FOOD & ARCHITECTURE REVEALING THE COMPLEXITY OF NECESSITY
BACHELOR THESIS 2020 SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN
CHRISTINA DREXEL
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In dedication to...
my Mom, for always believing in me, sharing her passion of food with me, and keeping me well fed
my Dad, for always pushing me and encouraging me to strive for my very best
my brother Max, for challenging my preconceptions and inspiring my thesis
my advisor Jim, for feeding my mind
my friends, for supporting me every step of the way
and Maxwell, for his boundless enthusiasm and tremendous support – from start to finish.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOOD & ARCHITECTURE: REVEALING THE COMPLEXITY OF NECESSITY
1. INTRODUCTION - abstract - investigation - concept
9 10 - 19 20 - 21
2. ANALYSIS - precedents
24 - 25
- site selection
26 - 29
- site analysis
30 - 41
3. DESIGN - study models
44 - 59
- final design
60 - 65
4. RESEARCH - supermarket study
68 - 77
- material palette study
78 - 93
- table study
94 - 101
- garden study
5. RECIPES 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
102 - 123 126 - 139 141
1.INTRODUCTION FOOD & ARCHITECTURE: REVEALING THE COMPLEXITY OF NECESSITY
8
ABSTRACT Much of human experience is shaped by just two factors: our need for sustenance and our need for shelter. Everyone requires food to nourish their bodies and refuge to protect themselves, but the ubiquitous connection between sustenance and shelter goes far beyond pure necessity. We do not build simply to create shelter much in the same way that we do not eat purely for sustenance. People no longer wish to merely survive, but rather to thrive. Our ability to form raw materials in unique and exciting ways enables us to create experiences that are both pleasurable and meaningful. The act of cooking, like the act of building, is a creative endeavor in which individuals not only learn, but share a variety of ideas and experiences with one another; preparing a meal is simultaneously a deeply personal and highly communal act. Humanity’s desire to create is the key attribute that has allowed different peoples to establish their own unique culture and identity, both architectural and culinary. Our modern lifestyle finds people increasingly disconnected from one another and their environment. The ability for people in the twenty-first century to eat and build whatever they want, whenever they want has had many unforeseen consequences, the greatest of which affect the unknowing populace. By removing and concealing the process of food production from the public, people not only lose control of what they are consuming, but also awareness of the impact that their choices may have. The act of preparing a meal in this context is no longer valued, but instead viewed as an inconvenience to the individual and an impediment to the act of eating. Similarly, the process of designing and constructing thoughtfully made buildings is devalued by the demand for efficiency. Buildings are now being constructed and systematized in a fashion similar to the preparation of fast food. The prioritization of speed and convenience has led to an architecture that not only promotes a lifestyle of isolation, but supports the development of unsustainable and unhealthy habits. It is therefore paramount to create an architecture that reveals the complex nature of necessity to its inhabitants in order to reconnect individuals to their community and to their environment. By connecting people to their two most instinctual needs, food and shelter, through an understanding of production, individuals can regain a sense of ownership and responsibility. In this architecture, everything must be made transparent, nothing should be hidden. The processes of the Edible Education Center, both in construction and operation, need to be as honest and apparent as the food prepared within it.
9
INVESTIGATION During my sophomore year of college, my brother asked me a question, which went along the lines of, “If the perfect building was a box, why wouldn’t we all just live in boxes?”. At the time, I had no rebuttal to his question, but my gut reaction was that it was ridiculous to even ask – who in their right mind would want to live in a box? Clearly, we do not all live in boxes... but why not? The bigger question my brother was really asking me that day was why architecture even matters. Coming from a family of engineers, I am constantly confronted with skepticism and doubt about my choice to pursue architecture, but the question my brother asked really baffled me. Why is the career I am pursuing important? My intuition says it is indispensable, but yet at the same time I could not articulate a clear reason why in response to (what seemed to be) a silly question. It was not until a year later that I happened upon a line of thinking which would ultimately ground my design beliefs and lead me to find a niche of architecture that would become the focus of my thesis. I had this epiphany while working in my little cubical during my summer internship. I was listening to “Fat isn’t Bad, Stupid is Bad”, an episode of the Food52 podcast Burnt Toast, while working. While listening to Michael Ruhlman describe what makes food nu10
tritious rather than “healthy”, I realized that food was the perfect analogy for architecture. Food much like architecture is necessary for survival, but both food and architecture are often elevated beyond basic needs through design. The answer to my brother’s question lies in the word perfect. Perfect is a subjective term. To my brother, the box was “perfect” in that it was perfectly engineered. It was not beautiful aesthetically, but rather beautiful in its efficiency as a machine for living. However, my education over the past five years has taught me that this is just one interpretation of beauty, and a highly disputed one at that. In my mind, this “perfect” box is perfect in only one very specific facet of design, while completely disregarding any and every other aspect which could further define it. To me, this meant that the box, as a whole, was imperfect, despite possessing desirable attributes, because it lacked balance. This is where the analogy of food to architecture proves useful. In terms of food, the best comparison to the box proposed by my brother would be Soylent Green. Soylent Green, the product of the 1973 fictional dystopian film, represents the perfectly engineered food substitute for an overpopulated and polluted Earth. In the film, shortages in food, water, and housing as a result of climate change and resource depletion lead the government to create Soylent Green as a way to feed their ever-growing populace. It appears to be a saving grace, until it is revealed at the end of the movie that Soylent Green is actually made from the bodies of the deceased and that the government is covertly engaging in and profiting from controlled cannibalism. Soylent Green, much like the perfect box, focuses on one attribute, and one attribute only – sustenance. Unlike other foods, Soylent Green is the only thing a person needs to eat in order to survive. It is extremely effective at supplying the unsuspecting public with nutrients, who devour it eagerly, and it could arguably be said to do so “perfectly”. However, as the viewer, we know it to be inherently flawed, not just based on what it is made of. 11
Having tasted real food, the viewer is able to discern that the bland, cracker-like food substitute is unappetizing at best, if it could even be considered edible. In the film, simple aspects of life that are taken for granted today, such as indulging in a fresh meal, are considered luxuries only available to a rich minority. Most individuals in this dystopian future are deprived of these experiences and have never even tasted “real� food before. The perfect box and Soylent Green, while both efficient and ingenious, neglect greater sensory experiences beyond pure necessity and sacrifice humanity for efficiency. Similar to how Soylent Green provides individuals with the basic necessary nutrients to survive, the perfectly engineered box provides people with their basic need for shelter, but ultimately deprives them of the greater benefits and experiences humanity has to offer. If necessary, a person could live in the perfect box much like they could subsist only on soylent green, but if given the choice, would they choose to do so? No. This is because the perfect box and Soylent Green grossly oversimplify the needs of people to just shelter and sustenance, and disregard the greater needs and wants of individuals. Tradition, culture, and heritage are watered down or completely lost, and all that remains is convenience. Today, we face many challenges echoing the ideas explored in the film Soylent Green. As food production has become more mechanized, the knowledge, experiences, and consequences associated with it have gradually become farther removed from the consumer. As a result, people are completely disconnected from the processes and nuances of making a meal, and are as unaware of what goes into their food as characters in the film were ignorant of Soylent Green’s true ingredients. These same issues are reflected in the construction industry. The analogy between food and architecture has existed for decades, as demonstrated by the infamous McMansion, and reveals how deeply intertwined these two disciplines really are. Preparing food means constructing food, assembling and com12
