Interiors
Farm Project uncovered: the blog
Interiors
It’s funny how things happen sometimes in the world of magazines. One moment you are in the office, leafing through an exhibition catalogue by a leading kitchen design company, taking in an installation of an 'urban farm kitchen', complete with breeding aquarium and herb beds sunken into the marble counter, and musing how there really could be more to this subsistence-living in the city thing than a pinstripe-wearing pastoral-loving urbanite’s bucolic fantasy. Next you find yourself in Münster, Germany, on the site of an open air museum dedicated to Westphalian Agriculture through the ages, surrounded by ancient ploughs, windmills and smokehouses, looking at the latest incarnation of said installation with a team of 20, your musing having turned into a mission to make the concept of the urban farm happen. If only, for the moment, in a portfolio of twelve or so images. A team of stringers around the world meanwhile are finding examples of people really making it happen to give substance to our apparent whimsy.
Well it wasn’t strictly one moment to the next. We spotted the Farm Project, the installation by Mike Meiré, creative director of Dornbracht, when it was first exhibited in Milan, and picked up the catalogue at its second coming during this year’s Köln IMM fair. This is when it struck a chord. There is no doubt that Meiré’s Farm Project is a very beautiful thing – from the simple patchwork of architectural materials used to form the structure - to the hunted and gathered assembly of fittings and fixtures inside, unfinished slats of wood for shelving alongside the latest in sleek sinks and fine faucets from Dornbracht. But it also seemed the epitome of a movement beginning to manifest itself in the worlds of architecture and design from which, of course, we at Wallpaper* take our lead. When bank vaults in Tokyo are being redesigned as hi-tech paddy fields, companies are coming out with designer hen coups, Plus Minus Zero are prototyping temperature-, water- and nutrient-regulated interior herb silos and Yves Behar sees fit to rethink the animal feeding bowl– maybe the farm is really on the way to the city.
And so to Münster. Why? Because this was the next destination of Meire’s Farm Project. It was installed in the city’s Mühlenhof Museum as a side show during the first week of Munster’s 10 yearly sculpture festival and used as a working kitchen to lay on food for a nomadic artworld. And we wanted Meiré’s Farm Project as the backdrop to our Agricool shoot since his realisation of the urban farm kitchen is so perfectly executed, we felt we only need bring it alive with some stylish urban farmers (wearing a wardrobe to die for), a few well-chosen accessories (to bring up-to-date cache to the kitchen), and an abundance of mouth-watering food (to inspire the reaping and rearing).
Sounds simple – and it was (almost). But only because of the exceptional team on board gathered by the hard graft of James on our photo desk, Nick on features, Mandy our new model, hair and make up booker and the whole fashion team. For my part, I had only a few sleepless nights. Francesca, my German-speaking intern was invaluable in coordinating the arrival of product – 25 plus boxes - from across Europe (a bench from Sweden, walking sticks from London, tableware from France, animal bowls from Istanbul…). into the reluctant care of a bemused Museum director in Münster. Food stylist extraordinaire Victoria Granof flew in from New York and made a formidable team with the Museum’s resident chef, Herr Reck who tirelessly supported our endless demands. A whole gutted pig? Secured it within the hour. Unplucked hens? Went and culled a few. Lunch? Ready in no time at all. Parcel tape? He was jumping to it even at 10pm when we should have been long gone from the location.
The brilliant Fashion stylist Samantha Willoughby and new Fashion Director Kim brought six industrial-sized suitcases of some of the season’s most grappled-over clothing (Nick and I made a sharp exit from the office for an early flight to Münster when we saw the globetrotters coming out, escaping with just a Ferragamo feather handbag, and pair of Tretorn Wellies on board.). Our models trekked a million miles to be there (well, from Biarritz and Milan – but you know, models plus travel, there are always complications). They nevertheless looked fantastic on arrival and showed farm spirit by the barrow load (thank goodness Daniela had farmers in the family back in Moldova and knew how to rip feathers out of a chicken, and James seemed very happy with a sickle in his hand).
Marcus Gaab, our Berlin-based photographer had leapt on the concept – he was already a fan of the Farm Project and we suspect, with his family, Christiane and 3 month old Sarah, (also present and invaluable to the production) would make model urban farmers if they were ever in one city for long enough. They brought a tip top team of photo assistants and fixed us up with trained hens, rabbits, sheep and pig - plus handlers. Moritz and Melanie from Meiré’s office meawhile helped fix and unruffle the way on site.
A photo shoot on a location so remote from equipment hire, design hubs and fashion centres is never simple, but with this team it was unshakeable. We shot for three days, only managing to coordinate all elements of animals, models, food together on one of those days. We saw thunderous rainstorms come (just as the far-from-leakproof Project was uncovered for its wide shot) and go (just as we got it covered again). We had Lufthansa lose essential luggage (the photographer’s personal wardrobe), sickness in the ranks of the photography assistants, and drunken, brawling tiling-school graduates attack our trained princess of a pig, Ute (only an entire bar of 70% cocoa-content chocolate, her preferred nibble, could console her). But we got there. I wondered at times about the wisdom of musing out loud. But we found our urban farm. And you know what? It was better than siting in the office flicking through catalogues.
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