Urban Change Maker - Joost Bakker

Oh yeah, the Urban Change Maker column is back! Do you ever dedicate some time to finally listening to a lecture or talk you have been meaning to and get absolutely blown away by what they had to say? Well, that is exactly what happened when I watched this Creative Mornings Melbourne talk (vimeo.com/63225503 ) by todays Urban Change Maker - Joost Bakker. 

Joost's Melbourne Greenhouse Pop Up via Broadsheet Melbourne

Joost could be categorised as a lot of things; farmer, inventor, artist, designer and problem solver but at the heart of everything he does is his clear ethos - rethink your original notions of waste and products and collaborate and explore to inspire people to live sustainably. Joost has made particular efforts to improve the sustainability of the hospitality industry not only by developing the cool vertical gardens you see everywhere such as those featured on the Greenhouse Pop Up. In Silo by Joost, a hole in the wall Melbourne Cafe in Hardware Lane the act of simple stating that the cafe will not have a bin has lead to a huge range of sustainable and waste minimising solutions! 

Inside Silo by Joost via Broadsheet Melbourne

Asides from providing take away coffee (and I am sure a sustainably made reusable coffee cup is encouraged) Silo boasts the fact that it produces absolutely no waste. You even get to sit on top of the reusable kegs which provide the milk and other beverages for the cafe. I wont provide too much more detail when you can watch the video and check out Joost for yourself and be sure to visit ByJoost.com for more information on other cool projects (e.g. rooftop farming and harvesting urine!). I know I want to learn everything I can about this talented problem solver!

The Service Station

It is a pretty amazing feeling when all your favourite things come together in the one place right? Even if that place does happen to be Los Feliz, California on the other side of the world... As I was reading a few blogs I follow on a Sunday morning, not thinking about urban design or temporary uses at all I was suddenly blown away by this post on Oh Joy. It just goes to show that good things pop up when you least expect them too.  

The post in question was about a visit to "The Service Station" which is, you guessed it, an old service station that has been turned into an outdoor creative market place and event space. The Service Station houses pop up shops (in refurbished shipping containers), outdoor movie nights and best of all a Wednesday food truck night! As I said, all the things I love coming together in a cool themed space - if that doesn't draw crowds and keep people coming back to Los Feliz, I don't know what would! 

Food Trucks @ The Service Station via Oh Joy blog 

I just can't help loving the idea of taking traditional car dominated spaces and completely transforming them into places for the community to gather, oh and eat at food trucks of course. Not only that they have taken a relatively unattractive and unused space and turned it into a place of experimentation and practical urbanism and if you take a look through the galleries on The Service Station website you can see the community coming together and enjoying themselves in this new space! And I mean who wouldn't enjoy themselves if they had the chance to watch Back to the Future in a retro style service station! 

Pop up shipping container shops via The Service Station

The sad thing about this project is that city permits have made it so difficult that this space has had to close and is currently seeking a new space to start up. It is frustrating that despite the obvious benefits from a town planning perspective, these spaces are often either restricted or completely shut down because of issues with permits. It makes it clear that a more flexible approach to city planning is required pretty urgently to foster creativity and innovation in planning solutions. Not only do temporary uses need to work with the existing legislation, but existing legislation should become progressive in making way for temporary uses.  

Be Back Soon!

Just writing a super quick note to apologise for my absence here on Urban Submarine and to thank you all for still visiting! The views I have been getting are amazing and it is so awesome to know there are so many people interested in new ways to revitalise our cities! While my thesis is kicking my butt and due dates are looming for May, I don't have a lot of time for writing, BUT I do promise I will keep an eye out for exciting urban interventions, and if I ever have any spare time there may be a surprise post or two. Otherwise I will be back at the end of Autumn to post in earnest over the cooler months!