing social isolation. We hosted a number of impromptu shared dinner meals, complete with real plates, flatware, and cloth napkins, on the Chicago “L”—the elevated train system. These ’pop-up’ meals caught the attention of many curious riders who joined us, somewhat tentatively, in our feasts.

To inform riders about sustainable food options along their travel route, we created “L” train maps that encourage easy access to healthy, local, and organic foods.

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Growing Facts Directions: Serving Size 1 package

SS Water Sun Germination 6-12 days Maturity 65-75 days Spacing 1” Depth 1/8 - 1/4” INGREDIENTS: SOIL, SEEDS, COMPOST TEA BAG. CONTAINS: ORGANIC BIODEGRADABLE MATERIAL.

DO NOT FREEZE. PACKAGING IS 100% BIODEGRADABLE

PLANT SEEDS IN SOIL COMPARTMENT ACCORDING TO GROWING FACTS. PLACE IN MODERATE SUNLIGHT. STEEP BAG IN WATER UNTIL TURNS A WEAK TEA COLOR AND APPLY TO SOIL. WATER EVERY OTHER DAY TO KEEP MOIST. TRANSPLANT STARTS OR PLACE SOIL COMPARTMENT IN LARGER CONTAINER. HARVEST. ENJOY!

VISIT US AT: WWW.ARCHEWORKS.ORG/MFC OR CALL US AT: 312-867-7254

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RECIPE ARCHIVE

Finally, in keeping with our mission to incorporate heritage and connection, the team designed and piloted a recipe archive—a series of postcards that invite people to share recipes made from whole ingredients. We created the archive to collect and preserve the vast communal knowledge about cooking and food—knowledge that may be lost if not kept alive and shared. Recipe postcards pose questions such as “What would Grandma cook?” and “How would you make this dish from scratch?” Our aim was to raise awareness across generations that by cooking with fresh, whole ingredients, we can create healthy meals that restore our connection to food. Investigating the diverse narratives behind food preparation, we also better understood the need for greater knowledge sharing and community building in an ongoing dialogue around food.

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Francisco

Harvest Time Foods

Rockwell Western

Bistro Campagne

ainable Food Sources

Blue Sky Bakery & Cafe

Brown Line:

Kedzie

Lincoln Square Farmer’s Market*

Damen

City Provisions Deli

Montrose Irving Park

North Center Farmer’s Market* Warner Community Garden

Southport Green Market*

Addison

Bleeding Heart Bakery

Paulina

Belmont

Life Springs Health Foods

Pastoral Bread and Cheese

Wellington

Nettlehorst French Market*

Diversey Fullerton

Armitage Green City Market*

Lincoln Park Farmer’s Market*

Sedgwick

City Farm

Chicago

Erie Street Farmer’s Market*

Frontera Grill

Merchandise Mart

Hanna’s Bretzel

Washington/Wells Qunicy

Sopraffina Willis Tower Plaza Market*

Poag Mahones

Federal Plaza Market* Printer’s Row Market*

Adams/Wabash

LaSalle/Van Buren Library Kramer’s Health Foods

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Germination

Prototype & Programming

13

MFC

T

hese

initial

experiments

and

investigations

shaped

the

Archeworks team’s ongoing vision for the Mobile Food Collective (MFC)—a moveable, accessible, interactive family of structures

MOBILE UNIT

that inspires more active engagement with all aspects of the food cycle.

MODULE

The Collective’s vehicle-sized mobile trailer (affectionately known as

BIKE FLEET

the Mothership) hosts and facilitates public events through a variety of adaptations at multiple scales. The fleet of bikes and custom trailers both publicize the Collective’s mission and expand its reach by delivering programming, tools, and materials to satellite locations.

The main mobile trailer unfolds to create an intriguing, inviting space supporting a variety of programming. The hinged “wings” open partially to create a shade canopy or protected space for demonstrations, shared meals, and other programs. When fully extended, the canopy wings

A moveable, accessible, interactive family of structures”

DESIGN ELEMENTS

transform into a movie screen, a large marquee, or a message board.

