My evolving focus of my thesis is now desiging a component(s) of a local Reno food system. Namely, I would design a permanent local produce market that adapts itself to winter and summer uses. In my last post I was considering pursuing design solutions for extending the growing solution into the colder months. A small amount of research into existing design for green-house structures leads me to believe that this problem is already solved.
I interviewed a local farmer who runs a small-medium sized organic produce farm about an hour from Reno. The farm, Lattin Farms, sells most of their produce directly from their farm stand, at farmers markets, and in a CSAs. I spoke to her about their operation and about what sorts of infrastructure would be helpful to the cause of local farming. From the conversation I gleaned that there is plenty of demand for their products, but limited outlets to sell their produce in. Apparently, canning is becoming quite a thing, and she suggested that shared facilities for canning would be helpful. She also pointed me in the direction of a few food coops in Reno that I will contact for more information. Hopefully, I will be able to visit Lattin Farms over Christmas Break.
Also contacted was a local food-activist in Reno, who also happens to be an architect. He started a farmer’s market in downtown Reno which has apparently met with mixed results. I hope that I can talk with him about his experience soon.
As it stands, my rough program is:
Produce Market: 10,000 sf
Local Retail Shops: 4×800, 3,200 sf
Community Canning Kitchen: 1,000 sf
Other elements that I would like to consider as my site choice becomes more clear are a possible recreational public interface with the river and a food start-up incubator.
Further research is needed on convertible structures. Not sure where to look. My searches haven’t been turning much of anything up, which may be due to the fact that reconfiguring a building to suit the season is impractical.
On the bio mimicry side of things, the Eastgate Center in Harare, Zimbabwe is super interesting. It is a mid-rise (residential?) building that supposedly consumes only 10% of a conventional building. The heating/cooling system design is based on termite mounds. I would love to do something like this, but I am also unsure of if it is practical to do with a building like a produce market that has a lot process of loads and a lot of perishable merchandise in it.
Leave a Reply