PorTable: Creative Food Cycles

15 – 16 – 17 October 2019 | HANNOVER, GERMANY
Leibniz Universität Hannover
 
The “PorTable” Pop-Up Installation has been developed by scaling up the prototype designed during the Creative Food Cycles Workshop Hannover. PorTable wants to raise “transformative” civic actions and people awareness to create more attractive space in cities, promoting place-making effect and the shift to sustainable public transportation, rather than car mobility. Fewer cars means more (unused) parking spaces and this could open a wide range of micro-urban initiatives which recall the idea of tactical urbanism empowered by local residents in an effort to turn derelict space into new community hubs.
 
Advocating the ‘right to use’ principle, Portable is a modular and movable unfolding table covered by a raised cultivating bed in which culinary or wild herbs can grow. The project consists of the two following parts: 
 
>    folding table: consists of a stall containing 15 wooden modules (160 cm x 65 cm each) with W-legs that fold up against the table top. The modules are connected each other with ad hoc manufactured metal hinges. In its closed configuration the stall occupies the size of a normal parking lot (2,3 m x 5 m); for a small event the table can be unfold just a few metres; when completely unfolded the table reach about 22 m of total length.
 
>    raised bed: covers the table stall by mimicking a freestanding crop bed (300 cm x 80 cm) of 15 cm depth where is possible to densely cultivate a selection of culinary herbs (Thyme, Basil, Rosemary, Parsley, Chives, Dill, Sage) or eventually edible wild herbs, while providing a splendid variegated display.
 
Anyone who wants to join can bring their own chair, so that PorTable creates a ‘public living room’, where you can meet, eat together by promoting the idea that shared public space needs the attention and care of everyone. The installation can be reproduced and customized according to different colors, communication needs and open-air uses; it is able to shape different spatial configuration in a line and becoming a real multipurpose stage for displaying, sharing, distributing, cooking and marketing Food-Art-Creative events, supporting neighborhoods social life.
 
The Pop-up installation “PorTable” is designed by Anna Pape and Josephine Arfsten, developed together with Julia Theis and Michel Grändorf, and prototyped by Marsha Dinse, Jacob Fielers, Kim Flottmann, Kerstin Glöckner, Regina Hoffmann, Chloe Hönisch-Gravel, Neele Lemke, Gia Hana Lotzer, Christina Mauersberg, Mara Piel, Aysil Sahin, Lenya Schneehage, Ann Christin Timke, Sarah Trubjansky, Marie Waldminghaus and Nis Weller. Special thanks to the Modelling and Digital Lab of the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, Hartmut Brückner and Aydin Keshtow for the 3D CNC milling machine support and the prototyping, finally to Metallbau Dühlmeyer for the artistic metal details provided
 
www.creativefoodcycles.org
The project Creative Food Cycles, coordinated by the Chair for Territorial Design and Urban Planning of Leibniz Universität Hannover, is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.