With contemporary technology, life has sped up tremendously. Current generations move around nomadically, rushing from place to place, chasing the future and overlooking the present. Can it be that the loneliness epidemic as well as the systemic increased longing for a quieter mind, are a result of this lifestyle?

This project encourages a sense of grounding, and a focal shift towards humans’ natural foundations. Key in the design is the repositioning of food -- one of the most elementary needs of human life -- at the heart of residential architecture. Neighborhood residents are encouraged to slow down and appreciate the growing, preparing and sharing of food.

What was an empty alley, now invites the people from the Main Street onto a sloping public vegetable garden. In winter, vegetables can continue to grow indoors in the cantilevering glass crown of the tower. Descending the tower one arrives in the community’s dining room, where a long table welcomes the preparing and sharing of food. Residents of the building share the dining room, and have their private spaces on the first and third floor. Bay windows are incorporated in the façade to pay tribute to the surrounding triple-decker houses and to integrate the building in the neighborhood.