ARTFARMS

ARTFARMS is an innovative project combining art, architecture and agriculture, that responds to our nation’s problem of urban vacancy. Like many cities across the United States, Buffalo’s population has dramatically shrunk in recent decades as manufacturing jobs left the area. In response, the city of Buffalo has launched a campaign to demolish thousands of abandoned and blighted homes, leaving a patchwork of vacant lots across the city. Terrainsvagues, architects David Lagé and Andrea Salvini have joined forces to transform these vacant lots into interactive installations that will inspire redevelopment in Buffalo’s dwindling East Side neighborhood.

ARTFARMS’ solution is to combine urban farming with art, engaging the community while also yielding a tactile benefit — fresh food. 
For example, Michael Beitz’s existing art installation, Folding House,  was a wooden house frame connected to a bicycle, in which visitors could shift and move to touch each border of the lot’s perimeter. His new proposal repurposes a fallen tree from the community, creating a table that can be shared from residents. The artists’ installations will coincide with planted farms by urban farmers Daniel Ash and Janice and Mark Stevens


http://inhabitat.com/artfarms-buffalo-combines-public-art-with-urban-farming-to-solve-urban-vacancy/artfarms1/?extend=1