As urban cityscapes expand and green space becomes more limited could vertical farming be the answer?
As economies grow and cities expand something we’re quickly running out of is green space and arable land.
A modern and refreshing divergence from ever-expending city scapes comes in eco-friendly vertical farming. In short, growing plants upwards, instead of outwards using clever architecture to create sustainable farming space in cities.
The example below is the ACROS Fukuoka in Japan that grows around 35,000 plants from 76 species. The architects specifically built it to preserve the green space the office building was built next to. Thanks to the growing plant life, the roof acts as insulation, maintaining the temperature inside the offices more efficiently, supports insects and bug life and provides a rainwater run off.
Over here in Australia, a study done by Melbourne University and published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, found that glancing at a green roof for only 40 seconds improves concentration. So, buildings embracing vertical farming not only improve their energy efficiency, they provide wonderful environmental benefits and could help improve employee performance and wellbeing.
According to the Population Reference Bureau in 1800 only 3% of the world’s population lived in cities, but by 2050 it’ll be around 70%, so natural green space will become very limited and it’ll be beneficial for those in or around a building to be able to be near or look at green roofs like Fukuoka’s.
2015’s Emporis Skyscraper Award went to Bosco Verticale or ‘vertical forest’ in Milan (as pictured below). The buildings boast 2 acres of plant life; 700 trees, 90 species of plants. The plant life helps reduce smog, dampens noise levels, produces oxygen and like Fukuoka, regulates temperature inside the building.
Image from BusinessInsider
In Sydney, Nobel prize winning Architect, Jean Nouvel is helping to build a vertical apartment complex, One Central Park, that he and his working partner (French Artist and botanist Patrick Blanc) call “an integrated experience for living in harmony with the natural world.” The building will contain and on-site central thermal tri-generation plant and water recycling plant, helping the building achieve its 5 green star.
We look forward to more developments in green roofs, or vertical farming and would like to see more cities and developments embracing environmentally friendly architectural designs such as these.
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