YMEN Training Center

CHICAGO, IL

Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood features a network of urban gardens as part of the Garden To Table Pipeline, a grassroots community organization. YMEN, one of the community’s longstanding partners, has been providing opportunities for youth in the neighborhood in addition to their urban agriculture work. This work led to the need for a training center, a project supported by Chicago’s Planning and Pre-Development Grant program. 

The site features raised bed gardening, a year-round “agripod,” and a community walk-in refrigerator for vegetable storage; a new greenhouse (currently in construction) further supports the agricultural program. Our new building adjoins the greenhouse, continuing the roof plane, and creating generous volume for training and work functions. Inspired by post-and-beam framing of barns, this building is a contemporary interpretation of vernacular forms, clad in reclaimed wood and recycled corrugated steel.