Bohemian AvantGardeners | the AvantGarden We’re the Bohemian AvantGardeners. We set out to redesign one of the towers of the former Bijlmer prison in the heart of Amsterdam to feed the community living in the newly developed Bijlmer Kwartier. So we asked ourselves, “How do we build a resilient, involved community around the concept of healthy food production from the ground up, and whose members are directly invested in its survival?” We started by creating a cooperative, B2COOP, to connect
At the AvantFarm we produce essential nutrition, primarily
local people, farmers, and businesses. The AvantGarden
for ourselves, the B2COOP community. We have sought to
forms the beating heart of B2COOP, where we grow and
mimic nature by designing a holistic food web connecting
buy healthy food, learn new skills, find meaningful em-
independent, but mutually beneficial cycles of aquaponics,
ployment, celebrate, and connect with our community: the
plants, mushrooms, and insects. To reduce the risk of con-
AvantGarden has been created by people for people.
nected cycles of aquaponics and plant production, our
Winding through the building are a variety of multi-use
aquaponics specialist has designed an innovative two-
social spaces for B2COOP members to join cooking class-
loop system. The fish feed formula is custom designed to
es, work in study rooms and hackerspaces, and to cel-
support our production. Its nutritional requirements are
ebrate their lives.
supplied in-house by our insect chamber, algae breeding and other supporting production.
Inside the AvantGarden, we have designed a holistic food web of mutually beneficial cycles of aquaponics, plants,
The AvantMarket is where the harvest arrives to supply
mushrooms, and insects that are not reliant on any input
essential healthy food to the Bajes Kwartier community.
other than local waste streams. When we harvest, we just
The harvest comes from the AvantGarden, but not exclu-
head downstairs to the AvantMarket. The AvantMarket is
sively; we’ve designed our own production to complement,
like having a farmers’ market in your neighbourhood all
not compete with other local farmers. The AvantMarket
year round. Each stand in the AvantMarket tells the story
has been designed as a year-round farmers’ market.
of the farmer. B2COOP provides the space for the stand and B2COOP members and employees help to ensure eve-
Not a single space in the common area of the AvantGarden
rything works well.
is used for only one purpose. Apart from those spaces that are accessible based on membership or rent, there are
We noticed the Netherlands is quite elevationally chal-
many public areas including ‘The Hill’ and the rooftop Per-
lenged, so we designed a path to the rooftop where you
magarden Café. For those who cannot pay in monetary
can relax with a fresh juice among the trees of our garden.
terms but have time to give, we’ve designed the B2Coin
It’s our hope that the Bajes Kwartier will be the first of
wallet, an innovative time/money scale of payment.
many eco-urban villages in Amsterdam… and around the world.
USP: Healthy eating
Sustainability Sustainability is a fundamental aspect of how we have designed our production systems. If it’s not sustainable in
B2COOP is a multi-stakeholder cooperative for Bijlmer
the long term, it’s not worth doing. There are two major
Kwartier residents, the AvantGardeners, other local farm-
objectives for our production in The AvantGarden.
ers and businesses, working together to build lasting relationships based on fair prices and fair wages, forming a
The first is to feed the Bajes Kwartier community. To do
community in a common effort to provide the essentials
this, we do not use herbicides, pesticides or synthetic
for a healthy and fulfilling life. B2COOP is the legal organi-
nutrients, we mimic natural systems by means of
sation that embodies the ethical principles guiding the suc-
aquaponics; a truly circular production model. In this way,
cession to a resilient community around the AvantGarden.
we manage to capture, supply, and circulate nutrients for
The AvantGarden can be divided into several parts which
our ecosystem while creating value in all its stages.
meet the needs of the different people and activities we address in our community.
The second objective is to pass our knowledge of growing food and engaging the community on to our B2Apprentices
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Urban Greenhouses and the Future of Food | Concept