Urban food sovereignty 

In collaboration with Mark Larochelle for Arktea

About this work

Welcome to the near future. Commissioned for the book Arktea, this illustration envisions a future college campus embedded within a larger, climate-resilient urban superstructure. It serves not as a fantasy, but as a visual proof-of-concept for how humanity can transition from exploitative architecture to regenerative urbanism.

01. Hyper-Local Agroecology (The Food Forest)

We have grown accustomed to food production happening miles away, hidden from view. This landscape presents the counter-narrative: transforming urban open spaces into high-yield, community-managed food forests and permaculture systems. Here, residents actively participate in the lifecycle of their food, from sowing to harvesting. Where conditions allow, livestock is seamlessly integrated back into the city via a silvopasture agroforestry model, closing the nutrient loop right where people live.

Sketch study 1

Creating Space for Nature-Inclusive Farming

02. Living with Water (The Hydrological Network)

In the cities of tomorrow, you cannot take a photograph without capturing water. Swales, ponds, ditches, and open canals are woven into the very fabric of the landscape. We no longer fight water or hide it in concrete pipes; we have learned to live alongside it, treating it as a vital ecological partner that cools our cities and restores local biodiversity.

Sketch study 2

Integration of Micro Food Forests and Water Bodies

03. The Architectural Superstructure (The Permaculture Campus)

Architecture is no longer a collection of isolated, competing buildings. Influenced by the concept of arcologies and driven by Community Land Trusts, the built environment is treated as a collective infrastructure.

Notice how the college building has been adapted into a terraced architectural system, mimicking the paddock contours used on steep permaculture hillsides. These flat, stepped surfaces become strategic ecological assets for growing fruit, capturing water, and physically connecting buildings to one another.

04. Cultural Cross-Breeding & Collective Creativity

When architecture is freed from the dull, uniform constraints of the cheap market economy, true creativity flourishes. Tomorrow’s aesthetic is born from collective community endeavors rather than the ego of a single "starchitect."

This illustration captures a vibrant cross-breeding of urban cultures. For example, traditional Madrasa geometric artand intricate ornamentation are woven directly into the building's facade, brought to life through the heritage and hands of local Arabic craftsmen.

The outcome

The concept sketch

The final illustration