posing in a means similar to architecture. The way a country feeds its people reflects the way in which it builds and organizes its society. In the United States, this cycle of information has become increasingly informed by our capitalist economic system. The rapid commercialization of goods as a result of industrialization, while initially beneficial to the general populace, has now had many repercussions to our environment and our health. Acting as an equalizing force, mass-produced goods were more affordable and accessible to a wider range of individuals, improving their quality of life. Fast food, supermarkets, modern household kitchen appliances, and tract houses were all products of industrialization that enabled the rise of a middle class with more freedom than ever before. Although these products save consumers time, effort, and money, their production has also led to the development of an American ‘convenience culture’. Consumers are constantly bombarded with a deluge of products, to which they have become normalized. Many citizens in the United States suffer from an overabundance of choice, with most necessities easily available at all times. However, quantity is not always better than quality. Today, more Americans die from chronic health diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity than those that starve to death. Despite the growth of factory farming and industrial agriculture intended to increase production at a lower cost, many people lack access to fresh, whole foods. Even when available, many people choose the quicker, more convenient option anyway, without considering the impact that this has on their health or the food chain they participate in. These same problems are mirrored in the building industry, where modern domestic and commercial infrastructure is increasingly built by cheaper labor with inferior products and skills. Instead of building fewer structures that last hundreds of years, the industry builds with the intent to tear a building down when no longer suits our needs or desires. In a sense, tract houses and big-box stores, which litter our built 13
environment and to which we have become accustomed, are a manifestation of the perfect box. They are efficient, cheap, and easy to build or replace. While Soylent Green has taught us that oversimplifying our needs is detrimental to our well-being, convenience culture reveals that living in luxury is equally as hazardous. I believe it is possible to reconcile the growing chasm between producers and consumers by finding a balance between survival and luxury in both food and architecture. Although we experience both food and architecture every day, we often remain unaware of the implications they have on our lives and each other. In fact, despite both fields upholding similar values, they rarely come into dialogue with one another in our daily lives. By cross-examining their similarities, it is possible to connect and integrate cooking and building in a common endeavor towards socially responsible architecture. Food and architecture exist on an experiential spectrum, ranging from the essential to the extraordinary. The prior consists of the universal needs for human survival, while the latter comprises the creative undertakings which distinguish groups of people. In a sense, gastronomy is to architecture as sustenance is to shelter. As humans, our universal needs bind us all together and to the world around us. No matter who you are or where you live, we, like all organisms, require some form of nourishment and shelter to survive. In this context, cooking and building act as tools which provide us with some tangible connection to life. They are the functions through which we can begin to understand the world around us and our place within it. Through the acts of cooking and building, we learn about the flow of energy and material through our bodies and our environment. These cycles, while deeply personal, are a shared experience between all individuals, demonstrated through human cohabitation and commensality. In addition to their functional nature, cooking and building also possess strong artistic aspects. Cui14
sine, like architecture, suggests something remarkable; however, there is a lot more to architecture and gastronomy than unbridled opulence. The word “architecture” can bring to mind many stereotypes of high design, with its frivolous forms and wildly impractical use of high intrinsic value materials; the same applies to “gastronomy”, which conjures up images of tiny portions, bizarre amalgamations of ingredients, and flashy gimmicks achieved only through culinary alchemy. This reputation of elitism arises when creative endeavors, like cooking or building, detach themselves entirely from notions of well-being and instead focus purely on appearance and status. However, dismissing all creative pursuits as arbitrary aesthetics apathetic to necessity grossly underestimates their importance. Aesthetic principles, while not biologically essential to human survival, prove invaluable tools for comprehending intangible ideas and the complexity of the natural world. The art of building and the art of cooking allow an individual or collective to share ideas, techniques, and beliefs through the manipulation of tangible materials. Balance, harmony, contrast, proportion, and form are just some of the many ways humans use aesthetics in architecture and cuisine to try and establish order in their experience of reality. Architecture, like food, always conveys a message. The meaning, whether political, social, moral, or spiritual, illustrates the unique social dynamic of a people at a certain time and place in history. The bond between food, place, and people manifests itself through culture, rituals, traditions, and identity. Cuisine and architecture are expressions of and responses to a society’s values and standards. They reflect the thoughts and emotions of a people and facilitate the spread of their ideas via diverse sensory experiences. Both cooking and building are intense, multi-sensory experiences, demanding the attention of all five primary senses and higher cognitive faculties. The way we perceive food and architecture varies greatly, although they often appeal to our sense of sight first. However, looks can be deceiving, especially in 15
16
regard to food, which can look far better – or worse – than it tastes. We do not taste architecture in the same sense that we taste food. While our literal sense of taste goes unused in our experience of the built environment, the idea of taste is still quite relevant. ‘Taste’ is an aesthetic concept, giving individuals the ability to make social judgments based on physiological and cultural factors. Everything is subject to individual taste. Our sensory experiences, perceptions, feelings, and memories all allow us to develop personal preferences grounded by internal, biological interactions with the outside world. Although no two people can share the exact same physical sensations, judgments of taste are not exclusive to individuals. Taste is a socially determined judgment, dependent on values that are shared with other people. Food and architecture are both social experiences, in which participants do not just passively perceive social standards, but rather actively define them. Culture and tradition are the collective judgments of a group of people, establishing parameters for “good” and “bad” behavior based on shared values and common experience. These systems of social values provide alternatives to metric systems of value, like efficiency and convenience. We eat for many reasons – pleasure, indulgence, boredom, connection, tradition, nostalgia, stress. To say nourishment is the only viable reason we eat disregards a massive part of the human experience. The duality of taste represents the dialogue between our individual physiological preferences and greater sociocultural standards, revealing the equity of their importance in daily life. If only essential attributes of both food and architecture are prioritized, then we risk the destruction of a diverse, cultural human landscape. The homogenization of our architecture and cuisine is already apparent across the country and the world, with fast-food chains and sprawling suburban neighborhoods dominating the built environment. While the negative health effects of commercialized food products are more apparent than ever before, 17
