Food Webs

"Dr. Samuel Johnson, from Warwick’s Mathematics Institute, explains: “Buildings require structural supports, such as the metal or timber frames around which they are then built. For the building to remain standing, though, these supports need to comply with the laws of mathematics and physics; if the roof is too heavy for the frame, the building collapses. The frames also need flexibility to adapt to conditions, if they are too rigid they become fragile and, for instance, unable to cope with difficult weather.

“The same is true of natural ecosystems; they need support and structure. Trophic Coherence seems to play a similar role in ecosystems as supporting frames of buildings — it is a structural property that helps ecosystems survive, and is common to all the ones we have analyzed. It provides them with essential support and structure.”"

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Visual Complexity

vertical greenery

"Architects and developers continue to inject greenery into high-rise buildings as the concept becomes far more common.

Beyond adding greenery to balconies, roof terraces or on the walls of skyscrapers, however, there is also a trend toward using building surfaces for urban agriculture as rapid urbanisation creates demand for affordable inner-city housing and accessible food. 

A 2014 United Nations report foresees an additional 2.5 billion people (66 per cent of the population) moving into urban areas by 2050. With this comes the opportunity to produce food in the heart of these urban areas through vertical farming"

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landmarks out of sugar

"They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Thanks to food artist Caitlin Levin and her photographer collaborator Henry Hargreaves, imitation in candy is now undisputedly the reigning champion of the most sincere forms of flattery. The duo teamed up to reproduce a number of famous museums using one of the world’s favorite vices: sweets."

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processed landscapes

"For their project "Processed Views," Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman used processed food to re-create famous landscape photographs that Carleton Watkins took of the American West. This "Fruit Loops Landscape" is based on Watkins' 1863 photo "Albion River.""

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Gingerbread Town

It's Holiday time again. The time of year to build with food! 

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The Kitchen that can do it all

Cameras in the oven, weight sensors in the fridge and monitor screens in the backsplash are just some of the high-tech gadgets integrated into the ultra-smart FutureHAUS kitchen.  

Designed by a team of Virginia Tech architecture students, in collaboration with the Modular Building Institute

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