Landscape, housing and civic food programmes read as one neighbourhood. An editorial interpretation of the research, not an original thesis drawing.
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
Research premise
Food Park treats food as neighbourhood infrastructure, connecting production, learning, preparation and distribution to housing and public landscape. The study brings Hackney’s food culture, Hackney Downs Park and the former Nightingale Estate into one spatial framework. The planner below is a later Field Assembly tool for discussing another place; it is not a simulation of the thesis.
The test site / Hackney
Three existing conditions become one spatial system.
01 / Culture
Existing food network
Broadway Market, London Fields, local farms, gardens and small-scale food production already form a strong culture of local exchange.
02 / Landscape
Hackney Downs Park
The park creates a soft, biodiverse edge and an opportunity to extend public landscape into the former estate site.
03 / Regeneration
Nightingale Estate
The former estate becomes a testing ground for connecting new homes to food-based civic programmes and a more active public realm.
This published research note documents the thesis as architectural research; it makes no claim of construction or operation.
What this establishes
Market, park and estate become one connected neighbourhood food network.
The spatial argument / three layers
Ground, landscape, housing.
01Programme
Estate ground
The ground is reorganised around a farmers’ market, communal kitchen-dining, fresh-food pantry and greenhouse school. Together, these spaces link the housing estate to the wider neighbourhood.
02Public realm
Augmented landscape
Hackney Downs Park is extended into the site through squares, podium gardens, terraced gardens and agricultural corridors. Landscape is treated as infrastructure, not leftover open space.
03Housing
Food and domestic life
Studio, patio, loft and two-bedroom homes are connected to productive corridors and shared growing areas. Circulation becomes shared space for growing food, meeting and everyday life.
Food ground / public food network
Growing, trading and communal eating share one public ground. An editorial interpretation of the spatial relationships, not a measured site plan.
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
What this establishes
Three scales, one food system.
The civic food system / four programmes
Four programmes, one food cycle.
Produce→Exchange→Prepare→Distribute
01
Learn + grow
Greenhouse school
A permeable growing and teaching structure in the park, supporting nearby schools while producing food for the wider Food Park system.
02
Sell + exchange
Farmers’ market
A visible place for local growers, food makers and residents, intended to shorten the distance between producer and consumer.
03
Cook + gather
Communal kitchen-dining
A shared place for residents, local cooks and volunteers to prepare meals, teach, eat and build social relationships.
04
Store + distribute
Fresh-food pantry
A permanent point for surplus fresh food and prepared meals, conceived as a dignified alternative to temporary food provision.
Field Assembly synthesis of the programme relationships described in Anindita’s thesis. The author’s drawing archive is not reproduced in this web edition.
Food and domestic life
The productive edge enters everyday life.
The thesis develops a relationship between housing and food production. Agricultural corridors and communal growing areas thicken the facade, turning circulation into shared social and productive space.
Food and domestic life housing section
Shared growing connects homes, productive circulation and public ground. An editorial section explaining the relationship, not a construction drawing.
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
Shared growingRoof + terraces
Private lifeHomes
Collective edgeAgricultural corridor
Neighbourhood resourceFood programmes + public ground
01
Studio
Flexible open living for one person
02
Patio
A planted thermal buffer between the home and outdoor conditions
03
Loft
A taller, adaptable domestic volume
04
Two-bed
More private living for couples and small families
What this establishes
Productive circulation connects private homes to shared growing and the neighbourhood ground.
Accompanying essay
Food is public infrastructure.
Anindita Shrivastava’s essay develops the question behind Food Park: who gets space to grow, cook and share?
The Food Space Planner takes this question into another place. It is a later Field Assembly tool, not part of Anindita’s original thesis. Use it below, or open the standalone planner.
Food Park toolkit / interactive planner
Food Space Planner
Choose what your neighbourhood needs, the space available and a working scale. Your shortlist updates as you select.
Your shortlist
3 food-space ideas / neighbourhood
01
Prepare + gather
Communal kitchen-dining
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
A shared room for affordable meals, teaching, celebrations and gatherings. Why it matches: selected needs — Fresh-food access, Places to gather; selected spaces — Open ground
02
Learn + produce
Greenhouse school
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
A garden classroom linking food growing, practical learning and nearby schools. Why it matches: selected needs — Fresh-food access, Places to gather; selected spaces — Open ground
03
Store + support
Fresh-food pantry
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
A welcoming place to collect surplus produce and prepared meals. Why it matches: selected needs — Fresh-food access, Places to gather; This matches your needs, but not the spaces selected. Check whether a suitable space is available.
Do next: map local growers, cooks, schools, food-support groups, residents and housing teams. Discuss this shortlist with them before developing a design.
Use this shortlist for discussion. It does not check space requirements or feasibility.
Developed by Field Assembly to accompany Food Park. The planner is separate from Anindita’s original AA thesis.
What it does
Matches selected needs and available spaces against six types of food space. Scale changes only the shortlist length.
Data
Selections stay in this browser session and are not stored or transmitted.
Limit
No area, capacity, feasibility, planning or community approval is calculated.
Food Park publication record
Author
Anindita Shrivastava
Programme
AA MArch Housing & Urbanism, 2021–23
Test site
Former Nightingale Estate, Hackney
Position
A food and landscape-oriented neighbourhood resource
Publication form
MArch design thesis / published research note
Source
Contributor-supplied thesis text / public project account
Planner boundary
The Food Space Planner is a later Field Assembly instrument. It is not part of Anindita's original thesis and does not prove construction, operation or evaluation.
Web edition form
A text-led research note with editorial illustrations. The author’s original drawing archive is not reproduced in the web edition.
Authorship / provenance
Anindita Shrivastava
Food Park was developed by Anindita Shrivastava as an MArch thesis in the Architectural Association’s Housing and Urbanism programme, 2021–23. Field Assembly edited this page from the original thesis text and publishes the Food Space Planner as a separate interactive instrument.
VerifiedThesis title, author, programme, site, research argument, programmes and housing typologies.
Web editionPublished research note with editorial illustrations and an interactive planner. Original thesis drawings are not reproduced in this web edition.
Publication details
Publication record.
By
Anindita Shrivastava
Released
Revised
Reading time
Approx. 6 min / 16 min complete record
Edition
Published research note / illustrated web edition and planner
Cite this page
Anindita Shrivastava. “Food Park: An Edible Neighbourhood Atlas.” Field Assembly, Issue 01. Published 1 August 2026; revised 2 October 2026. https://fieldassembly.press/food-park.
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly
Editorial illustration / Field Assembly