Food Studies Program’s First “Food and the Public” Event Features Authors of New Book on Urban Open Space, Food Systems, and Participatory Design
By Dr. Carolin Mees
On October 26, 2021, the Food Studies Program hosted a panel discussion for the launch of the new book Urban Open Space + Strategies inbetween Architecture and Open Space Planning, (Jovis, 2021) edited by Dr. Carolin Mees, Part-Time Assistant Professor in the Food Studies Program at the Schools of Public Engagement and at Parsons School of Design at The New School. The online event, the first in the Food Studies Program’s “Food and the Public” Fall 2021 series, drew participants from New York, across the United States, and internationally.
Commonly used and designed open spaces are anchor points in the city and a possible response to the consequences of urbanization and climate change, as well as to the presence of social and cultural differences. The discussion among the invited five speakers, all authors of book chapters, provided a unique interdisciplinary discourse depicting the diversity of add-ons in urban open spaces: specific components for the cultivation of food, water, energy and material production, as well as for economic and social resources. The book asks how these added elements create more resilient and sustainable urban spaces, by responding to the needs and preferences of residents and by forming connections to the surrounding urban environment.
The speaker’s contributions ranged from micro- and macro-perspectives, and offered strategies for collaborative, multi-coded urban spaces at the intersection of architecture and open space planning. Dr. Nevin Cohen, Associate Professor, City University of New York (CUNY), School of Public Health and Director, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, New York, NY spoke on Crisis Farming 2020-21. Dr. June Komisar, Professor and Associate Chair at the Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada spoke on The Edible Park. Prof. Gundula Proksch, Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture and Director of the Circular City and Living Systems Lab, University of Washington, Seattle, USA spoke on Productive Urban Open Spaces: Water, Energy, and Organic Materials for the Circular City. Dr. Mark Gorgolewski, Professor and Chair of the Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada spoke on Building from Waste. Dr. Anne Bellows, Professor of Food Studies, Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY and Dr. Carolin Mees, Part-Time Assistant Professor at the School of Public Engagement and Parsons School Design at The New School spoke on Neighborhood Resistance and Participatory Design, and the human right to garden.
The author’s presentations introduced perspectives of urban open spaces and the production of food, water, energy and materials, as well as for economic and social resources. This was followed by discussion, moderated by Dr. Carolin Mees, exploring the role of add-ons in urban open spaces in the context of the design for food production, food security and food systems.
The event focused on the thesis of the book, which is the importance of commonly used and designed open spaces as anchor points in the city and a possible response to the consequences of urbanization and climate change, as well as to the presence of social and cultural differences. The panel discussion asked for an increase in food security-focused design and the creation of more resilient and sustainable urban spaces by responding to the needs and preferences of residents, and by forming connections to the surrounding urban environment. These are among the most critical issues for scholars, students, city planners, designers, and policy makers to consider in striving for urban food system and community resilience under climate change.
Dr. Carolin Mees is a registered architect, researcher and professor for architecture, urban design and open space planning. With her office mees architecture she has led participatory design processes and designed community-based open space structures in New York City and internationally since 2007. Carolin Mees holds a Dr.Ing. in Architecture and a Diploma in Architecture, both from the Berlin University of Arts, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of Arts in Hamburg, Germany. She teaches at Parsons School of Design and the School of Public Engagement at The New School University in New York City a variety of courses. Dr. Mees has been a Senior Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and currently also researches and teaches at the Institute Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning at the Institute of Open Space Planning at the Technical University of Berlin.
This event was part of the Fall 2021 Food Studies event series “Food and the Public,” curated and introduced by Dr. Kristin Reynolds, Chair of Food Studies within the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students in the Schools of Public Engagement at The New School.
It was presented by the Food Studies Program within Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students at the Schools of Public Engagement. Co-sponsored by the Tishman Environment and Design Center, Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments, and Parsons School of Design Strategies.
Video of the event is posted on The New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center’s YouTube channel here.
You can find information about ongoing Food Studies programs through the university’s Events Calendar; via Twitter @newschoolbpats; or by contacting foodstudies@newschool.edu.