How to Grow - Nature is Nature Studio

Studio Profesor Wiel Arets & John Manaves

Maxwell Gendler

How to Grow Fall 2020

How to Grow is a self-sustainable micro-neighborhood in the city of Chicago on the corner of Illinois and Rush, between Wabash and historic Michigan Avenue. The 800,000 square foot tower is designed to make the city greener through educating and practicing food sustainability principles. My vision is to create an example of innovative and responsible architecture that serves its community positively by teaching people how to grow their own food, source their food responsibly, and simply teach them to be aware of their impact on the planet through food.

North Elevation

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CATTLE FARM AND FARMLAND IN THE MIDWEST

Industrial yards in Gary, Indiana

Landfill outside of Chicago, IL

Grocery store produce wasted before being sold

Food is currently one of the biggest drivers of climate change on our planet. On average humans waste 32 million tons of food waste per year through bad production and distribution practices, trashing of perfectly good food, surplus buying, and fine dining. The agricultural practices and industry that produces this food are responsible for 33% of the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change to occur.

Not only is the industry emitting harmful gases into the atmosphere, it is also sucking nutrient-rich soil out of the ground at an exponential rate leaving scientists calculating that we have roughly 60 years left of farmable soil on our planet.

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The planet is becoming more hostile and violent, more desolate, and tame. The environment is effectively becoming less bio-diverse rendering it almost impossible for the Earth to use its natural processes to regenerate life quicker than we are taking it away. In Borneo, thousands of Orangutans no longer have rainforests to distribute tree seeds which in turn makes it very hard for a deforested forest to grow. In Iowa, record strength winds from an abrupt derecho, or inland hurricane, wiped out communities. In California, record-breaking violent wildfires break out each year claiming thousands of acres of homes and wildlife. In the Arctic, ice is becoming so scarce that polar bear numbers are dropping drastically, a visual representation of our protection from an overheating planet disappearing. The list goes on and on. The planet is suffering from our actions, and we need to act.

Orangutan after losing its habitat

Wildfires in California, 2020

Iowa farm after an indland hurricane in August 2020

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Polar bear stranded on the ice in the arctic circle due to rising global temperatures

How do we grow?

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Family picking vegetables from their garden

Sustainable farm in California

We grow together as communities through food. By growing food, sharing food and sustainably sourcing food together as communities we can solve a lot of these problems and at the same time build strong communal relationships with the driving force being architecture in the urban fabric. This building is a multi-purpose building that mainly revolves around living in a place where one can grow their own food as one cohesive community and even privately.

By educating the users of the building and surrounding visitors about food, we can successfully impact the challenges we face in this world.

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Healthy rejuvenated soil using composting method

We grow as architects by building responsible, aware architecture that directly responds to the pressing issues in our world today. By coming up with solutions that turn into examples, which then become practice.

We grow food in responsible ways, lessening our impact on the earth by creating better growing technologies, by taking responsibility for the cyclical sustainable cycle of food.

We grow as communities by helping each other, learning from one and other, by helping to make each other aware. We grow as humans on this Earth recognizing the dire need for change and putting into action responsible ways of sourcing, growing, and wasting our food to directly impact the Earth’s crisis. We grow by recognizing the need to change, the need to mimic the “closed-loop” systems that make nature, nature. That makes the Earth healthy and alive.

Closed Loop System

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Netherlands greenhouse producing tomatoes

Green Power House technology that regenerates soil

Rendering of the interior Green House.

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Rendering of Green Power House (G.P.H.) at the top of the building

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PROGRAM FOOD PRODUCTION - 1 NEIGBORHOOD PROGRAMS - 2 RESIDENTIAL - 3 INDOOR PLAZA & MARKET - 4 LOBBY - 5 PARKSCAPE - 6

“CLOSED LOOPS”

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Aerial view of the Green House and Green Power House from the exterior

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Site Plan

The site provides an opportunity to be stumbled upon by the average Chicagoan or visitor. To be found, discovered, and explored.

Sitting recessed from the Magnificent Mile, the site offers a way to bring people into a greener part of the city. The opportunity to explore a forest like parkscape in the heart of chicago. Rising up from this green preserve the different neighborhood programs intertwine so that no function is inherently seperate.

Rather, similar to a neighborhood, everything is close, in reach, and connected through the community.

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PARKSCAPE / PUBLIC REALM

LOBBY & PATIO

OPEN AIR PARK & FARMERS MARKET

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COMMUNAL PROGRAMMING FLOOR

ELEVATED PARK PLAN

FAMILY UNITS

ONE BEDROOM UNITS

ONE BEDROOM & STUDIO UNITS

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GREENHOUSE PLAN

GREEN POWER HOUSE PLAN

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Interior space between the double facade, exterior of the units and “neighborhood pathways”.

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Walkway along the parkscape between the pods of the building.

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Entrance to the site from Michigan Ave.

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View from Wabash Avenue looking into the site.

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Exterior view of the building.

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Exterior view of the building.

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Nature is Nature Instructors Professor Wiel Arets Adjunct Professor John Manaves

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