Vegetable Orchestra

The Vegetable Orchestra performs music solely on instruments made of vegetables. Using carrot flutes, pumpkin basses, leek violins, leek-zucchini-vibrators, cucumberophones and celery bongos, the orchestra creates its own extraordinary and vegetabile sound universe. The ensemble overcomes preserved and marinated sound conceptions or tirelessly re-stewed listening habits, putting its focus on expanding the variety of vegetable instruments, developing novel musical ideas and exploring fresh vegetable sound gardens.

The Vegetable Orchestra was founded in 1998. Based in Vienna, the Vegetable Orchestra plays concerts in all over the world.

Pasona 02: Urban Underground Farm

The last place you'd expect to find a 10,000 SF (1,000 square metres) farm is below the business distract of Japan. The facility is called Pasona 02 was built in an former bank vault underneath a major Tokyo office building in the heart of the business district of Japan. The farm is broken up into 6 different rooms each with computer controlled temperature and lighting.

The vertical farm

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?

craaaazy berry

MoFA: Museum of Food Anomalies

http://www.hanttula.com/exhibits/mofa/

Carneplastico

Parola d'ordine: «Abolire la pastasciutta, assurda religione gastronomica italiana». Il movimento capeggiato da Filippo Tommaso Marinetti ha condotto, a partire dalla pubblicazione del Manifesto della cucina futurista del 1930, una vera e propria crociata contro maccheroni, ravioli, spaghetti e trenette.

SI TO MATO? KUMATO: IL SUPERPOMODORO!

Dall’incrocio tra San Marzano e black tomato nasce l'oro nero (che in Gran Bretagna si vende a 10 euro al chilo) Un “Superpomodoro” ricco di vitamina C e licopene. Il vegetale destinato a rivoluzionare la nostra cultura dell’oro rosso nasce in Campania da una lunga stagione di ricerche e studi. Artefici della svolta alimentare sono un gruppo di ricercatori del Cnr di Napoli, guidati da Rocco De Prisco e Barbara Nicolaus. “Abbiamo intenzione di mettere insieme le proprietà salutistiche di due tipologie di pomodori: il nostro San Marzano e il black tomato, proveniente dalla Florida, ma di antica origine russa”. A parlare è Rocco De Prisco, padre del libro bianco sul pomodoro, premiato nel 2002 dall’Università di Lima in Perù (patria del tamarillo) con la laurea honoris causa per i suoi studi sulla valorizzazione delle proprietà scientifiche del vegetale. Il matrimonio genetico, rigorosamente al naturale, tra i semi delle due specie di pomodoro, darà vita a un “superpomodoro” che sarà piantato in campo aperto, nuovamente a S.Severino. Un progetto che potrà essere realizzato con soli 50 mila euro e che potrebbe dare una scossa al settore conserviero campano grazie alla sinergia tra industria, ricerca scientifica e grande distribuzione. www.kumato.eu

Paesaggi, tipicità e massaggi: funziona

Un ristorante con tanto di hotel, spa e hamman nel profondo delle Langhe. Cascina Langa, un'idea coraggiosa ma premiata, grazie a elaborati menu e ai percorsi salutari personalizzati.

http://www.bargiornale.it/articoli/0,1254,47_ART_1913,00.html?lw=47;CHL

Ile flottante

Half-submerged guests dined around an Ile flottante

by Doug Fitch and Mimi Oka (aka Orphic Feasts)

The Great Hoxton Bake Off

The Great Hoxton Bake Off is a chance to explore some of the issues architects face daily and expounds their architectural philosophy in cake form. It’s also a chance for some plain old one-upmanship.How do we deal with taste in architecture? Is ornament a crime? Does mass production or the skill of artisans offer a way forward? Should we be producing iconic one-offs or wholesome multiples? How do we deal with density, high-rise or soufflé?

London Festival of Architecture

Prototype of a micro urban farm in Karosta

LATVIA / Liepaja / Karaosta / EXYZT art project At the 1994 latvian independance, the soviet army left Karosta, one of the military soviet quarters on the Baltic coast in Latvia. Labichampi(Labi: well, good)is an Exyzt proposition for the Karosta neighbourhood. Aware that a political strategy has already been engaged for a ten year period progressive destruction of the old soviet blocks, we reacted to the current local issues with a short-term project.....We propose therefore to develop a prototype of a micro urban farm. It should be able to supply alternative ressources of the whole neighborhood in terms of local food production and potential incomes.....Among the alimentary habits and cultures in Latvia, the mushroom culture seems the most adapted to micro urban farming.Thus the creation of a Karosta informal mushroom company. The urban farm project should be a sustainable and shared activity that would incite local inhabitants to participate and get involved with their environment.

Food makeup

Otaku Food Souvenirs

As Akihabara becomes more of a tourist attraction for Japanese looking to visit the center of nerd culture (which is currently experiencing a bit of mainstream popularity thanks to the mixed-media blitz that is Densha Otoko), the latest big thing there is o-miyage -- gifts, usually in the form of food, that are only available in a certain location and meant to be taken back home for your family and friends who didn't get to go.