Public Foods

Design Build
450 MacLarlen, Ottawa
2022

Public Foods is a community-owned and run piece of public infrastructure designed to distribute food and goods amongst the community of Centertown, Ottawa. It performs an act of care as it is sitting on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe people. Centretown Ottawa has some of the highest levels of inequality and largest wealth gaps in the city, as it is home to the most expensive houses and a large percentage of the city's unhoused population. In order to provide support to this struggling community, our students designed and constructed a community pantry and refrigerator in the public space. However, more than a simple pantry, Public Foods was designed to act as a community landmark, a meeting point, and a place of dignity and solidarity for community members. In this project, architecture students, community volunteers, food security activists, and community members collaborate to create this social infrastructure to help the people in Centertown achieve food security.