When closed, the sailcloth sheath becomes a traveling billboard that spreads the Collective’s message.

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Program

Programming

MFC MOBILE UNIT

MODULE 17

PROGRAM

AR VE ST N

FI LM

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G

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DE M

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IN FO

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G RE EN

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EX C

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AR IN

IN G

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SE

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SE E

IT Y

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PO

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RC IN

H IV E

ER S

AR C

DI N

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K RE NO SO WL U ED RC G E E

H

D

SE E

G

MICRO-EVENTS CABINET OF CURIOSITIES CABINET OF CURIOSITIES 0:1 0:1 0:1

MICRO-EVENTS HARVEST TABLE 0 : 1 MANY : MANY

HARVEST TABLE MANY : MANY

STOREFRONT 1:1

STOREFRONTASSEMBLY 1:1 1 : MANY

ASSEMBLY 1 : MANY

ASSEMBLY 0 : MANY

ASSEMBLY 0 : MANY

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ADAPTATIONS ADAPTATIONS

The MFC produces its own habitat and activates space wherever it goes.�

A large wooden countertop runs along the structure’s main axis, serving as a communal harvest table, a counter for conducting cooking demonstrations, or a performance or educational platform. The tabletop encases storage space below for modular cabinets, designed as flexible seating at the harvest table or storage drawers that fit neatly within the bike trailers. Bikes outfitted with these custom trailers can transport farm tools between sites, deliver produce, serve as a pop-up farm stand, or function as a temporary repository for compostable food scraps, soil, worms, or plant starts. The modules can also adapt to accommodate other programs, including housing a neighborhood seed bank, a recipe archive, or recording equipment to capture residents’ food memories.

Designed to adapt to urban ecology, the architecture of the MFC produces its own habitat and activates space wherever it goes. Its mobility and modularity make it extremely flexible and active at multiple scales, operated by a diverse range of community users and audiences.

These simple, convertible structures can be replicated, expanded, or reconfigured in future constructions, given the availability of local materials, levels of construction experience, and opportunities for programs and community partnerships.

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Making it Real Fabrication

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T

he physical realization of the Mobile Food Collective’s architecture was a valuable hands-on implementation experience for the design team. The structural steel frame and moveable “wings” of

the Mothership were fabricated with team oversight by Crosstree Metal.

During intensive day-long sessions, we hammered out design details to build our full-scale prototype. This was the first exposure to steelwork for most of the MFC designers, who eagerly immersed themselves in a crash course in grinding and welding with Crosstree owner Travis Nam. In Archeworks’ prototyping shop, the team designed and built the ninefoot tabletop—the central interaction space for a shared meal, cooking demonstrations, food stories, or recipe exchange. Working with various

The Archeworks team also conceived, prototyped, and fabricated ten

species of recovered old growth lumber—donated by the ReBuilding

storage modules that serve as seats, and stack neatly into bike trailers

Exchange—we lovingly milled, laminated, sanded, and stained the wood

we designed for smaller, satellite outreach and programming. These

to create an inviting harvest table. The juxtaposition of materials creates

lightweight trailers carry our bounty and educational messages to

a striking effect—exterior frame of steel, intersected by a handcrafted

neighborhood audiences. After we completed in-studio prototyping and

organic table, which in turn is punctuated by a slim steel inlay nested

design iterations, two trailers were fabricated for the MFC’s bike fleet

down the center.

by Adam Clark’s local custom steelwork operation, Pedal to the People.

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The MFC designers eagerly immersed themselves in a crash course in welding.�

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The lightweight trailers carry our bounty and educational messages to the neighborhood.�

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Gather, Give, Grow Film

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T

he Biennale challenged us to bridge cultural divides in order to share the Mobile Food Collective’s messages with a global audience. Once the team learned that Archeworks would be

exhibiting in Venice, we worked with the curatorial team at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta to determine how best to communicate the essence of the MFC’s mission. The team decided that rather than exhibiting the full-scale prototype, we wanted to find alternative means to capture the dynamic and social qualities of the project. In place of traditional static architectural representation, we enlisted a team led by Thirst to animate the project’s ideals in a more fluid medium: film.

