URBANFRAME

Project Description: 

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We're always on searching for new designs opportunities that have no predecessors. The design team found exactly when they interviewed the growers at Food Project, a year-round non-profit, youth-based urban agriculture program.

 

First, for years, the urban farmers had been using an air-conditioned in a large closet to store freshly cut produce for several before it travels to local farmers markets. The needed a proper cooler.

 

Second, the courtyard at the entry to their urban greenhouse lacked the public presence of civic engagement deserving of an organization with such community impact and partnership.

 

So the project was born:  A multi-purpose community building that could provide seating, shade, and the amenities necessary to host workshops and community events and can be used to store vegetables on in an insulated, refrigerated interior. 

 

URBANFRAME teens met with members of the community and farm staff to understand the design requirements before developing a series of concepts for review.  Following a presentation to The Food Project and refinement with the URBANFRAME teaching fellows, materials were ordered and the Public Chiller was build at MIT and then transported to the site.  The project culminated with a celebratory hand-off to the Director of the Food Project in front of community members, parents, and friends.