Community CROPS

FACT 08

The new Community Food Center is a collecting point for food produced by community gardens throughout Lincoln, Nebraska. Organized by an algorithm, the garden plots ranges from small to large and adapt seasonally to the needs of users.  Public meeting space and farmers’ market share a multipurpose environment that is sustainable, enjoyable and open to the gardens in the center of a typical Lincoln neighborhood. The building is proposed as a zero-net energy facility with natural light and a cultivated garden roof. The design of the roof and floor are formally similar to the garden but parametrically optimized towards structural need. Roof members are spaced according to actual loads and control joints in the floor slab record the actual range of stresses across the open plan.