Without any spoken narrative, the short film conveys the spirit of collective transformation.”

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With a playful, abstract style inspired by the films of Bauhaus designer László Moholy-Nagy, Gather, Give, Grow depicts varying scenes of the MFC trailers in action, engaging the public and traversing the city. We

Rapid-fire sequencing with vibrant images creates a colorful visual imprint.”

see the fleet as a centerpiece of a shared meal, encouraging community interaction and transporting produce and knowledge via bikes and trailers. Rapid-fire sequencing with vibrant images creates a colorful visual imprint as the MFC navigates through imaginary food landscapes, floats above the Chicago skyline and creates new routes along the urban grid. Carrots, tomatoes and radishes celebrate the universality of healthy eating—nourishment and sustenance, pleasure and comfort, celebration and thanks. The project’s architecture plays the role of space activator and social instigator—acting as a catalyst for dialogue and awareness about food culture.

Without any spoken narrative, the short film conveys the spirit of transformation at the root of the MFC’s mission—envisioning a future of health, participation, and exchange. Through lively visual language, it emphasizes people-to-people interaction within and across cultures.

Our film, like the MFC, signals the power of design as a catalyst for community building and social change.

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Envisioning Exchange Model

41

I

n addition to screening our short film, Gather, Give, Grow, as part of Archeworks’ Mobile Food Collective exhibition in the U.S. Pavilion, the team wanted to provide a more tangible component that would

capture visitors’ attention. We conceived a diagrammatic model that physically describes the flexibility and dynamic character of the MFC by illustrating the multitude of activities surrounding the Collective in its day-to-day operations.

Constructed of water-jet cut brass and painted figures on a ground plane of translucent white acrylic, the model playfully depicts three different anecdotal scenes, each with its own array of scales and programmatic configurations. One scene shows the mobile trailer—the Mothership—set amidst a landscape of urban farms or gardens. The people figured here

The team wanted to provide a more tangible component that would capture visitors’ attention.”

are working the land or looking for fresh produce at the trailer. Another scene depicts the Mothership entirely closed, acting as a backdrop for the people informally surrounding it. This central, focal element in the model explores the notion of the Collective as a beacon that defines a shared public space in a neighborhood. A third scene illustrates how

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the mobile trailer might be configured to host formal presentations

with those the MFC engages, who in turn spread its message. Overall, the

around growing, cooking, sharing, and eating. The scene also conveys

model demonstrates the fundamental and flexible character of the MFC,

the themes of propagation and connection; new knowledge returns home

fostering dialogue and community engagement in a variety of settings.

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The fundamental and flexible character of the MFC— fostering dialogue and community engagement.�

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Si Mangia!

Venice Workshopping

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A

rcheworks’ Biennale exhibition performed two important functions—balancing the scale and density of information of other exhibits in the U.S. Pavilion and providing a gateway

for further discussion and exploration into the real-life programming of our project. As a complement to the Workshopping exhibit (film + model) that conveyed the project’s aspirations, the Archeworks team also developed an on-the-ground, workshop-based experience to engage the public around local food issues and culture.

Our workshop explored the intersection of culinary heritage and social design.”

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We learned that what initially resonated with our design team resonates globally.�

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To expand our Biennale presence and communicate the project’s message while in Venice, we teamed up with design students from Ascoli Piceno to create a three-day workshop exploring the intersection of culinary heritage and social design. This cultural exchange was invaluable; working with local students sparked many thoughtful discussions with an international crowd on the streets of Venice, with wonderfully rich and varied narratives and food histories. The workshop culminated in flash mob-style spontaneous interventions that provoked curiosity and conversation on bridges and piazzas throughout the city.

