week 10 | research and examples

PLANT FACTORY
Suwon, South Korea

“Here’s my vision of what a vertical farm might look like. My gold standard for this is the Apple Store in New York City on 5th Avenue," said Despommier. "If you took that building and made it into a five-story building. Now in the building you have multiple floors, of course, and inside each floor you have multiple layers of crops.”

it's a small research building comparing to other facilities in chicago or netherlands and they are looking at in 5 years of research the vertical farm would be commercialised.

downside..

power problem


as the main idea of vertical farm was to grow crops 24/7 with constant light source and temperature it requires alot of electricity.


“The plant factory requires a lot of energy, the light energy and the heating and cooling energy. So we provide the heating or cooling energy using geothermal systems. We adopted the solar-cell system to provide light source energies, but we are still [only] providing 15 percent of the total energy,” said Choi.


the main source to replace the sunlight is the LEDs at this stage of the research but it was calculated it would need 8 times of electricity generated by all the power plants in US over a single year as per the calculation from below link
http://www.losingourcool.com/verticalnote.html#Note_on_calculations

another way to create natural energy required

PLANT LAB

Netherlands

this facility is one of the first urban farm facility produce vegetables commercially. while most of greenhouses use white light to grow the crops the engineers in netherlands founds that to grow crops, the dominant type of chlorophyll in plants, only needs purple light to function.they grows veges by using red and blue LEDs to create purple light and cut the energy use to grow plants indoor.

downside..
it requires alot of energy to keep the LEDs and machinery running..


THE PLANT
Chicago

this is a urban farm facility refurbished from 87 years old meat packing factory.
it's not only commercial farm, but also it's a fish farm and beer brewery.
following the process by using feature in the building..
- plants filters water for fish
- fish creates ammonia and nitrates for plants which helps to clean the water
- plants produce oxygen for brewery
- brewery creates carbon dioxide which will be cleaned back to clean air from the plants.

they are looking to create over 100 jobs through this process where produce local fresh produce, fish and beer to the neighborhood with no waste.
as it's localised business it will also bring the community within.

this would be a good example creates no wastes from the facility but using them as a resource which would be the function i should look at!



VERTICAL FOREST SKY SCRAPPER _ residential building
Milan

 

this is a residential apartment under constrcution at the moment with the balcony on each floor designed to hold small trees and other plants that will cover an area of 10000m².
it would provide green view of outdoor space to each residents with benefits of..

• filtering pollution
• absorbing CO2 and dust particles
• reducing noise pollution to the building
• improving the microclimate
• saving energy by sheltering the building from solar radiation in summer
• reducing rainwater run-off so curbing flooding

downside..

it sounds a great idea to have own garden on the balcony of the high rise building but,
 what if tree dies? how is it going to be removed and replaced?
maintenance? trim, vermin..?
if the tree grows up too high? and block the view?

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ECO TECHNOLOGY

hydroponics

this is an example of a basic system that most of urban farms(plant factory, plant lab and the plant) are using.
it's a system growing plants in water instead of soil. in that way it creates clean atmosphere and faster crop growing environment.

how the crop growing process creates the energy at the plant

biomass fed into the anaerobic digester, The Plant produces electricity in a combined heat and power system, as well the as the heat necessary for the New Chicago Beer Company’s brewery.  Recycling the biomass will produce bio gas which will power a turbine generator that will produce both electricity and steam.  The steam will be used for the heating and cooling systems of the building and the electricity will be used to power, among other things, grow lights for the plants in the aquaponic system.

week 10 | design development

possible CRISIS may effect in paddington district.

SOCIAL CRISIS

"In social place the meeting and free association of individuals from various familial or social places are steadily decreasing, almost to the effect of replacing the many of the grounds of physical contact."
- How Mobile Technology Causes Social Isolation, NI Wire

http://newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/4/10/69-How-Mobile-Technology-causes-Social-Isolation.html

it's been about 5years we have used internet through mobile devices and most of young generations are uning the device for their main social networking. these are days it's creating a lack of communication between family members living under one roof and this happens over the country.
in next 10 years the mobile device generation will be the main members of the society who would have the relationship with other people mainly over the internet only, without physical interation.
there will be only a small numner of physical communities in the future.

WEATHER CRISIS / FOOD CRISIS

"grobal temperatures in the first half of the year were hottest since records began more than a century ago"
-the world's weather crisis

http://newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/4/10/69-How-Mobile-Technology-causes-Social-Isolation.html

“And certainly the impact it could and will have if the report is advocated over time on the agricultural sector is pretty significant and pretty worrying.”
-Austraila in climate crisis: garrett, sid marris, the australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/australia-in-climate-crisis-garrett/story-e6frg6nf-1111114552974

"flows of water last month into the two mighty rivers that irrigate the basin were the lowest since records began 117 years ago"
-Australia faces food crisis as rivers reach new low, kathy marks, the independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-faces-food-crisis-as-rivers-reach-new-low-865069.html

even though the total population of Australia does not increase dramatically within 10 to 20 years, the population will migrate into urban centers still. and it's easily predictable that the Paddington district will be one of the place where the population density gets built up.

by 2030 young generation who used internet since they were small (approx. since year 2000), that the internet is a huge part of their life just like sleeping & eating etc... will occur indivisulalism in the family and lack of societism and no more communities make the physical interaction between people.

grobal warming causes water shortage will be the main crisis in future that will hit on farming environment directly, and it will leads to the food crisis.
it is required to create a new method of food production within each districts/communities.