the impact of the homogenized metropolitan landscape on our lives is less obvious, but equally as detrimental. The shift in domestic architecture to suburban “cookie-cutter” developments has led to an unsustainable American lifestyle, prioritizing efficiency and predictability, while sacrificing connection and individuality. Most of the spaces we inhabit are poorly designed, banal ‘boxes’ which focus primarily on efficient construction rather than on facilitating the lives of the inhabitants. The commodification of the single-family home has led to the development of an overall cultural indifference towards aesthetic and biological values. A home’s value is no longer measured by the quality of life within it, but rather by metrics of size and cost. The one-size-fits-all model of American housing oversimplifies the complex and varied lives of different individuals, reducing the home to a house and perpetuating a culture obsessed with convenience. The kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home; however, this is no longer the case. The kitchen today is a product of commercialization, imbued with political and social values incompatible with our current lifestyles and beliefs. Prior to the twentieth century, cooking happened at the hearth, not in a kitchen. Most working class families could not afford an entire room solely dedicated to food preparation, and those who could had servants to cook for them. The first modern home kitchens only started to appear following the advent of mass-production, where household appliances could now replace professional cooks and housemaids. Notions of communal living or cooking were rejected under the traditional capitalist model, due to their ties to communist ideology. It was now the sole responsibility of women to prepare food for the household. The responsibility of food production has now come into question again. Today, with the return of women to the workforce, few parents are able to simultaneously maintain the role of full-time homemaker and wage-worker, outsourcing the task of cooking to the food industry and, therefore, severing the art of cooking from the household kitchen. These com18
panies do not have the consumer’s best interest in mind, filling the void left by the domestic housewife with junk food, microwavable meals, and take-out. The poor quality of our modern diet reflects the same inadequacies in our built environment. Our current infrastructure and domestic housing models do not appropriately respond to the greater psychological and sociocultural needs of the people. The gradual removal of food preparation from the home has left the role of the kitchen in question. The kitchen plays an essential role in mediating our biological and aesthetic values, serving as the primary link to food and architecture in our daily lives. By moving the kitchen beyond the constraints of the home and into the community, individuals are provided a place to gather and reconnect with each other and the world around them. A communal kitchen would give individuals the opportunity to regain a sense of ownership, awareness, and responsibility over their lives through the shared preparation and consumption of edible materials. Instead of life revolving around the notions of function and efficiency, in this model, food becomes the principal medium of design in future homes, towns, and cities. The architecture itself becomes an embodiment of the food prepared within it. Cooking represents just one component in a complex system of food production. An architecture of food cannot just consider the act of cooking alone, but rather its relationship to cultivation and consumption. All three elements must work in conjunction and harmony with one another in order to thoroughly engage users in the entire process of making a meal. The transparency in the preparation of ingredients must be reflected in the architecture, ensuring inhabitants’ complete control over the quality of their experiences. This book is not just a documentation of these ideas, but rather a recipe in itself – showing the process from start to finish how these three elements – the kitchen, garden, and dining space – meld together into one, cohesive project, guided by my sense of taste.
19
20
CONCEPT In order to reconnect the individual to the food chain, the supply chain itself must be shortened. Today, most foods go through multiple stages of production before ever reaching consumers. Once harvested, many crops go directly to factories to be processed in a series of complex industrial methods. While humans have employed many methods to process food throughout time, such as milling grains into flour and culturing milk to make yogurts and cheeses, the mechanization of the food industry has increasingly enabled the rapid consumption of ultra-processed foods. These products contain numerous added ingredients that are highly manipulated and have proven to have deleterious health effects. Although farmers markets have encouraged consumers to shorten this chain by directly connecting buyers to local farmers and vendors, a new typology could take this concept one step further. Rather than “farm to table�, the architecture would become the farm. This idea has already begun to gain traction in the field, as seen by the growing interest in urban gardening and vertical farming. I would like to explore new avenues in which this idea could manifest itself, not just in urban areas, but also in suburban ones.
21
2.
ANALYSIS FOOD & ARCHITECTURE: REVEALING THE COMPLEXITY OF NECESSITY
24
PRECEDENT 1 The Edible Schoolyard at P.S. 216 in New York City is a fantastic example of how combining food and architecture can empower individuals to reconnect and reevaluate their own relationship with the environment. By incorporating architectural learning tools with a hands-on cooking and gardening education, this project is able to capture the interest of young students and encourage them to consider how people are interconnected with the built and natural environments. The playful use of color, materials, and form in the building’s three major components all help to create a dynamic learning atmosphere that enables students to be curious about these relationships.
25
SITE SELECTION The college campus is the perfect place to test architecture that promotes awareness and curiosity through food preparation. As blossoming young adults, college students are tasked with learning how to become self sufficient for the first time. Many students have never had to prepare a proper meal for themselves before and may come from families that primarily eat out, making it an ideal time to expose them to mindful cooking and eating habits.
LEGEND
Students often sacrifice cooking for themselves in favor of quick, convenient fast food served in dining halls because they are not provided with adequate facilities and training to teach them the necessary skills to prepare a tasty, nourishing meal. These
VT Residential VT Academic BT Bus Stops
habits carry into adulthood, contributing to the unsustainable continuation of unmindful consumption. Virginia Tech’s agricultural background as well as multicultural and multi-generational environment
Major Access-ways Downtown Campus Property
gives the university the necessary resources and expertise to create an exceptional on-campus facility that would support student development promoting the preparation and consumption of nutritious food. 26
Potential Site Local Amenities
27
A
HOMEFIELD FARM PRODUCE STAND A pop-up farm stand in front of Turner Place where organic produce from a nearby student-operated farm is made available weekly. This event engages students to purchase fresh, local produce to prepare themselves by providing easy access to high quality products.
BLACKSBURG FARMERS MARKET B
An open-air pavilion where members of the community gather every Saturday to purchase a variety of edible and handmade products from local vendors. It provides students the opportunity to engage with their community and interact with local farmers and craftsmen.
HAHN HORTICULTURE GARDEN C
A six acre teaching and display garden available to students and the local community as a public amenity and a learning resource for an array of horticulture topics, such as landscape design and sustainable practices. The gardens act not only as a learning and demonstration space for students, but also engages the community in on-campus activities.
D
HISTORIC SMITHFIELD PLANTATION A historic home that includes a kitchen garden and orchard in which authentic, 18th century heirloom plants are grown to demonstrate the lifestyle of frontier settlers in Appalachia. This space exhibits sustainable and self-sufficient growing practices at a small-scale.
