Architect has solution for empty big boxes

Birmingham architect Forrest Fulton is, you might say, thinking inside the box.

He recently won national attention for his proposal to make creative reuse of abandoned big-box stores, including the many supermarkets that have been shuttered recently around the Magic City.



Fulton’s proposal won third place in a design competition called “Reburbia” sponsored by inhabitat.com and the magazine Dwell. It appears in the magazine's December/January issue.

You can also visit www.dwell.com, www.re-burbia.com or www.forrestfulton.com/big-box-agriculture to see Fulton's renderings for the transformation of an abandoned Bruno's in Hoover into a greenhouse, restaurant and what he calls a “farm-park.”



“This more interactive, local approach to high-end food retail is inspired by farm-restaurants, such as Blue Hill Farm at the Stone Barns in New York state, where food cultivation, processing, preparation, and consumption are all integrated,” Fulton writes in a recent email to Birmingham Weekly.

Fulton, according to his email, is interested in developing a business plan for this idea and would like to find experts and investors to help him make it a reality.

You can learn more about Fulton’s ideas for reviving rapidly declining older suburbs in his new article “Inventing the suburban farm” at www.civileats.com.