Credit: Shinkenchiku-sha
'Nest We Grow' project in Japan
Imagine a community center that’s not your typical chunk of cinderblock — instead it’s an architecturally avant garde space where neighbors gather to grow, cook and eat food. That’s the concept behind the breezy structure “Nest We Grow,” an experiment designed to connect a community’s social spaces and growing spaces.
The Nest can be found in the rural Japanese town of Taiki-cho, Hokkaido, built on Memu Meadows, a plot of land devoted to architectural innovation. There, UC Berkeley architectural students led by instructors Dana Buntrock and Mark Anderson teamed up with the Japanese firm Kengo Kumo Associates to reinvent the idea of a community hub.
The team went to work after winning the fourth Lixil International University Architectural Competition — a contest that grants winners a budget and resources to build a design that supports “the vision of creating a spiritually rich living environment while ensuring sustainable consumption of Earth’s resources.”