28
1
DUCK POND LOT A small, open field across from the Drillfield and in-between the main access route to the Duck Pond and the forest at the Grove. The location along West Campus Drive is highly visible and would showcase the architecture at the center of campus to those driving by.
2
DIETRICK LAWN An underutilized and underdeveloped quad for students located along Washington Street. Situated between two dorms and a dining hall, it is at the heart of the residential side of campus, making it an ideal place to attract and engage students.
3
TENNIS COURT LOT A small piece of property at the edge of campus near the residential side of campus by the tennis courts. At the boundary between campus and downtown Blacksburg, this site could enable equal access to both the community and students.
4
NORTH END CENTER LOT An undeveloped lot in downtown Blacksburg next to the parking garage and strip mall of North End Center and across from the Central Steam Plant. Building here would not only help to dissolve the boundary between campus and downtown, but also beautify the area.
29
D2 PRITCHARD HALL
DIETRICK LAWN
CASSELL COLISEUM
AMBLER JOHNSTON HALL
30
SITE ANALYSIS Out of the four possible lots explored, Dietrick Lawn’s centralized location makes it the most accessible site for students and an ideal place to design an edible education facility on Virginia Tech’s campus. Its close proximity to highly trafficked living and dining facilities ensures the building’s ability to visually entice and physically engage students in cooking and gardening programs.
31
32
SITE ANALYSIS 1 Incorporating and adapting the existing circulation paths along Washington Street and Dietrick Plaza will be essential for the facility’s overall accessibility. All parts of the tripartite program must be recognizable and easily accessible from the street and existing sidewalks. The way in which these programs overlap and interact along these paths establishes not only how individuals flow through the site, but through the building as well.
33
34
SITE ANALYSIS 2 Sunlight is crucial for any garden, but especially when growing crops. Maximizing sunlight ensures better crop performance and higher crop yields for most edible plants. By building along the north-eastern side of the site and planting on the south-western side, the amount of shade cast onto the garden can be minimized.
35
36
SITE ANALYSIS 3 The most compelling of the preliminary designs incorporates the existing vegetation on the site to create a diverse edible landscape. The uppermost part of the site, with its many trees, would be adapted into an edible forest, while the trees on the perimeter would be integrated into a large deck, creating a threshold between the new building and the sidewalk.
37
SITE ANALYSIS 4 Two possible layouts of the program were developed using the first preliminary sketch. Both utilized the iconic form of the traditional greenhouse, but divided the spaces within the elongated scheme in slightly different ways. The first divided the program horizontally, while the second divided it vertically. This division visually creates a dichotomy between solid and transparent forms based on the programmatic needs of the space.
38
39
SITE ANALYSIS 4A Dividing the building into three equal sections, this diagrammatic model places the program in a linear order along the main path of circulation; greenhouse, kitchen, and dining. This division reflects the process in which a meal is made; where fresh ingredients are grown, cooked, and then consumed. The greenhouse and dining space are therefore mediated by the cooking space, which seeks to physically tie these two aspects together through architecture.
40
SITE ANALYSIS 4B In this iteration, the greenhouse replaces the kitchen as the programmatic mediator. By dividing the building lengthwise instead of widthwise, the relationship between the different programs becomes triangulated rather than linear. This division provides more interdisciplinary opportunities at the points of overlap and allows the garden to become all-pervasive, connecting to both the cooking and dining spaces and reminding individuals of the process. .
41
3.
DESIGN FOOD & ARCHITECTURE: REVEALING THE COMPLEXITY OF NECESSITY
44
STRUCTURE The use of a framework is a central aspect of the building design that is inspired by food. During my research, I explored the ways in which a basic framework could bring order and structure to a design, architectural or culinary. Structure plays a similar role for the architect and the chef, in which they can organize and play with different elements in order to create something novel. A recipe acts as a blueprint, providing varying degrees of guidance to the completion of a dish. By establishing a framework, the ingredients can be brought together in a pleasurable, harmonious fashion. I believe this is a shared philosophy between cuisine and architecture.
45
FRAMES I began employing a system of frame and infill. In this exploration, I started with a rigid framework, placing rooms within the grid and, in later iterations, even breaking the grid. This playful endeavor allowed me to think of the building itself as a meal, composed of many different elements that come together to create a cohesive whole. Rather than dividing the building into three clear sections, as I originally envisioned, the program would be distributed throughout the entire building. The framework could therefore be used to distinguish and organize these spaces with varied programs throughout the entire building.
46
47
48
ROOF 1 In this investigation, I began to question the validity of using the generic gable roof in the design. While initially an homage to the greenhouse, I soon realized it was instead a restrictive placeholder. Unsure of how to enclose the space, I tested and compared multiple different ways to unify the fragmented rooms under a single roof: butterfly, barrel vault, shed, and many more.
49
50
ROOF 2 Out of all the variations I tested in the roof study, I found this one to be the most engaging. The idea of having multiple sections of the building articulated by different, interconnected roofs completely brought into question my original notion that these spaces must all reside under a single roof in order to read as a cohesive whole. By using a frame, I could already connect the spaces and imply their relationships to one another; a single roof proved superfluous. Instead, I could distinguish the different types of programs occurring within the building by using the roof as an indicator of function to passers-by. This choice allows for smaller, more variable spaces that can be customized for individual styles of cooking or gardening.
51
PROGRAM DIAGRAM 1 Laying out the specific processes of each program through a flow diagram, I explored the different ways that the garden, kitchen, and dining spaces interact with each other. Inspired by the continuous cycle of resources between them, I started to create small clusters where each program could directly inform the other, but be distinguished by the varied roof forms.
52
PROGRAM DIAGRAM 2 I continued to diagram the different functions of each program type, determining the necessary amenities required to support them. This enabled me to find overlapping spatial requirements, where different thresholds and boundaries could be established.
PROGRAM DIAGRAM 3 Thinking more specifically about the kitchen, I laid out all the different types of activities that occur when cooking. Each operation has its own unique spatial requirements and relationships which need to be taken into account, especially with regard to the sequential process of growing, cooking and eating.
53
54
ROOF 3 Combining the two previous explorations, I tested the degree to which the program clusters can be broken down into smaller and smaller spaces. The framework, which connects and encloses the building, enables the decentralization of the three programs. By increasing the fragmentation, each cluster is allowed to specialize, allowing for more varied opportunities for the student body. The exploded form also exposes the many different systems and activities happening in the building to passers-by, clearly demonstrating transparency of the programmatic processes. The fragmented form of the architecture, would therefore visually entice and inform students through a broader exposure to different gardening, cooking, and eating practices.
