Do you know where your food is coming from or what is in it? This is a question that is quite difficult to answer these days but it’s a fundamental question to address to. You would be surprised to know that many children today think that food comes from just the supermarket and  that     nature is an 'object' that should be studied in labs.                                                                                                       

This year at the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennal I had the privilege to work on   and suggest an answer to that mysterious question with our work 'Garden Library' for which I collaborated with two English artists designers who call their initiative 'Something and son'. The duo opened a farm-shop restaurant in London, where they grow their vegetables on the walls and at the back garden, creating a       direct connection between  the visitors and their food. I was very lucky to join this team of enthusiastic creative environmentalists       people, and together We brought this  system and concept to the Biennal. The work consists in an installation of 6-meter height. It is a vertical 'garden library' on which edible herbsand vegetables such as parsley, celery, 3 types of lettuce, kale and other leafy greens are being grown. We chose plants that are easy to grow, and that can be grown not in an optimal environment (like  a design exhibition)  

The idea is to show people that you CAN grow your own food ANYWHERE! Day light is supplement by growing lamps and irrigation is by rain       water we collect from the Biennal roof tops. The work encourages public participation and asks visitors to choose and plant a seedling from our display. All seedlings are organic and coming from local organic farms around Istanbul. After planting the seedling the visitors fill in their details on a library card so we can send them a weekly update about the growth of their plant, in total   there     were more then 500 seedling planted by about 300 visitors! The library was completely full after 10 days of exhibition! But not to       worry, if you want   to be a part of our city gardening movement, Throughout the Biennial we will conduct five different FREE                 workshops on how to grow food in urban gardens; balconies, roof tops, windows, as well as guerrilla gardening which is a form of act       ivist gardening, planting edible plants and trees in municipal street gardens. This form could be considered controversial and even   illegal, but hey… we just want to use our current resources   more practically and not only for aesthetic reasons following the saying – grow food, not lawns…                                                                                                                                                                                                     

At the end of the Biennal we will transfer the garden library to a new restaurant opening in Taxim square. By that time most of the   plants would be ready to harvest, and the new members would be invited to a big salad and soup opening meal…                                   

In the new venue we will have different types of garden installations; from out door soil garden to in-door hydroponic and aquaponic  

gardens   integrated to a fishery. The name of the retaurant will be 'Ek bic ye ic' which means 'plant, harvest, eat, drink'. This is exactly  

what people will be doing    there, but not only that, during the year there will be a yearly program of   courses, workshops, lectures   and open discussion about       growing your own food, and raising an interest about where it is actually coming from.