Bloomingburg, New York, United States
From years of shopping at farmer’s markets and belonging to a CSA, the Togather project was envisioned with an idea to provide a “farm-to-table living” for the city dwellers and support for the local farmers.
Togather: Striving to Bring Farm, Food, and People Together won a recent 2021 Green Good Design® Award from The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum.
In an effort to learn and gain empirical knowledge of the local farms in the Hudson Valley region, the entrant spent multiple years volunteering at farms, attending various workshops, and participating in farming events, while taking an extensive land and tenant farmer search. This experience helped to broaden the perspective and solidify the greater mission of the project.
Togather project aims to empower beginning farmers by providing on-site affordable housing and 30-year long-term free land lease while sharing the place with the city dwellers, promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The project strives to raise awareness of the food system’s challenges, local farms, farmers, land access, and the discourse around global warming. The project’s core is the two-family residence, situated on the organic farm, providing a home for the landowner and the farmer family.
The design focuses on the coexistence of the two families represented with interlocking volumes bound by the monolithic outer box. The concept also emphasizes the shared outdoor space with the landscape that showcases the produce grown in the field.
The project’s environmental and biophilic design seeks to elevate one’s connection to nature through unique visual frames to the exterior, indoor-outdoor living, natural cross-ventilation, and natural lighting.
The tenant, Hidden Acre Farm practices regenerative farming methods, including the hand-pulled tools and no-till operations that build healthy soil and foster biodiversity. They have established their presence at two different markets during their second season, Brooklyn Carroll Garden and Barryville Farmers’ market.
Togather is a design-centric interdisciplinary project, where urban and rural intersect, aims to showcase a prototype for the food system, carbon-neutral environment, and ultimately create a sustainable ecosystem.
Project: Togather: Striving to Bring Farm, Food, and People Together
Architects: Eugene Kwak Architecture
Client: Togather: Striving to bring farm, food, and people together
Photographers: Jeff Cate
