Food & Nature
My project is the international food culture centre, celebrating the food growth in the characteristic interior representations of natural landscapes and gardens from different countries around the world. Situated at the heart of All Saints Manchester campus, it enhances social communication and contributes to the international cultural exchange between students, Manchester citizens and tourists, as well as providing organic traditional cuisines from the missing market segment. The building tries to integrate nature with architecture, introducing the greener urban environment and healthier lifestyle for the resilient future city.
The building concept is the journey through the natural landscapes of different countries – Russian forest, Asian garden, European park, caves – against Manchester’s panorama. Varying floor by floor the spaces interconnect and intercept on different heights with each other gradually flowing from one atmosphere into another into the continuous spiral route through one setting seamlessly merging into another and back to Manchester’s outside reality.
The different settings are represented by the varying floor by floor natural and artificial lighting, distinctive planting species and traditional landscaping methods, while common large trees spreading within the voids of stacked organic floor shapes between the different zones set out the common basis of the interior natures. Within these specifically artificially created environments, the international food plants grown in the aeroponics greenhouse are shown in their natural surroundings. The interior cafés and community halls are positioned inside these embracing along the façade sceneries, with the partial glimpses out on the external Manchester streets’ context.
The exposed timber frame structures of the building enhance the «forestbathing» experience and blend with the planted interior natural worlds of different countries inside the Manchester.