55
PRELIMINARY DESIGN The most highly fragmented form creates a complex of multiple smaller building clusters interconnected by a series of paths. These secondary pedestrian paths allow for a porosity of the design, guiding the flow of people through easily. 56
1. GRID In order to create a framework, a grid must first be established. Using 15 ft intervals, I established a reasonable distance for a support structure, while also allowing for ample space for pedestrian movement.
2. FRAME The frame acts as the main unifying element of the design. It encloses both the interior and exterior building spaces, establishing the main boundary between the facility and the rest of campus.
3. PATH Within the framework, interior spaces are distinguished from one another using exterior circulation paths. These paths simultaneously divide and connect the interior spaces.
4. CLUSTERS Using folded forms, interior spaces are subdivided by programmatic functions. The varied roof forms of the different clusters visually indicate the unique activities occurring within each module.
DESIGN PROCESS This sequence of diagrams demonstrates the synthesis of elements from previous explorations into a single design.
57
CLUSTER DIAGRAM 1 Thinking about how to create boundaries and thresholds between the programs, I decided to fragment the forms again, creating a tertiary circulation path within the cluster. This subsequent fragmentation would enable an additional level of exposure in each cluster.
CLUSTER DIAGRAM 2 Because each cluster is specialized, it also contains a different arrangement of modular elements. In this sketch, I tested various different sized modules, seeing which could easily be rearranged together in a multitude of ways.
58
REVISED PRELIMINARY DESIGN Applying the new cluster arrangements to the previous concept, this program diagram became the basis for the final design. Within the clusters, the original grid is subdivided into 7.5 ft square bays to accommodate the new circulation paths.
59
EDIBLE EDUCATION CENTER By transforming the previously barren lawn into an active edible garden, the local landscape will supply the edible education facility with its produce while simultaneously creating a more dynamic outdoor space for students to explore.
60
SITE PLAN The exterior deck connects the new facility to all major paths of circulation surrounding the site, providing easy access to both on-and-off campus students. The outdoor frame system creates a threshold condition, slowly introducing passersby into the interior space of the clusters.
MATERIALITY The use of wood as the primary building material serves a specific architectural purpose. As one of the only materials that is grown, the act of harvesting and refining wood mirrors the process of cultivating and consuming food. The cycles of nature are then not only represented in the programmatic processes within the building, but embodied in the building itself.
61
62
GROUND PLAN The staggering of the clusters within the grid maintains a level of porosity in the design, producing many types of outdoor spaces for the inhabitants to move through or gather in. The clusters themselves employ varying degrees of porosity, using solid walls and rows of columns to communicate boundaries and thresholds between spaces. Each cluster is a unique combination of modules, interconnected by the differing orientations of their folded forms.
63
WEST ELEVATION The porosity of the facade as a result of its exploded form aids in the transparency of the program. By pulling the building apart, the possible views into the facility and its activities are multiplied.
BUILDING SECTION Each cluster contains a unique combination of modules, creating a multitude of spatial relationships between the floor levels. There is always another room visible, whether from above or below, further demonstrating the transparency of the design.
64
EAST ELEVATION The side view from Pritchard Hall reveals the multifaceted facade of the building. The fragmented forms used in design clearly display the decentralization of the program.
65
4.
RESEARCH FOOD & ARCHITECTURE: REVEALING THE COMPLEXITY OF NECESSITY
68
BOOK 1 The Supermarket, the epitome of commercialized food architecture. The sole purpose of this typology is to gather and distribute mass quantities of food to the public, most of it typically highly processed. For consumers, it acts as one of many links to sustenance and indulgence. Micheal Ruhlman lays out an in depth history of the rise of supermarkets and the nefarious inner workings of our modern food systems. This book opened my eyes to the world of the supermarket, a major component in our contemporary food chain, which desperately needed to be addressed in order to resolve many of our food dilemmas.
69
SUPERMARKET STUDY 1 Many of the issues addressed by Ruhlmann in his book Grocery revolve around the misleading and confusing labels on food packages, which people are forced to navigate on their own. Labels such as “fat free!” or “all natural” lull shoppers into a false sense of security, because they are able to put their trust into a promise or an establishment and feel like they are making the right choice. However, a lack of understanding and research into any specific product can cause consumers to fall prey to deceptive branding, giving them an illusory sense of control and power over what they are ingesting.
70
71
SUPERMARKET STUDY 2 Another major issue with supermarkets is the over abundance of selection that consumers face when shopping. Despite the hundreds upon thousands of products present in the center aisles of a supermarket, the majority of these products are made using only slight variations of the same basic ingredients: salt, sugar, oil, preservatives. Despite not being made of much else, most of these products have giant incomprehensible lists of ingredients. In fact, the nutrition label is a tool often used to see what is detrimental to health rather than what is beneficial. This deceptive display of variety actually containing just a handful cheap, highly processed ingredients, has enabled processed foods to explode in prevalence and popularity.
72
73
SUPERMARKET STUDY 3 Our lives revolve around food. Every day, our actions are dictated by the many rhythms and cycles of our bodies – some natural, like digestion, and others self imposed, like meal times. While necessary, these repetitive cycles are often viewed more as monotonous nuisances today than as a serious indicators of bodily need. Supermarkets are built using a similar mindset – we shop for food because we have to, not because we want to. As a result, they are made to be simple, functional frameworks used to sell consumers food.
74
75
SUPERMARKET STUDY 4 In this study, I examined the sequence of movement through the supermarket, which is comprised of three main sections: entry, shopping, and check-out. I only realized after having made the drawings that I had not shown the architecture of the supermarket. The architecture (if it could even be called architecture) is so banal, it is so overpowered by products and brands inside it so that it almost disappears entirely. It is just an empty box, defined by the “stuff� in the building rather than the building itself. Initially, I wanted to revitalize and re-imagine this typology, but I soon realized that the supermarket would not be the ideal subject for my ideas. It is a manifestation of commercialization in both food and architecture, with limited flexibility to change because of the dependence on highly processed and unsustainably procured foods.
76
“If the PERFECT building was a box, why wouldn’t we all just live in boxes?”
PERFECT-ly engineered*
1. ARRIVE PERFECTLY ENGINEERED ≠ PERFECT
NECESSITY vs ???
Why does Architecture MATTER?
PLEASURE, COMFORT, LUXURY . . .
2. SHOP
FOOD and SHELTER Both NECESSITIES that go beyond “BASIC NEED”
Can ARCHITECTURE prevent OVERINDULGENCE?
3. DEPART DESIGNED vs. ENGINEERED
HOW can the desire for PLEASURE be
BALANCED
with basic NEED?
77
78
BOOK 2 In his book Omnivore’s Dilemma, Micheal Pollan reveals how our values are embodied in our food choices. Unlike many animals that are restricted to a highly specific diet, humans are both blessed and cursed with the freedom to eat whatever we want, now more than ever before. With this ability comes many consequences that we, unlike other species, must consider. These impacts are far reaching, extending throughout the food chain. Our choices and actions in response to a question as simple as “what should we eat?” not only determine the quality of our own lives, but all life.
