Edible Schoolyard
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Project by: WORKac
Designed by: Amale Andraos and Dan Wood Challenge: How can we bring schoolchildren closer to their food through learning-by-doing? Project description: The Edible Schoolyard project was launched to tackle the issue of poor diet prevalent in inner city children. Established by activist chef Alice Waters in California, the project brings organic gardening and cooking into public school curricula across America. Architectural practice WORKac has been designing Edible Schoolyards in New York City since 2009. The designs for Edible Schoolyard NYC engage a child’s sense of curiosity through material and form, encouraging children to think about the way the building, its systems and the surrounding garden work together and to explore and reshape their own relationship to the environment. At the P.S. 216 school, half an acre of parking lot has been transformed into a vibrant teaching garden. The building is composed of three interconnected parts: a blue rubber “systems wall” reveals the sustainable infrastructure, including the cistern for the water reclamation system; the ‘decorated shed’ of the kitchen classroom and offices; and a greenhouse that allows gardening classes to run throughout the year. |
Project phase: Completed 2016
Location: New York City |