The success of our workshop—design discussions, shared food histories and further cultural exchange—underscored the project’s success and affirmed its relevance with an international audience. From our Venice experience, we learned that what initially resonated with our design team resonates globally; there is something universal about the social and cultural aspects of food—growing, cooking, sharing and eating. The Collective can play a key role in facilitating productive dialogue about what is and isn’t working in our food culture today. If we encourage more people to look at food through a social lens, then we can make real progress toward solving society’s food access and health issues.

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Taking it to the Streets Connection & Engagement

65

A

rcheworks designers found several opportunities to test and refine the Mobile Food Collective prototype through a variety of events and partnerships in and around Chicago. In the summer

of 2010, the team hosted a ‘Moveable Feast’ in Logan Square, serving a different food course and engaging passersby at three different locales: a community garden, a farmers market, and a local resident’s ‘salon’ discussion on the topic of communal food. In collaboration with the Gary Comer Youth Center in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, the team used the Center’s rooftop garden as a base for early design workshops involving teens, youth-led community outreach, and green career exploration.

After returning from Venice, the MFC team was asked to participate with Chicago’s Advocates for Urban Agriculture at the Garfield Park County Fair, an annual event showcasing local agriculture initiatives with community education. Our guest chef served up delicious crostinis made with locally foraged wild mushrooms. The team also hosted an Urban Potluck with incoming Archeworks design students at Erie Park on the Chicago River, sharing a sunset meal at the harvest table.

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Lincoln Park’s Green City Farmers’ Market provided a fabulous backdrop for educational outreach, including a vermicomposting raffle, as well as a venue to capture food narratives and recipes from local food enthusiasts.

In collaboration with Gary Comer Youth Center, the team developed youth-led community outreach” In the fall of 2010, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning invited the MFC to showcase its message of sustainable local food at the launch of its comprehensive regional plan, GO TO 2040. The plan’s Healthy Communities initiative is one of the first in the US that emphasizes access to healthy food—a benchmark of progress in rethinking food as a core value in social and physical health.

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The core of the MFC mission: raising awareness, promoting greater participation, and inspiring new thinking about food.”

Moving forward, Archeworks is growing the Mobile Food Collective into a program that integrates community farming with health and wellness concerns, educational programming, and local food infrastructures— all with an emphasis on social connection and public engagement. We continue to develop our recipe archive and resource-sharing programs, a central component in the MFC’s educational platform—where partners and passersby add to, as well as take from, our collective catalog of knowledge. This exchange is at the core of our mission—we believe the histories and heritage of a community can serve as a blueprint for a healthy eating culture by raising awareness and promoting greater participation in the food cycle. To this end, the Mobile Food Collective continues to foster dialogue and inspire new thinking about food . . . simply by bringing people to the table.

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Acknowledgments and Credits Archeworks: 2009-2010 Executive Director Susanne Schnell Directors Martin Felsen Sarah Dunn Program Manager Katie Vail Project Manager Luis Martinez

Mobile Food Collective Board of Trustees Howard Conant Jr, Chair Eva Maddox, Co-Founder Stanley Tigerman, Co-Founder Patricia Booth Ned Cramer David Hilliard Kevin Lawler Eric T. McKissack James L. Nagle Judith Neisser Elva Rubio Linda Searl John Syvertsen Patricia H. Werhane Rick Valicenti

Project Directors Mason Pritchett Jesse Vogler Fellow Catherine Muller

Venice Workshop Director Amanda Roelle Venice Workshop Partners Emanuale Marcotullio Moira Valeri

Design Team Rachel Belanger Maria Kulesa Derek Layes Kate Levinstein Adam Panza Geoffrey Salvatore

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Contributors and Partners

MFC Short Film: Gather, Give, Grow

Supporters

Chicago Advocates for Urban Agriculture Chicago Green City Market Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Crosstree, Inc. Gary Comer Youth Center Merchandise Mart Pedal to the People The ReBuilding Exchange Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Chicago

Production Thirst Design: Rick Valicenti, John Pobojewski, Bud Rodecker

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts Perkins + Will The Joyce Foundation The Ho-Chou Family Foundation Judith Neisser David Hilliard Anne L. and Burton B. Kaplan Elva Rubio and Scott Timcoe

Architectural Modeling VisualizedConcepts Inc: Thorsten Bösch Videography Hedrich Blessing Photographers: Dave Burk Motion Capture Red Eye Studio

MFC Exhibition Model Production UrbanLab: Dolly Davis, Katherine Eberley

Greg Cameron and Greg Thompson Howard and Pam Conant Dirk Denison Architects Haworth, Inc. Jordana Joseph and Glen Saltzberg Donald and Nancy Los The Northridge Group, Inc. Roula Associates Architects, Chtd.

