Living Concrete Carrot City

Upon entering the exhibition I didn’t know where to start.  There doesn’t appear to be a structured layout or flow that viewers are supposed to follow, or not one that I noticed at least.  I feel that if there had been some hints to guide viewers through the exhibition it would have made it much more effective in getting its information across.  The lack of sitting space also takes away the possibility for people to “read and reflect” in the exhibit.  If there were perhaps just a few small benches or chairs or couches for people to relax in it would encourage more people to stay in the exhibit longer and reflect on the concepts presented by it.

I think the idea behind this exhibition is extremely interesting and has a lot of potential, however I feel that its overall layout takes away from its end goal.  It claims to be a place to encourage dialogue about food issues in urban areas, and I think the interactive question and answer wall does fulfill that role, but I feel the space is so cramped with so much information it overwhelms the viewer.  The large display tables with models on them are very visually interesting, but the accompanying information becomes overwhelming.  There are information panels scattered all over the walls and tables with little visual hierarchy, making it difficult for the viewer to focus on one thing at a time.

Overall though, I think the exhibition presents a lot of interesting ideas that have potential for future growth.  By bringing together designers, agriculturalists, architects, and urban planners this exhibition illustrates the sort of collaboration that will be necessary for the future.  It also takes into account the existing structure, working with the horizontal structure rather than creating a whole new vertical structure that would increase the amount of resistance to these plans for the future of urban agriculture.