We Are How We Eat: Redefining Food and Urban Architecture

Modern cities are increasingly facing crises linked to food production, distribution, and consumption. Issues such as food insecurity, waste, and the disconnection between urban populations and agriculture continue to intensify. Climate change, expanding landfills, and unsustainable consumption patterns are pressing urban challenges. The project We Are How We Eat, designed by Hùng Trần, Cao Minh, and Đạt Đinh Công, and awarded Runner-up in the Urban Meal Mine competition, addresses these concerns by integrating sustainable architecture with community-based food systems.

The Concept: From What We Eat to How We Eat

At its core, the project explores a critical transition: moving beyond the question of what we eat to focusing on how we eat. The design emphasizes not only the nutritional and health value of food but also the systems, infrastructures, and community practices that bring it to the urban table. By reconnecting city residents with food producers and farming practices, the proposal aims to reshape attitudes toward food from mere consumption to collective well-being.

The New Covent Garden Market in London’s Nine Elms District becomes the central stage for this transformation. Once a hub of wholesale food trading, it is reimagined as a permeable urban landscape where markets, farms, greenhouses, and education spaces intersect.

Sustainable Urban Architecture for Food Resilience

The project demonstrates how sustainable urban architecture can close the gap between food producers and consumers. The site plan organizes the market into interconnected zones:

• Production Zone – Greenhouses, hydroponic systems, and urban farms ensure fresh food production close to consumers.
• Education Zone – Public spaces and learning platforms teach citizens about food systems, healthy diets, and ecological practices.
• Public & Service Zone – Markets, restaurants, and wholesale spaces create vibrant nodes of exchange while supporting logistics and accessibility.

This multifunctional integration transforms the market into a resilient ecosystem where architecture, agriculture, and community converge.

Redefining Public Spaces Through Food

Unlike conventional urban planning, this project uses food as the catalyst for community engagement. Public squares, outdoor cinemas, and semi-open markets connect learning and leisure with sustainable living. From greenhouse roofs to edible decks and social housing courtyards, every spatial layer reinforces the idea that food is central to urban life.

Education plays a key role: urban farming workshops, cooking classes, and open food hubs foster awareness while giving citizens tools to participate actively in sustainable practices. In this way, architecture becomes a vehicle for behavioral change.

Architecture as an Agent of Change

We Are How We Eat presents an urban prototype that demonstrates how cities can adapt to growing food crises. By merging sustainable architecture with ecological farming, the project transforms the Nine Elms District into a living laboratory for resilient city design.

Ultimately, it redefines architecture’s role—not just as a backdrop for urban life but as an active agent shaping healthier, more sustainable ways of living.

Project Credits

• Project Title: We Are How We Eat
• Designers: Hùng Trần, Cao Minh, Đạt Đinh Công
• Competition: Urban Meal Mine
• Recognition: Runner-up Entry