SPACE10 does it again! Ikea's future-living lab and exhibition space in the heart of Copenhagen is where ideas for a more sustainable way of living in the future come to life. Their latest project is The Growroom, an urban farm pavilion that enables cities to feed themselves in a sustainable way. If that wasn't something great enough to look forward to, they recently made the plans open source and available for anyone to use. Kudos to them!

Space10 explains how they envision a future, where not only people, but entire neighbourhoods are capable of growing their food, making the food they eat truly local produce. Finding a solution in times, when demand for food is rapidly increasing, is something that truly needs to be worked on.

The idea was there, now it only had to be put in physical form. Hence, Space10 teamed up with architects Sine Lindholm and Mads-Ulrik Husum,  who helped them create The Growroom. Looking like a beautiful large green sphere, the vertical garden invites people to grow their own food in sustainable way, thus reducing their ecological footprint.

The plans that reveal exactly how to build the Grownroom were released as open source design to encourage people to easily build their own, wherever it is they live. And it really is not a diffciult thing to make thanks to a variety of factors - for example, tools that were not accessible to ordinary people before, are now digitally fabricated and available to anyone. 3D printing technologies enable you to print out almost anything and all options are open at public fab labs. Space10 believes that "customised production could become the norm of the future."

What you need to build your own Grownroom, is the open source cutting files, two rubber hammers, 17 sheets of ply wood and a CNC milling machine (which you can find at a local fab lab or maker space). Since the 2,8 x 2,5 meter Growroom is produced from only one material, it is not only easy to put together, but it also makes it accessible and affordable.

Why choose to build your Grownroom and grow food locally? Space10 explains: "It reduces food miles, our pressure on the environment, and educates our children of where food actually comes from. The result on the dining table is just as fascinating. We could produce food of the highest quality that tastes better, is much more nutritional, fresh, organic and healthy."

You can download the cutting files here and then click here for instructions on how to build.

Feb. 21, 2017 Living photo: Space10/Alona Vibe/Ikea

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