Library for Food Justice

The modern library is much more than a space that houses books, it has become a community center, a space for grassroots movements to be born, to grow and to organize. Food justice is a grassroots movement that means different things to different people, but to put it broadly, it’s an initiatives that emerge from a response to food insecurity and economic pressures that prevent access to healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods.

Healthy food, like education and knowledge, is a right, not a privilege. This project is adjacent to 'The Center,' a space providing nutritious meals to students in West Oakland. Designed to complement the Center’s mission, the library integrates urban agriculture, empowering the community with tools, skills, and knowledge to independently produce and source their own food.

The main structure is the rhythmic repetition of a 12’ x 12’ greenhouse grid, forming a megastructure divided into four sections. These sections are sheared to create a tiered, stepped form that maximizes ground-level accessibility, transforming the space into a civic plaza ideal for farmers markets, after-school activities, and food production initiatives.

Towers housing gastronomy-related texts, including cookbooks and recipes, pierce through the greenhouse. Where the towers intersect the greenhouse, kitchens emerge, symbolizing the synthesis of food knowledge and production.

The towers, angled to face historic neighborhood sites, rise above the urban fabric, offering unique vantage points. Clad in a minimal metal envelope, they strategically reveal framed views of significant landmarks, blending modern design with cultural context.