Yibei Dong

The project is described through the eyes of Alice, a lady who lives in Brandon Mews, Barbican apartment alone. One day, she found a mysterious hole in the ceiling of the apartment. After she entered the hole, she found herself in the interior plantation of Brandon Mews in 2030.

In 2030, city residents without gardens have repurposed redundant interiors into community greenhouses and plantations. These rooms for growing are founded on the principals of community ecology where both plants and people flourish. The benefits of nurturing plants in a local setting for a plant-prioritized diet evolved from carbon-heavy systems of old after the real cost of food miles, mono-farming and animal-prioritized diets became evident. The neural rewards of seeing and hearing growth, the harvest, the nutrition of the product itself, the human bonds developed from “growing together” are now considered a metric in the wellbeing policy framework.

This example can be found in what was a redundant and forgotten space between 2 rooves above Brandon Mews. Originally there was a wigwam and flat roof. Unfortunately, it leaked and the Estate decided that instead of fixing the roof, a new transparent roof would be erected a whole story above the old roof. Hence a liminal space was created… and then not used. The Estate applied for a social enterprise grant under the Wellbeing Initiative to adapt the space into a community plantation where the residents of Brandon Mews, Estate dwellers, and neighbors can meet and cultivate plants and relationships. It has been provided with water and planting systems to provide a range of cultivation methods for the growth of edibles, kitchen and eating areas to enjoy the harvests together, algae bars for instant nutrition, adaptable planting modules for market pitches and listening stations where you can hear the plants talking.

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I want people to reconnect with nature,

so I created this rabbit hole in the city.

The name "Rabbit Hole" Is Inspired By

Alice In Wonderland, An Animism World.

Similar to Alice In Wonderland story,

after entering the rabbit hole, humans are

no longer the only animals with souls.

All creatures have souls and people can

understand nature's language.

The rabbit hole story will be told with these 9 chapters.

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Alice Home — Alice is a new resident in Brandon mews apartment. It is located in the barbican center inLondon.

Brandon Mews Roof — There is a redundant and forgotten space between 2 roofs above Brandon Mews. Originally there was a wigwam and flat roof. Unfortunately, it leaked and the Estate decided that instead of fixing the roof, a new transparent roof would be erected a whole story above the old roof. Hence a liminal space was created.

The Relationship Between Roof, Lake And Apartment — The roof, residents' apartment, and the lake are not isolated from each other, but a connected system. However, currently, the roof is a completely unused area.

Barbican residents requirements — When Alice walks around the Barbican，she found out some details of residents' daily life. According to the analysis, there is a summarise about residents' requirements. These requirements can be achieved with three functional spaces. public kitchen for activities and social. a growing area for agriculture. and a temporary market for local retails.

Site analysis

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Dinner — Today, Alice ’s dinner is the steak with some organic salad. The demand for meat rises sharply as the urban population grows. because Increasing large farms requires reclaiming more land，the the urban population is Consuming the rainforest on the earth, which is not sustainable. However, how can people develop both urbanization and the natural environment?

How Can I Love Both Urbanisation And Nature — The development of cities has gradually left the limitation from the natural environment, and most people live in some large cities. This leads to the isolation between the urban population and nature. The bond between people and nature is in our blood, it is the animal’s biophilia hypothesis. Without nature, people will be sick. Especially psychological problems. Anxiety, Depression, and so on. My thinking on all of this is how to re-establish the connection between humans and nature on a perceptual level in urban life.

A Hybrid Space In Your Community — So this community plantation is a part of the city sustainable, the organic foods are produced locally. It also provides an opportunity to know your neighbors, and also a stress buffer for Providing an immersive nature experience.

You Are Saving The World While Growing Vegetables In The Community — In the future，this kind of community, the plantation will be transforming the city into new green lungs for the earth. So you are saving the earth while you growing vegetables in community plantations. People call these spaces “The rabbit hole”.And each of the rabbit holes is the result after thinking about site characteristics, residents' needs, and design requirements.

Function Analysis — And the Brandon mews plantation roof is one of them. there is a special timetable. during the weekend, the kitchen, lake entrance, and the existing entrances will be open to the public, but in workdays, they are used by the residents only. Then the market will be opened to the public on Sunday and Saturday only. The growing areas can only be used by the residents. And the secret entrance from the platform to the roof is private. the image on the right is a preliminary function layout of the site. public kitchen locates in the center of the site, which facing towards the existing entrances. The rest green area is growing spaces.

In this chapter, the inspirations and concepts will be illustrated.

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The Rabbit Hole_A Hole — After the dinner, Alice was cleaning the table, suddenly, she saw a mysterious hole on the sailing which did not exist before, and a spiral staircase appears gradually, just like a magic.

The Entrance To The Roof — No. one is Alice’s apartment, and She walked up the stairs，and stoped in the front of a slanted door. Outside is the roof plantation, Alice opened the door curiously. She found out the door has the same surface as the original roof, so it is challenging to be discovered, and only the residents can use it.

This chapter will introduce a secret entrance from the Brandon mews apartment to the roof.

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The Rabbit Hole_Plant With "Crazy Units" — Alice was taught by some future people to growing with some triangle hydroponic units. Alice has no idea with agriculture, but these foldable and modular units are easy to get started farming for beginners.

Plant Growth Conditions And Human Comfort. — When people decide to share space with what kinds of plants, they need to consider the plants growing conditions and human comfort at the same time.

