As our food globalizes, the amount of energy it takes to transport food to our homes increases. Many continue to ignore an untapped resource for local food production – the lawn.  Our environmentalist client, who also runs a non-for-profit that teaches inner city youth about issues related to sustainability, wanted to create a community garden and demonstration kitchen as an education venue focused on local and organic produce  paired with a café/business incubator and flexible indoor/outdoor gathering space.  The reinvented lawn uses an approach to planting design that is similar to the natural environment in that it supports a diverse ecology, called permaculture.  This method maximize the variety and amounts of food grown on site while also restoring the health of the area’s poor soils.  Vertical trellises and a roof top green house further optimize the area of productive growing space and extends the growing season. The second floor would ideally house residential apartments and/or act as a small green business incubator, whose inhabitants could help tend the gardens.