Tallinn 1.5
A vision for a planetary city
︎2022-09
︎ Exhibited at: Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB)
︎ Partners: TalTech
︎ The challenge of food production in a planetary city
Can a city produce all the food it needs?
Tallinn Architecture Biennale is titled Tallinn 1.5: A Vision for a Planetary City, is an impossible plan for a self-sufficient city, displaying what Tallinn would look like if it produced all the food it needed to sustain itself — to help improve their health as well the one of our planet.
︎ Tallinn landuse data
︎ Estonian landuse data
︎ Estonian building data
︎ Participatory mapping data with Maptionnaire
︎ Estonian landuse data
︎ Estonian building data
︎ Participatory mapping data with Maptionnaire
Tallinn would need to produce 800 million calories of food per day, a task that would require almost 20% of all urban space to be transformed into land dedicated for food production.
If Tallinn produced only 1% of the food it needs, where to find space for the 99% we are missing?
![]()
If Tallinn produced only 1% of the food it needs, where to find space for the 99% we are missing?
Producing more food locally is not the solution if the diet we are on uses land inefficenlty. To achieve the goals of the 1.5-degree target set in the Paris Agreement, what people consume needs to change too.
A solution may be the transition to the “Planetary Diet,” a plant-forward program designed to slow global warming while keeping a nutritionally-balanced lifestyle.
A solution may be the transition to the “Planetary Diet,” a plant-forward program designed to slow global warming while keeping a nutritionally-balanced lifestyle.
A vision for a planetary city
The entire urban landscape was redesigned while maintaining liveability and functionality. No existing buildings or structure were transformed into food production facilities unless for obsolete industrial buildings.
Streets width was reduced to accommodate fruit tree lanes and no existing green or recreational area was changed.
Nearly 70% of the land transformed into food production was claimed from drivable yards.
Transitions without conflicts require both time and public support. In this context, we proposed a carbon labelling system for food products to raise awareness of the ecological footprint of the food we eat.
Besides including their carbon footprint, we also measured the spatial impact of food production on the city.
