In downtown Los Angeles, many years from now, what will we see? What problems may exist? Many environmental and social constructs will have changed, some predictable and some unforeseeable. The purpose of the Plant House is to try and accommodate for one of these possible issues: food growth. Present day Los Angeles already has difficulty supplying enough fresh fruits and vegetables to its city occupants seeing that much if not all of the food has to be grown many miles away. Additionally, L.A. has a large homeless problem, as do many big cities. To accommodate for this, the Plant House will utilize a growing roof area. The roof is made up of 4’ x 4’ cubes that rise up steadily to a high point. The beauty of these cubes is that they are all the same size module and so are very versatile. The growing roof will have a variety of planter boxes, garden boxes, seating areas, pathways, and skylights which makeup its whole People from the surrounding community, homeless included, will have access to available fruits and vegetables grown in these planter boxes year round. Additionally, a weekly soup kitchen/ community dinner will be held where fruits and vegetables from the garden are cooked in a meal inside the house below, and are served to those who wish to attend. The occupants of the house will care for and maintain the garden and other amenities. The goal of this house is not to eliminate hunger or food growth in L.A. entirely, as this is an impossible objective. If the house can serve its surrounding community, giving them fresh food to eat and a place to come together, then that is just as impactful.
