HARVESTING STATION.
Community Gardening Micro Pavilion.

Urban agriculture has historically coexisted with the city and its development, often emerging in marginal or residual spaces. In recent years, it has been revitalized as a tool for community engagement and local food production. However, contemporary urban conditions introduce new constraints—most notably air pollution—that directly affect the quality and safety of food grown in metropolitan environments.

Harvesting Station addresses this condition through the design of a compact urban device conceived specifically for dense, polluted contexts. Rather than proposing urban farming as an open and exposed practice, the project introduces a protected micro-infrastructure that allows cultivation to occur within the city without compromising plant health.

The device is designed to activate interstitial urban spaces—such as areas adjacent to supermarkets, bus stops, or playgrounds—by turning them into productive locations. Within a footprint of approximately four square meters, the structure can support the growth of up to 200 plants, shielding them from animals and airborne pollutants.

The pavilion is constructed using a simple wooden framework assembled from basic timber laths and enclosed with plexiglass panels. As the overall form rises vertically, a 500-liter water tank is positioned atop the gabled roof, enabling irrigation through a micro-drip system. Inside the structure, a floating indicator provides a visible reading of the collected water volume, making the internal cycles of cultivation legible from the outside.

Expose - Harvesting Station exposes the environmental constraints that shape contemporary urban agriculture, particularly the impact of pollution on food production. By enclosing cultivation within a controlled yet visible structure, the project reveals the tension between the desire for local food production and the realities of metropolitan air quality. Exposure here operates through design rather than critique: the device makes constraints explicit by responding to them materially.

Activate - The project activates overlooked urban spaces by converting them into sites of cultivation and care. Rather than concentrating production in centralized facilities, Harvesting Station distributes small-scale agricultural capacity across the city, embedding food production into everyday urban routines.
Activation occurs through use and repetition: the device supports continuous cultivation, invites engagement, and establishes a visible relationship between infrastructure, food, and public space.

Harvesting Station does not propose urban agriculture as a return to pastoral models.
Instead, it frames food production as an urban practice that must operate within—and directly respond to—the environmental, spatial, and infrastructural conditions of the contemporary city.