This is a humanitarian project; it is about food as much as it is about architecture. With combined ideas from plant factories and Green building technologies, the project encapsulates the architects' effort to develop sustainable farming and building technologies into a prototype called 'high-rise farming". Once established, the outcome will decrease harmful farming, increase the world's cultivable land and reduce carbon footprint. It is hoped that high-rise farming will cast a new milestone in human history as we venture into a new technological age of sustainable farming, and thus, a new architectural response.
During the course of developing the prototype, the architects learnt about the evolution of modern greenhouses and indoor planting exemplified by Modern architects; from Joseph Paxton's The Great Conservatory (1836) and Buckminster Fuller's United State Pavilion {Expo 1967 in Montreal) to the most recent Grimshaw's Eden Project. They also drew inspiration from the Shuzhou Gardens that the Chinese inherited since the Wei and Jin Dynasty. The fundamental essence of these gardens is to combine man-made structure with planting into a single organic entity.
The requirement of a controlled environment remains the biggest challenge in this project. Understanding the importance of sunlight, building orientation, and constant update on technical developments in the industry, are all essential to the success of the project. Unlike the vertical sky gardens which expose the landscape to external elements, this project looks at the four elements that affect the growth of crops-water; light; air; and nutrients—within a controlled environment. The ultimate aim is to cultivate crops that has a higher yield, which are not contaminated by pesticide, contain higher active ingredients and, to some degree, organic.
The building form and shape was the first factor to be considered in the architectural design. The curves were designed to align perpendicularly to the direction of the sun and would follow the movement of the sun through the atmosphere for maximum heat and tight gain. Hence, the "hunchback' form was created for maximum solar exposure even during winter for its north facing elevalion.
To date, not a single building of its kind has yet been erected in which the greatest possible quantity of space and in multiple storeys has been obtained for planting crops. With constant innovation in technology and design, architects and designers will soon be able to gain new insight into urban high-rise farming and its feasibility.
0 comments:
Post a Comment