Making Galliera Kitchen Park a prototype for innovative green zero-waste urban farming parks. GKP will be the first park to connect the growth of kitchen crops, cooking them and eating through social events connecting Bologna's people together in a place that was once the centre of Bologna, a remarkable place of history to get back to their roots.
Reviving Galleria site to have aquaponics farm, vertical zipgrow farming and community hydroponic gardens to get daily kitchen crops such as tomato, lettuce, spinach and herbs like rosemary. These Kitchen crops, which are grown in GKP farms, can be used in GKP restaurants, cooking studios, events and grocery market which facilitate the use of these crops in homes.
Our main target is to connect Bologna`s people together and motivate them to experience urban farming using “Urban gamification” which is necessary for the average citizens to understand their city. GKP mobile application will help Bologna`s citizens connect with their neighbours, farm, buy, sell crops, monitor their community garden, attend events, experience new restaurants and find the latest research about urban farming and environmental issues. Solar cells are used to produce energy and “urban batteries” zinc-air batteries to save energy.
The idea of the project is working for connecting the industrial area with the residential one. This project connects people to where food and memories come from. This will work as a catalyst to increase Bologna`s economy with its markets, restaurants, and research lab. The market itself is a trigger to promote sustainable and eco-friendly consumption habits by encouraging local production. GKP promotes good practices in terms of food production, cultural energy and creative processes that reactivate the neighbourhood by reversing the capital gains in the local economy. Through participatory principles based on self-management and cooperation, the new market resolves the needs and desires providing an opportunity for the local residents. Another prototype project is the “Floating fields” where entertainment, urban farming, food and good view come together. This new equipment is configured as an urban catalyst of good health, sustainability and social cohesion, satisfying a sustainable way of life for the neighbourhood. The city needs to look beyond the construction of gardens with a single objective (education, recreation, etc.) and adopt a broader outlook to understand how a municipal program can respond to the needs of different groups of population. Urban farming is a wonderful tool for boosting cities’ resilience and sustainability.
The program is structured around a large central space that connects the outside and the inside to become the social centre of Bologna. One of the main concepts in GKP is to combine the main goal of food production with leisure and entertainment by creating enjoyable and engaging open spaces of edible and productive landscape, for this reason GKP has the "Floating Garden". Science workshops for young people will aim to stimulate interest in new careers in green industries and environment. In the innovation studios, start-ups, industrial partners and NGOs will test and share their solutions for clean energy, climate change and sustainable urban development. The great hall hosts eco-friendly cultural events together with an ambitious exhibition "hall of narrations". Socially inclusive zero-waste restaurants will provide a welcoming environment for people to meet, cook and eat their fresh-made food. Galliera Kitchen Park will renature the site in order to foster agro-ecology with local food production by urban farming technologies. The project will achieve energy self-sufficiency through clean energy solutions. In conclusion, the project has a strong circular economy approach regarding end-of-life of construction materials.