(F)armory

Year:

2023 Dec

Our F-Armory proposal aims to feed the Bronx’s and New York City’s communities with year-round fresh, locally, and sustainably grown produce. Located in the neighborhood of Kingsbridge Heights in the northwestern Bronx, the project reinvents the armory as the meeting ground for an urban farm and a series of “social condenser” programs, setting the conditions for an economy, ecology, and event engine.

The farm’s goal is the creation of a circular, community-owned economy within a large community center. Hydroponic towers distributed along elevated platforms in the drill hall connect to an underground aquaponic system to support the growth of lettuce, tomatoes, and tilapia year-round. The distribution of tomatoes and lettuce to grocers and local businesses will constitute the farm's main source of income, while seasonal soil greenhouses on the platform's top levels will help create a community-supported agriculture program. In the basement levels, a cannabis farm with material research labs will complement the F-Armory program above.