79
80
PALETTE Architects, much like chefs, have a vast material palette to choose from. Both are creators who manipulate materials in creative and unique ways for the pleasure of others. Their creations provide meaning, identity, and culture to a society, reflecting the ideas of a place through the traditions of food and architecture. By interpreting how a chef creates a recipe through the palette of an architect – structure, form, color, texture – I can merge the two in my own design.
81
82
PLATING Japanese chef Masa Takayama not only designs each of his meals, but a specific plate for each dish as well. To him, the plate is not a predetermined factor; it can be manipulated and formed to best complement the experience of his food. In architecture, this philosophy is also true for the building site. Architects do not simply build on a site, but rather carefully compose the site in tandem with the building in order to determine sequence and relationships between the parts. The site can therefore be thought of as a plate, where a meal is carefully constructed.
83
MATERIAL STUDY 1 By establishing a framework on the site, I was able to begin building a “recipe�. A blueprint and recipe are both similar; each establish rules for bringing elements together in a systematic way that can be replicated. Pieces within the frame, could be rearranged, making slight variations in the outcome
84
85
MATERIAL STUDY 2 I wanted to rethink the frame, defining the boundaries between the materials rather than the boundaries of the site. As a result, the framework almost seems to disappear, with the ingredients as the most prevalent feature.
86
87
MATERIAL STUDY 3 Recipes can vary greatly. Slight changes to the framework can present ingredients in a completely new light. Using the same concept from the previous study, I altered the form of the site to see what implication this would have on the frame and the ingredients within it.
88
89
90
MATERIAL STUDY 4 By using the tools of an architect, plan and elevation, I was able to think about the study in a new way. All ingredients, while visible from above, could only be partially perceived while looking at it from the side. Each side in a sense acted as a bite of a meal, with some flavors being revealed and other hidden. By pairing different materials together, each side can expose something new about the design, providing a variety of experiences.
91
MATERIAL STUDY 5 I realized that the way in which I was addressing the framework was quite limiting. A recipe is flexible, it acts more as a basic guide with many possible outcomes. It is not meant to have one perfect end product. It is meant to be experimented with, ingredients substituted or omitted based on preferences or what’s at hand. Taking the same framework from the first material study, I tried to think of it more loosely using a small palette of materials.
92
MATERIAL STUDY 5A Rather than compactly fit all the pieces within the frame to fill it, I decided to place a single piece in each section of the frame as an experiment. I found this process to be quite similar to how a chef creates a recipe, as I placed and shifted pieces within the frame to see what combination of pieces best complemented each other.
MATERIAL STUDY 5B Next, I focused on sequence. In many recipes, the sequence in which ingredients are added matters. Once added, it may not be possible to go back to a previous state. I tested this by placing the materials in a specific order and orientation, so that once the final piece is placed within the frame, the first piece can no longer be removed.
93
94
BOOK 3 The Kitchen perfectly melds the philosophies of food and design together, revealing that good food is the fuel for good ideas. Studio Olafur Eliasson takes readers on a journey through their daily lives, sharing stories, recipes, and thoughts about the important role food plays in their studio. The acts of eating and cooking, while deeply personal, connect each individual to the rest of the world, especially to on another. Food makes us aware; of our body, our community, and the world.
95
96
TABLE STUDY 1 The way we eat has many implications on our interactions with both our food and those around us. Just like the utensils and vessels used to help us consume our food, the table is a tool that helps to facilitate the meal. In these drawings, I try to understand how the space of the table impacts the way we eat with others. The table is a spatial object, constructed using similar basic ideas as a building. Privacy, proximity, and materiality can all influence our relationship to the food and the people we are eating it with.
97
BOOK 4 During my research, this intriguing image from the book The Everyday and Architecture kept popping up in my search for precedents. It uses the meal as an analogy for the architect’s impossible task to organize human life. Architects employ many tools, like structure and function, to try and bring order to our daily, domestic lives. However, for a design to be successful, it must recognize and allow for spontaneity and serendipity to occur, rather than suppress such occurrences. The messy dining table after a long meal reveals and celebrates the disorder of life, and becomes the main source of inspiration the authors use to bring order to their architecture.
98
99
TABLE STUDY 2 What I find most compelling about the Dining Table study is the memory of human life captured in a simple drawing set. The sequence of scenes demonstrates the beautiful chaos of a meal. I wanted to build upon this study with the ideas I gained from The
Kitchen and show the interactions of the occupants with each other, not just the table. The dining table is a tool to facilitate interaction while eating; eating is therefore not a isolated act, but a communal one. We use meals to celebrate, share stories and ideas, and spend time with loved ones. The table, much like good architecture, provides a basic structure that allows these memories to form.
100
101
102
GARDEN STUDY The act of eating does not start with cooking, but with growing. “All you eat is light”. This quote from
The Kitchen completely changed the way I thought about and understood food. All consumable energy, everything we eat, starts with plants. Plants are one of the only organisms able to absorb and convert sunlight into usable energy, meaning all food – processed or unprocessed – starts with a seed. Including a garden, where individuals would realize their connection to the food chain, became crucial to the design. Excluding the garden would conceal a massive part of what goes into making a meal.
103
104
GARDEN STUDY 1 Incorporating an indoor garden into the window system of a building would be one way to provide fresh food to the inhabitants, while still supplying ample sunlight for most crops. The shelves could even be modified to move and allow the windows to open, optimizing growing conditions.
105
106
GARDEN STUDY 2 For plants with higher sunlight demands or deep root systems, small alcoves could connect to the main cooking areas that better accommodate the plants needs. This would allow easy access to a larger diversity of plants year round.
107
108
GARDEN STUDY 3 Combining the planter with the counter top provides inhabitants with fresh vegetables and herbs right in front of them as they cook. This design directly connects individuals, visually and physically, to the food chain as they prepare a meal.
109
110
GARDEN STUDY 4 Through my studies, I realized growing food is just as important as preparing food. In my free time, I had already started to cook in order to gain a better understanding of the process, but I felt like I lacked the hands-on knowledge of how to obtain the ingredients with which I was cooking. I decided to design an indoor container garden as a way to reconnect myself to the production of food. I wanted to experience exactly what I was advocating in my thesis – the process of preparing a meal from start to finish – and used this to directly inform the building design.
