“BREATHING HIGHRISES”
Vertical
farming as an emerging option for the urban resources management in future Indian
cities
Submitted by :
ARCHITECT
- KUKKU JOSEPH JOSE
MOB:
+919446055109
REG
NO : CA/2013/58526
Figure 1: "Agriculture’s Evolution”
1.0
ABSTRACT:
Vertical
farming is the urban farming of fruits, vegetables, and grains, inside a
building in a city or urban centre, in which floors are designed to accommodate
certain crops. These heights will acts as the future farms land and as
architects we can shape these high-rises to sow the seeds for the future.
What is a
vertical farm?
As the
world’s population grows, so does the land required to produce the needed food.
The concept of a vertical farm was developed to remedy this crisis. A vertical
farm is farms stacked on top of one another, instead of branching out
horizontally. Developed in 1999 by Professor Dickson Despommier, the farm uses
conventional farming methods such as hydroponics and aeroponics to produce more
yields faster.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
It
is predicted that the world population will reach 9 billion by 2050, of which
70% will live in urban centers. This change, alongside a changing climate, will
strain Earth’s resources, specifically the ability to supply food. A valuable
investigation would be to determine other ways to supply food to cities alongside
current agricultural practices in a sustainable manner.
One
idea is the concept of vertical farming. Vertical farming
can be defined as farming fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. in the middle of a
city inside of a building where different floors have different purposes (one
floor for a certain crop, another floor for a vegetable, etc.) using hydroponics(water
with nutrients). The concept of supplying food in cities is not a new one as
the history of urban agriculture goes back to many ancient civilizations,
including the Mayans, the city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City today), etc. There
are many developments taking place today that apply the concept of urban agriculture,
and the concept of vertical farming is a large scale extension of urban
agriculture.
It
is becoming increasingly understood that both our forms of settlement and methods
of sustenance are functionally incompatible with a planet of limited natural
resources. Modern cities exhibit decisively “linear” resource metabolisms where
food, fresh water, energy, and other resource demands are imported from great
distances, consumed, and then swiftly dispensed as sewage or rubbish that the natural
world cannot easily process. Likewise, the high-yield farming methods that support
our immense population are characterized by their insatiable consumption of our limited reserves of
freshwater, fossil-fuel energy, and soil.
A glimpse of humanity’s predictable
future indicates that the way cities and agriculture consume the Earth’s
precious natural capital will only worsen with the passage of time. The projected
addition of 2.25 billion people to the global population by 2050 and another 2
billion by the end of the century forces us to consider what our world will be
like with nearly twice as many consumers. Considering humanity’s current
population is already effectively degrading the ecological conditions we
require to thrive, it appears the only way to avoid both a global ecological
tragedy and widespread famine in the next century is to significantly transform
the way cities and agriculture utilize natural resources.
This paper
presents an argument for the implementation of an emerging building typology, the
vertical farm, as potential solution to the conflict between ecological
stability and humanity’s persistent and economic growth.
1.2 AIM
To evaluate the scope of the vertical
farming concept in the building levels of the future Indian cities. And
thereby to analyze how well this concept can integrated be into the urban to sow
the seeds for the future and to resolve the long-standing paradox of humanity’s
inclination towards exponential demographic and economic growth while
inhabiting a planet of limited resource material means.
1.3 SCOPE
1. Reduction in vehicular
transport is also foreseen; there will be less demand for delivery trucks,
garbage trucks and other utilities.
2. Overall wellness because
city wastes will be channeled directly into the farm building's recycling
system, hence, less bacteria can find its way in the environment and the
atmosphere.
3. Abandoned or unused
properties will be used productively.
4. Water can be used more
efficiently in a vertical farm.
5. The greywater from
office etc can be used efficiently.
5. The layers of atmosphere
can be used effectively in vertical build ups.
5. Less CO2 emissions and
pollution by decreasing reliance on coal-burning power plants and
transportation, and implementing renewable-sources of energy.
6. Crops will be protected
from harsh weather conditions and disturbances like typhoons, hurricanes,
floods, droughts, snow and the likes. Food production as well as food transport
will not be affected.
7. Crops will be consumed
immediately upon harvest since there is no need to transport them to far-off
places. Spoilage will also be lessened.
8. The use of chemicals as pesticides
will be eliminated; hence, even vector borne diseases can be prevented.
9. Less deforestation and
land use, this means less erosion and less flooding.
1.4
LIMITATIONS
1. The
initial phase will be cost intensive, and certain flaws integrated in the
system that may appear during its initial run can still dampen efforts for its
full maximization.
2. There
will be fewer varieties of foods to choose from because not all plants and
vegetables are suitable in a controlled and limited environment.
3. The
public will find it hard to reconcile with the idea of using black water for
food production.
4. “Blackwater,”
or the wastewater and sludge from soils, from the vertical farms need an
additional costly filtration system in order to be recycled and conservative of
the water resources.
5. Displacement
of agricultural societies, potential loss or displacement of traditional
farming jobs.
