Architectural tour offered hope for vegetarians

Nov 2019 – I don’t usually pair architecture with vegetarianism, but last year I attended a vegetarian meetup that combined eating at a plant-based restaurant with touring some architectural sites downtown. I enjoyed the event, but I still saw no connection.

I noticed later that sites for Open House Chicago were also in South Chicagoland, so this year I decided to check ones that were closer. Lo and behold! Three dealt with sustainability(recycling from waste materials or restoring nutrients and then reusing wastes so that future generations will benefit). The I-Grow Peace Campus in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood has recycled tires and tree waste to make outdoor playground equipment, fences and chairs. Plans for the insides of the rehabbed houses were donated by architects from Krueck & Sexton. The ceiling beams reminded me of ones made on Knock It Off of the Live Well Network.

How does that connect with a vegetarian lifestyle? Both the learning garden on the peace campus and Englewood’s Wood Street Urban Farm continuously restore nutrients to the soil so the residents or job hunters can grow tasty produce gratis or at a reasonable price. The garden is planning to recycle rain water to lower its water bill while the farm is going to experiment with a year-round mechanized greenhouse to extend production.

Testa Produce in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood exhibited more sustainability with its wind mill and solar panels, which provide 35 percent of the plant’s energy. Floor tiles in the office are made from recycled tires. In fact, many items in the building are recycled. The roof is mostly garden space, but the plants aren’t edible. Finally, the produce delivered wholesale daily is more local in the warmer seasons. So all three sites promote eating vegetables; their recycling efforts keep down the carbon imprint so that our planet will last longer.

Tours at the three sites explained how each was made sustainable, validated my recycling attempts and gave me more ideas to use on my own home. I’ve already connected four rain barrels to water my plants, thanks to training by Chicago’s Water Management Department. The tree trunk walkway in the Nature Space of the peace campus reminded me of the garden walkways I created with cinder blocks: dig a continuous ditch and fill it in with material to walk on. The tire recycling reminded me of ottomans and a hamper I made with discarded tires. The glass/plastic kitchen backsplash in one of the rehabbed houses on the peace campus has fomented ideas for my own backsplash.

Have you ever connected architecture with a vegetarian lifestyle? Has taking an architectural tour ever given you ideas for your own living space?