The House of Food
common ground
Manchester, the industrial city, holds a collection of historical events that hold an important role in the industrial revolution. With the use of railways and canals, the routes in and out of the city allowed for the transport and trade of food and produce. Food, trade and culture were vital in the growth of the city and have impacted the diversity we see today. The demographics of Manchester city suggest a wide range of backgrounds; emphasising the diverse cultures and traditions that are found around the city. The importance of food in and around Manchester is a culture of itself.
The House of Food manifests the concept of two semi-detached houses, connected via a central chimney (poché). A place where pleasure, enjoyment, education and food overlap, it aims to educate the younger generation on the importance of food production and the modern exploitation of fast food and machine-made food. Circulation - both horizontal and vertical - was a vital mechanism of design, to create spaces that are not only enjoyable, but memorable. The two houses celebrate different eras and opposing designs, whilst simultaneously creating a cohesive front. The two houses, The House of Artefacts (HoA) and the House of Cultures (HoC), represent different eras and times of cooking and food production, which are also expressed materialistically and aesthetically. The Market (HoC) manifests and celebrates the notion of creation. The building is designed to function purely as a space for food, allowing the function to become the space. The structure is the space; left bare and skeletal to reminisce and celebrate the basis of architecture and evolution; a primitive cave. The Museum (HoA) is a clean, post-modern piece of architecture that resembles the modern clinical kitchen and the notion of a strict circulation.
Influenced by Aldo Rossi’s “The Architecture of the City,’ the project takes on the role of forming an urban artefact. Rossi’s understanding of the city as Architecture aims to recognise the importance of architecture as a discipline that has a self-determining autonomy. Architecture, in terms of Rossi, does not mean the aesthetic quality of the visible image of the city, but as a construction of the city overtime. By linking the past with the present, it defines the city as a collective; a collection of artefacts that have been accumulated overtime. A museum follows similar principals; a space that holds a collection of artefacts that, when seen together, demonstrate a collective. The House of Food serves to signify Rossi’s idea of the city, the artefact and the collective memory. The idea that the museum is stemmed from the collective history and progression of the city of Manchester, as well as the history of food production, cooking and consumption, serves as an insight into my understanding of using the locus as a method of design. Ultimately, the building, which stems from an understanding of the city and it’s artefacts, can then be seen a monument demonstrating a form of new change, thus, one day becoming an urban artefact in itself.