Hydroponics Can Be Modularity — According to the analysis, Hydroponics can be simplified into a water box, water pipe, and a growing box. And it is a cyclic system. there are three water forms, running water, spray water, and atomized water for irrigation.

Modular Hydroponics unit Instructions — This modular hydroponic system grouped with six triangle units, and they are fixed by one tenon connector that has lighting and irrigation functions. This is interior structures of it .the triangle unit is consists of a plant shelf, a load-bearing frame, and a water box.except the water box. The other structures are foldable. So these units can be moved flexibly and saving the storage space.

Plan And Section Of Modular Hydroponics Equipments — Different size hydroponic shelves can consist of these units.

Listen To The Plants — The material of these units is Mirror stainless steel，which like a vast kaleidoscope. Besides, this system will oversee plant growth conditions with the proper sensors. And transform the signal into some sounds with Arduino. That is how people listen to plants.

In this chapter, the modular hydroponic shelf will be illustrated.

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The Rabbit Hole_The Alga Bar — Beside of the hydroponic units, there is a huge green “tube,” some future people were drinking and chatting inside, they invited Alice to join them and handed her a glass of algae drinks. The sunlight goes through the algae tubes, which created green water wave lights; it feels like under the water.

Superfood — This glass of green water is the Spirulina. It is famous for not only the High nutritional value but also the efficient CO2 fixation ability. This is the growing condition of it, and This is about how to grow the spirulina at home. And people can drink it by mixing some juice or milk.

Algae Bar Can Be A New Social Way In Future — “Alcohol social” plays an important role in human being’s civilization. “the milk social” is a fantastic hypothesis in the film Clockwork orange. and People still need lawn social even in the COVID-19 period. In the future, the algae bar will become a new social way.

Instructions Of Algae Bar — Spirulinas are grown in some little glasses pipes which are filling the surface of the tube spaces, long times sunlight bath is good for their growth. Then you can pick one glass of algae, filtrate the spirulina, dry it or use directly, after mixing with some juice or milk, drinking it. in the end, leave some algae, and add some clean water for regrowing.

Algae Bar Section — This long tube is the algae bar, The width and height are both 2.4 meters, and the depth is 9.5metres. There are many spirulina glass tubes on the surface; in the middle is a drinking fountain with storage function. The floor is the lawn, and these soil are for growing grass. And there is a mirror at the end of the bar, for Visually extending the space.behind of the mirror is air circulation fans. And this transparent water pipe is irrigation functions. And you can enter into this space with this staircase.

This chapter is about the "algae bar" in the site in 2030.

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The Rabbit Hole_Cook With The Future People — Today is Sunday. Many people enter into the rabbit hole from the existing entrance. Alice was standing on the stairs. She was attracted by the grapes which are grown on the ceiling. A young man invited her to cook together.

Kitchen Section — This is the section of the existing entrance and kitchen. No.2 is stairs with growing function, and people getting more close to the ceiling when they walk up to the stairs. No.11 is the vines shelf on the ceiling. No.4 is the led light wall is for controlling the light condition. And No.5 is the mushroom monument. During the weekend, in this area, people can buy fresh vegetables, fruits, or mushrooms. Meanwhile, enjoy the joy of picking. The sharing kitchen seems like a central stage of this place. People are sitting in wheat, cooking, and sharing dinner. This is probably a utopian drama! Sunlight gently illuminates the space through the leaves. People seem to be sitting under the tree.

Market Time! — People can pick and buy fresh vegetables and fruits during the weekend market time. the customer can buy things through the self-checkout and code-scanning payment.

Kitchen Plan — There is a long table with sinks, cookstoves, cutting areas, and seats in the center of the kitchen area. And it is surrounding by wheat. People can chat and sharing cooking skills here. Besides, they can also share the food, do some workshop or party here. It is not a commercial restaurant but a community activity place.

In Brandon Mews roof, the center sharing kitchen will be built and the existing entrances will be transforming into a planting and marketing function area in the future.

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Follow the water — There is water wave light in all the main passages. Alice can't help herself to follow the wave light, then she found out another entrance.

Water System Plan — The water for irrigation is from the lake. And the water was transported by some transparent tubes. The whole process is visualized.

To The Center Of The Lake — This image shows the lake entrance. The ceiling consisted of the transparent tubes, and the floor is glass material, which can reflect the sky. When Alice went through this passage, she felt like walking in the sky.

this chapter will tell the water system in this roof plantation. The lake entrance will be transformed into the entrance with water transporting function.

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Lower Level Plan — 1~8.Exist Entrance 9~10. Modular Hydroponics shelf 11.The stairs of algae bar 12.The secret apartment entrance 13.Wheat 14.Mushroom monument 15.Concrete planting stairs 16.Seats 17.Cookstove 18.Cutting area 19.Sink 20.The lake entrance

Higher Level Plan — 21.Algae bar 22.Vine shelf

Alice’s time travel is ended, according to the memories she drew two plans for the rabbit hole.

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RABBIT HOLE_Chapter 1_Content

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter 2_Brandon Mews

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter3_Dinner

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter4_A Hole

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter5_Plant With "Crazy Units"

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter6_The Alga Bar

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter7_Cook With The Future People

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter8_Follow The Water

RABBIT HOLE_Chapter9_Plans Of Whole Brandon Mews Plantation