Studio Gang

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Kickstarter Supporters The Collective also wishes to thank the following generous donors who supported this project through Kickstarter, an online funding platform for creative projects.

Supporters’ names appear as shared on the Kickstarter site.

Jim Van Ness Deborah Adams Doering June Kim Paul Kulesa Hondo Layes Thos Muller Giles Jacknain Enid Layes Lynn Maddox Maureen Morris Tom Mulhern Price Pritchett Terri Templeton Lori Ashikawa Mary Bennett Bill/Kim/Mike Carol Coletta Frank DeLong Maria Albina Casimir Kujawa Jean Linsner Marilyn Mason Sean McCormick

Lara Miller Nancy Pacher Karen Panza John Petroshius Patricia Salvatore Melanie Stewart Anne Weaver Bruce Williamson Carl Wilson Katherine Holland Aaron Hausman Asheley Van Ness Barbara Bill Laura Binks Jay Brown Mark Carter Bernadette Ciciora-Kulesa Jamie Clark Nancy S Cohen Michelle Cowden Ann Daley Lisa Gansky Graham Geiselman

Brian Goehle Lindsay Graham Amber Heiner Szu-hanHo David Ivanov Katie Vail Meghan Kelly Harisha Koneru Chris Lonigro Gary Lorden Nicole Lorenz Pamela Martin Dustin Pritchett Kristine&Philip Reynolds Deborah Roelle Annette Ruzicka Susanne Schnell Margaret/G’ma Soule Marisa Stavenas Elizabeth Stucki Preethi Venkat MViamontes Cecelia Allen Amanda P.

Holly Amatangelo Beverly Bagwell Stephen Balut Bryan Boice Julie Burros Alessandra R. Carreon CCA URBANlab/Very Public Arts Susan Clark Christopher Coffman Chris Cronin Danielle Jeanne Dasaro Kristen DeLap and Todd Nadenichek Katherine Downing Fereshteh Amy Ferguson Mike Finn Caroline Foley-Plumlee KadiFranson Rob Futrick Regina Gelfovision Geraint Kathy Gerke 85

Kyle Gomez Shannon Greve Brian Griffin Kate Gubata ROSMA GUTIERREZ Sharon Haar hamiltoncropcircle Lindsay Harkema Sarah Harris Andy Hartzell Samuel Hauser Ryan Hayes Beck Henderer-Pena Stephanie Hicks Jeffrey Holden Victoria Irwin Eric Jankowski Nancy Javier Jessica Johnson John Hilmes Joslyn Danielle Kellem Karen Kellogg Ellen Kisslinger Kate Klein

Jamie Korey Jennifer Korff William Kril Krista Erica Anne Kuntz Annie Lambla Lana Julia Lippert London Julia Luplow Molly MacDaniel Patrice Mailloux-Huberdeau Monica Mancini Carlo Mantovani Craig Markovitz Geraint Laurie Marshall MeghannMaves Audra Maxwell Carrie McDonald Kumar McMillan Megan Aicha Menendez Kevin Mershon millimankd@aol.com

susanmorrissey Sam Murphy Joe Murphy Andrea Myers Maureen Myers tuduyenannienguyen Nicolette Andrea Nunez Colette Oesterle Sandra Olsen Allie O’Neill orion Matt Orrantia Peter Osler pantone808000 Joseph Panza Joe Panza Patrick JoelynPawenski Marla Petal Kathryn Pieri Michelle Poccia Kathlene Powers prinda&dan Brandon Prinzing

