FOOD & YOUTH
This proposed building expands upon the proven success of the community garden by providing a teaching kitchen for interested residents to learn more about food. Folding doors along the north edge of the building open to create a serving station onto an outdoor cafe. An additional seating area along 35th Street provides an ideal location for coffee and morning sun.
In addition to cooking lessons, food prepared on-site could be cheaply sold here. The need for a social space for the youth became apparent in conversations with middle school students in the neighborhood. Their favorite place to hang out is Pizza Shuttle, “because it is calm, they have good, cheap food, and they play good music.” For this reason, the southern portion of the building houses an indoor space for youth to hang out. This commons area will accommodate computers for internet access. In addition, soft seating and access to food will enhance the experience of this space. This southern space opens onto a patio with inlaid patterns for four-square, giant checkers and chess. The second floor provides office space as well as a large flexible space which could be used for both food and youth-related events. A FLEXIBLE FUTURE
The building’s shape is directly inspired by the surrounding neighborhood. The sizing and morphology of the duplex row house coupled with the rhythm of the neighborhood lots give form to the two main rooms and celebrate the space in between- where people of all backgrounds are drawn together by chance encounters. These diagrams illustrate how this space could easily serve as a coffee house or a bike shop.
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