111
FEBRUARY 17, 2020
DAY 3
Designing and building the indoor garden was three a week long process. I built the frame using raw materials I bought from a local wood mill. The process mimicked my experiences cooking – taking raw materials, cutting and refining them into one final product. 112
GERMINATION (paper towel method)
113
MARCH 9, 2020
DAY 24
I attached wheels to the base of the frame in order to make it more mobile. This enabled me to bring my indoor garden outside for the first time. Most of my seedlings had fully sprouted at this point and I was able to transplant the larger seedlings into the lower containers. 114
CUCUMBER
TOMATO
115
MARCH 26, 2020
DAY 41
I had to move my garden into my apartment due to the Coronavirus lockdown. This ultimately proved beneficial, as I could monitor the progress of the garden more closely than before. I was able to harvest a handful of beans and compare them to their store-bought counterparts. 116
HOME-GROWN
STORE BOUGHT
CROSS-SECTION
117
MARCH 29, 2020
DAY 44
I needed to re-pot many of my plants, as the peat pots I had initially used began to grow mold and lose integrity. I tried out a variety of different vessels, from re-purposed food containers to terracotta pots, in order to test and see the impact on seedling growth. 118
ROOTS
119
APRIL 7, 2020
DAY 53
I soon ran into trouble after realizing I had brought fungus gnats from Cowgill into my apartment. The infestation badly hindered the growth of many of my seedlings and also led to the spread of fungal diseases. My beets, arugula, spinach, and beans all showed signs of fungus. 120
INDOOR COMPOST BIN
RED WIGGLER
THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE (fungus gnat)
HARMLESS (springtail)
121
MAY 7, 2020
DAY 83
The fungus gnats soon spread to all of my plants, killing many of them before they were harvestable. After placing some plants outside, I soon realized I attracted another pest – a variety of root aphids. I decided to cut my loses and harvest what I could, which was primarily herbs. 122
DESTRUCTIVE (root aphids)
123
5.
RECIPES FOOD & ARCHITECTURE: REVEALING THE COMPLEXITY OF NECESSITY
PORK MEDALLIONS & CHERRY PEPPER SAUCE AUGUST 20 Ingredients: - 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin - 1 cup sugar - 1 pound cherries - 1 TB brandy - 1 TB ground pepper - 2 fennel bulbs + greens - 1 TB unsalted butter - 2 shallots diced - 1/2 cups heavy cream - ground white pepper - kartoffelknรถdel mix
What was supposed to be a quick dinner turned into a three hour long endeavor. The recipe itself was quite simple and straight forward, leading my roommate and I to believe that caramelizing the sugar for the sauce would also be simple, when in fact it took several failed attempts of recrystallized sugar before successfully cooking it down. After accidentally buying pie filling rather than canned cherries, we had been close to giving up on the sauce all together, but eventually succeeded.
126
ROASTED EGGPLANT & PESTO PASTA SEPTEMBER 4 Ingredients: - 2 cups basil - 1/4 cup pine/walnuts - 1 clove garlic - 1/2 tsp salt - 1/4 tsp pepper - 1 cup parmesan, grated - 1 lb short cut pasta - 1 whole eggplant, cubed - 1/2 container cherry tomatoes
A friend of mine shared this recipe with me during studio while discussing my thesis. Despite eating fresh pesto often at home, I had never made it myself before. My roommate had never tried homemade pesto before, so it felt like the perfect recipe to cook together that evening. After studio, my roommate and I went to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients, but couldn’t find any basil. We had to drive to three different supermarkets that night before we were able to find fresh basil for the pesto.
127
PARMESAN CHICKEN & BRUSSEL SPROUTS SEPTEMBER 7 Ingredients: - 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs - 1 cup grated parmesan - olive oil - 1 lb brussel sprouts, halved - 1 1/2 lb chicken thighs - 2 TB butter - 3 cloves garlic, minced - 1 onion, chopped - 1 cup chicken stock - 1 TB balsamic vinegar - 1/4 cup parsley, chopped - kosher salt - black pepper
While trying to figure out what to cook for dinner with ingredients we already bought, my friend and I had everything we needed for this recipe except chicken stock, which we decided to substitute with a beer we found in the fridge. The chicken was surprisingly good. With a lot of persuasion, I was also able to convince both my roommate and her younger brother to try a brussel sprout for the first time. They did not like it.
128
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES SEPTEMBER 8 Ingredients: - 200 g all purpose flour - 4 g kosher salt - 4g baking soda - 1 1/2 unsalted butter - 200 g dark brown sugar - 1 large egg - 2 large egg yolks - 2 tsp vanilla extract - 170 g bittersweet chocolate (60%–70% cacao)
Baking cookies in a tiny apartment kitchen with five girls wasn’t easy. The limited counter space made for a tight work area as we all helped to prepare the cookie dough. It was a bit chaotic. When we realized that the brown sugar was completely solidified, we were hopeful it could still be salvaged. After trying every trick we could find online, we were eventually able to soften the sugar up enough for it to dissolve into the batter.
129
CREAMY PUMPKIN & PASTA SEPTEMBER 21 Ingredients: - 1 pumpkin, roasted and pureed - 3 cloves garlic - olive oil - 1 sprig thyme - 1 1/2 lb chicken thighs - 2 TB butter - 3 cloves garlic, minced - 1 onion, chopped - 1 cup chicken stock - 1 TB balsamic vinegar - 1/4 cup parsley, chopped - kosher salt - black pepper
Earlier that week, I decided to buy a pumpkin from the grocery store. While abroad in Germany, I often cooked with pumpkin and was excited to share some of the dishes I had learned to make during my travels with my friends. Unlike the small, thin-skinned Speisekurbisse that I would normally buy in Germany, I needed a saw to cut through the thick skin of the American pumpkin I had bought.
130
QUICK HOMEMADE NAAN OCTOBER 1 Ingredients: - 1 3/4 cups flour - 2 tsp sugar - 3/4 tsp baking powder - 2 tsp oil - 1/2 cup milk - butter - fresh herbs
As a way to get to know each other better, my studio decided to throw an Indian-themed potluck. With help from our Indian studio-mate, we each selected and prepared an entrée, side-dish, or dessert to share with one another. While I prepared the naan, the others cooked samosas and a spicy chicken curry for the main entrée. We even had a sweet rice pudding for dessert. After we finished eating and cleaning up we proceeded to play a couple rounds of “Spoons” before heading home.
131
FARMERS MARKET RABBIT STEW OCTOBER 5 Ingredients: - 2 heads of garlic - 1 TB extra virgin olive oil - 1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms - 1/2 pound mushrooms - 4 TB butter - 1 rabbit - 3 large shallots, chopped - 1 cup white wine - 1-2 cups mushroom soaking water - 3 cups chicken stock - 1 tablespoon fresh thyme - 1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped - salt - 2 TB fresh parsley, chopped
While visiting me in Blacksburg, my mom and I decided to go investigate the local farmers market with a couple of my friends. After seeing a vendor selling rabbit, we decided to try and cook an entire meal using only locally sourced ingredients. Other than some parsnips that we had to buy from the supermarket, all of the produce we bought came from the farmers market.
