A house in the middle of Melbourne that grew its own food, generated its own power and turned human waste into cooking gas. That was Future Food System, a three-storey urban farm built by Dutch-born, Australian-raised designer Joost Bakker at Federation Square. Chefs lived inside, cooking only with what the building produced, from aquaponic trout to crickets and mushrooms. A feature documentary later followed the project from construction to pack-down. This article explains how the house worked, what it was made from, and why architects, restaurateurs and ordinary readers are still paying attention to its ideas for greener cities.
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