On June 18th and 19th, The Stop Community Food Centre will be hosting their second annual Stop NightMarket in the Honest Ed’s alleyway in Toronto, inviting over 50 Toronto chefs as well as showcasing the food cart designs of Waterloo Architecture students and alumni.
A call for proposals back in February got the juices flowing, and local designers submitted one-panel proposals for this year’s food carts. 36 designs were chosen, 16 of which belonged to teams made up of at least one UWSA student/alumni.
Designers pay for all expenses associated with the design and production of their cart and are required to transport it to the site and remove it after the event is over; this is their contribution to the charitable event.
F_RMlab
UWSA’s own F_RMlab were chosen to design the welcome cart, which will also serve as a “photo booth” backdrop, at this year’s Stop’s Night Market. Like many other F_RMlab creations, the cart will be interactive and responsive. “Our cart brings back the nostalgic dinner bell. Every time the bell is rung, LED lights wired to Arduino software will flash and blink,” Connor O’Grady explains. The LED lights will be placed inside of plastic bottles, and other reused/recycled materials will be incorporated.
With the event fast approaching, the team has been busy bringing the cart to life. F_RMlab is excited to be making a charitable contribution, as well as expanding their playing field: “This is a great opportunity for us to research, learn, practice, and produce.” F_RMlab has always been a big advocate of “research by design” through hands-on experience and exploring new elements and areas of design. The Night Market will also be great for exposure; F_RMlab would like to be more prominent in the Toronto community as well as the school community.
Pop into the school’s workshop to check out F_RMlab’s progress!
Nicole Ratajczak, currently the Editorial and Graphics Director for BRIDGE, has been a contributor since January 2013. She is in her second year of undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.
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