132
MOM’S SPÄTZLE & GOULASCH OCTOBER 12 Ingredients: - 1 pound beef or pork, cubed - 1 large onion, chopped - 1 carrot - 1/2 pound mushrooms - “a lot of paprika” - “a little red wine” - 3 cloves garlic, minced - kosher salt - black pepper - 2 cups flour - 1 tsp salt - 2 eggs - 3/4 cup milk
Me: “Can I have your recipe?” Mom: “Ummm sort of... I don’t measure” We continued to text back and forth for the rest of the evening as I asked her to elaborate on her instructions, sending her pictures of my progress. Despite using her recipe, my goulasch came out quite different than hers. Since then, she has started to precisely record her recipes in order to pass them on to me.
133
BOURBON-ORANGE APPLE COBBLER NOVEMBER 10 Ingredients: - 2 pounds apples, peeled and sliced - 1/4 cup white sugar - 1 TB orange juice - 1/2 tsp cinnamon - orange zest - 1/2 cup bourbon - 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour - 2 tsp baking powder - 3/4 tsp kosher salt - 6 TB cold, unsalted butter - 1 cup milk - nuts, chopped - vanilla ice-cream
Riffing off a recipe my professor gave me for apple pie, I combined his bourbon-orange apple filling with an apple cobbler recipe I found online. The cobbler was for my friend’s birthday, so I also bought a box of cheap candles from the supermarket. I had nearly used the entire box of candles when I realized the hot filling was melting them into the cobbler. It wasn’t noticeable.
134
WINTER BREAK RECIPES DEC 24 - JAN 2 Ingredients: - December 24: seafood boil - December 25 : seafood sauce with homemade pasta - December 28: lentil curry - December 31: nabeyaki udon - January 1: pizzelle canoli - January 2: chicken katsudon
Christmas time is a very special time of year for me, filled with many food traditions. There’s almost too many recipes in this one week alone to recount. Every year, we have a seafood boil to celebrate the holidays. We always use the leftover mussels and clams the next day in our pasta sauce and save the fish broth to make nabeyaki udon, a Japanese soup, for New Years Eve. For the New Year, my mom and I make pizzelles using her grandmother’s pizzelle iron. This year, my brother and I both cooked proper meals for the family without any help from our mom. It was very rewarding to be able to give back to her after all the years she’s made meals for us.
135
VENISON-MAPO TOFU JANUARY 24 Ingredients: - 1 lb ground venison - 2 tsp shaoxing wine - 1 tsp light soy sauce - 2 tsp sichuan peppercorns - 1 TB vegetable oil - 3 TB doubanjiang - 2 TB green onion - 1 block firm tofu - 1 cup water - 2 tsp homemade chili oil - 1/4 tsp five-spice - 1 teaspoon sugar - steamed rice
Learning of my new passion for cooking, my Dad gifted me grass-fed beef and venison for the holidays. I was extremely excited to listen to his stories about bow-hunting and the ethics of obtaining meat yourself. Wanting to share these ideas with my friend, we decided to cook this Sichuan dish, replacing the beef with venison. The gamey flavor of the meat worked surprisingly well with the spicy, numbing málà flavors.
136
HOME-GROWN CHERRY CRISP FEBRUARY 24 2020 Ingredients: - 1 lb frozen cherries - 1/4 cup sugar - 3 TB lemon juice - 1 1/2 TB cornstarch -1/4 tsp cinnamon - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract - pinch of kosher salt - 2 TB melted butter - 1 TB sugar - 1 cup heavy cream - 1 tsp vanilla extract - 1 TB sugar
Every summer, my family harvests the cherries from the cherry tree in our front yard. The tree has gotten so big over the past couple of years that it takes us 3 or 4 days to pick, pit, and freeze all of the cherries. Over the winter break, my parents gave me some of our homegrown cherries to bring back with me to school because we just had too many. Craving something sweet, my roommate and I decided to bake a crisp, making homemade whipped cream to match. Simple, quick, and easy, not to mention delicious.
137
QUARANTINE POTSTICKERS MARCH 21 Ingredients: - 1 pound ground pork - 1 1/4 cups green onions - 3 cloves garlic, minced - 1 TB ginger, grated - 1 TB soy sauce - 1 TB rice wine vinegar - 2 tsp chili garlic sauce - 2 tsp sesame oil - 1 package round wonton wrappers - 2 table vegetable oil
I bought some frozen potstickers from the supermarket, just to keep in the freezer for a quick, tasty meal. Looking at the ingredients, my friend suggested that we could probably make our own potstickers to store for later. That evening, we gathered all the ingredients we needed, hand-folding over three-dozen dumplings. Comparing them to the storebought version, we definitely thought ours were tastier.
138
BUTTERNUT SQUASH & VENISON RAVIOLI APRIL 25 Ingredients: - 1 pound ground venison - 2 1/2 lb butternut squash - 8 whole garlic cloves - 1/4 cup olive oil - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese - 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary - 3 cups all purpose flour - 4 eggs - 4 TB olive oil - 4 TB water - 1 TB salt
Butternut squash has quickly become one of my favorite new vegetables to eat. After having made a hasselback roasted butternut squash that I adored, I wanted to try something new. Along with my friend, we made pasta by hand for the first time, filling it with venison and a delicious butternut squash puree. Although they were not the prettiest ravioli, the flavor combinations were spot on.
139
140
BIBLIOGRAPHY Bestard, Cati and Anna Puigjaner. “The ‘Kitchenless’ House: A Concept for the 21st Century” 17 Aug 2016.
ArchDaily, www.archdaily.com/793370/the-kitchenless-house-a-concept-for-the-21st-century. Accessed 2020. Eliasson, Olafur, et al. Studio Olafur Eliasson: the
Kitchen. Phaidon Press Limited, 2016. Herzog, Lawrence A. Global Suburbs: Urban Sprawl
from the Rio Grande to Rio De Janeiro. Routledge, 2015. Hagen, Petra, and Rolf Toyka. The Architect, the
Cook, and Good Taste. Birkhäuser, 2007. Martin-McAuliffe, Samantha L. Food and Architec-
ture: At the Table. Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: a Natural
History of Four Meals. Penguin Books, 2016. Ruhlman, Michael. Grocery: the Buying and Selling of
Food in America. Abrams Press, 2017.
141
FOOD & ARCH CHRISTINA DREXEL cdrexel@vt.edu (+1) 484-886-7882