Rebecca Pristoop Michelle OsburnRenn Jessica Rich Danna Richards Laura Ricke Lisa Rigney Robin and Miles Amanda Roelle Elizabeth Ryan Sabrina St. Peter Genny Salvatore Mark Salvatore Claus Salzmann Sarah Ken Schmidt Lisa Schnaitmann Nicole Semple Phil Sholts Rebecca Silverman Mike Soule Kim Soule jeffsoule Lauren Spicer Elaine Starrett Andrew Stern

Erica L. Taylor Ken Teske toetsiez Lyndon Valicenti Jeremy Voorhees Sharon Walker thwalsh Eric Werbalowsky Andrew Wilder Sharisse Williams Mark Youndt

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Photo Credits ix © Derek Layes / x © Michelle Litvin / xiv © Michelle Litvin / xviii © Michelle Litvin / xxii © Michelle Litvin / xvi © Catherine Muller / 3 © Mason Pritchett / 4 © Catherine Muller / 6 © Geoffrey Salvatore / 7 © Catherine Muller / 8 © Rachel Belanger / 10 © Mason Pritchett / 12 © Catherine Muller / 14 © Mason Pritchett / 16-17 © Mason Pritchett / 18-19 © Mason Pritchett / 14 © Mason Pritchett / 20 © Jesse Vogler / 22 © Geoffrey Salvatore / 25 © Catherine Muller / 26-27 © Susanne Schnell / 28 © Derek Layes / 29 © Maria Kulesa / 30 © Thirst Design / 32-33 © Thirst Design / 35 © Thirst Design / 36-37 © Thirst Design / 39 © Michelle Litvin / 40 © Michelle Litvin / 42 © Catherine Muller / 44-45 © Michelle Litvin / 46 © Michelle Litvin / 47 © Michelle Litvin / 48-49 © Michelle Litvin / 50 © Michelle Litvin / 52 © Michelle Litvin / 53 © Michelle Litvin / 54-55 © Michelle Litvin / 57 © Catherine Muller / 58 © Michelle Litvin / 59 © Geoffrey Salvatore / 60 © Michelle Litvin / 62-63 © Catherine Muller / 64 © Michelle Litvin / 65 © Michelle Litvin / 68 © Michelle Litvin / 69 © Michelle Litvin / 70-71 © Michelle Litvin / 72 © Catherine Muller / 74-75 © Michelle Litvin / 76 © Michelle Litvin / 78-79 © Michelle Litvin / 92 © Derek Layes

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A

rcheworks is a multidisciplinary postgraduate design school

Over our 17-year history, Archeworks has collaborated with more than 80

that advances design in the public interest and inspires

community partners, including community development organizations,

collaborative action to shape more ecologically sustainable

healthcare providers, cultural institutions, and universities on more than

cities. Our public forums and partnership-based postgraduate education

45 socially responsible design projects. Our projects have addressed a

programs propose a range of environmentally resourceful and socially

range of issues as varied as urban agriculture and ecology; sustainable

responsible design solutions for urban communities. Our major objective

local food systems; community open space; universal design and stroke

is for the design professions to play a more integral role in community

rehabilitation; water scarcity; early childhood education and eldercare;

development, environmental health and urban policy.

and neighborhood micro-enterprises.

Archeworks design students collaborate with community partners to

Archeworks recognizes the power of partnerships and engaged learning.

address social and environmental needs that broadly serve the common

Each of our projects comes to fruition through close community

good. Our founders, Stanley Tigerman and Eva Maddox, two nationally

engagement. We believe that a hands-on approach is the best way to

recognized members of Chicago’s architecture and design community,

engage our students, community beneficiaries, and other stakeholders in

had a simple premise: Design shapes the way we live. The fewer

a design thinking and doing process that improves the built environment

resources communities and individuals have, the more they need great

and enhances quality of life in Chicago communities.

design solutions to enhance their quality of life.

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grow, cook, share, eat