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i believe it is required to build a community space where people get interact each other and gather in paddinton district so it does not loose it's character.
urban farm in paddington distrct will build up the strong community and will be the starting point of the new era of food production that will cope with the possible crisis in future.

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URBAN FARM CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

things to research.

how much of farmland need for one family?
as per the research it requires1acre (approx. 4045m2) to feed one family.
but concidering it's going to be a divided private farm with constant weather condition and light (no seasonal crops) it helps to grow crops 4 times faster.  and it's not going to be a full time job.

1/8 acre (approx. 500m2) would be the max. area to feed one family.
also some part of the farm could be much smaller if the crops can be grown in stacked system.


types of crops can be grown?
crops that require little area to grow

• Asparagus
• Baby vegetables
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Celery
• Chinese water chestnuts
• Cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi)
• Corn, miniature
• Fenugreek
• Edible flowers
• Garlic
• Gourds, ornamental
• Gourmet vegetables
• Greenhouse production for out-of-season crops
• Heirloom varieties of any vegetable
• Herbs - culinary and medicinal
• Horseradish
• Luffa gourds
• Mushrooms- agaricus, shiitake, oyster, morel, etc.
• Onions (transplants, shallots, sweet, early)
• Organically grown vegetables of all types
• Oriental vegetables
• Peas and pea shoots
• Peppers - specialty types (purple, hot, etc.)
• Pumpkins
• Red beets
• Salad greens - mesclun
• Sprouts (alfalfa, bean, etc.)
• Squash
• Sweet corn
• Sweet potatoes
• Tomatoes - specialty types
• Truffles
• Wasabi

 

different types of crops grow in different temperature.
 
COOL TEMPERATURE
Broccoli 
lettuce
spinach
carrot
Radishes
sweet peas
Turnip


WARM TERMPERATURE
Beans
Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Zucchini
Pumpkin
Potatoes Lima bean plants
Pinto bean plants
Egg plant 
Cucumber plants
Water melon vines
Cantaloupe
white & red onion
sweet potato vines

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

by following the slope with the idea of the step farm the building form fit in the existing topography of the site without casting shadow over residential area.
there will be indoor and outdoor farm area.
cafe/restaurant over looking the greenery.

 design developed from the step farm idea building form as a folded shape with same function as previous idea. gives an idea of continuity of the building flowing down to the hill.
and another idea to maximise the sunlight even the building goes high with void space on the building to let the sun and wind pass through.

design development created too many floors and it ended up the floor is lower than the ground line.
as the contour drops down from 40 to 26 the building needs to have less floors than above sketch.. looking at about 4-5 floors to the highest level of the topography.
and +3 more floors can be added as the existing building is 2-3 floors high.
so the building could be 7-8 floors all together.

feed back |

after the check-up with the tutor, below points were raised up to think of..

* how much of products could be harvested in the facility..? then, will it be enough to provide to paddington area to run the fresh food market..?

 - my answer would be 'No, i dont think it will be enough'.
i meant there may will not be 'enough' as in terms of many different kinds of produces by 2030 within the site area given. to fulfil / answer the question, it may require a bigger area to run the facility.

by 2030, i'm expecting this will be a facility to show the possibility and suggest a alternative way of producing.
as australia is the one of the country the urban farming has not been practiced, yet there are signs and evidence that water crisis could hit the country in near future which would lead to the food crisis as well.

but it will probably be enough for one kind of the produce as the facility runs 24/7 under constant light and temperature. the product line would be something like a factory where growing the products constantly.
as the normal markets will be replaced with online markets in future farmers would still need to sell their products physically still especially small farm owners. this would complete the main concept of the design, 'the facility where sells the fresh produce'.

* will people live trying to self sustain (farming) in future? 

i think there is a big chance for that. globally urban farming is one of the issue these days firstly because of the inflation, secondly population growth creates food crisis (i don't think this will affect in australia..) and last, becuase of the water crisis as mensioned above.
people will NEED to self sustain.

but it is required to find a better way to fulfil the above and idea that creates a new / better way than present day.



 
 

week 9 | concept research and design

below links inspired me how and why the urban farm is needed in paddington district.

* URBAN FARMING
link to web site http://www.urbanfarming.org/

* THE VERTICAL FARM
link to web site http://www.verticalfarm.com/


big ideas: dickson despommier's vertical farming

the vertical farm

why is it needed...?
it may not required to build a urban farm in Australia to prevent the food crisis of the country by 2030s.
but not just to create the food production, the urban farm also creates a community.
and it will be the step to cope with the crisis that will hit Australia oneday.

Advantages of Vertical Farming (http://ecosistemaurbano.org/english/the-vertical-farm/)
- Year-round crop production; 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more, depending upon the crop (e.g., strawberries: 1 indoor acre = 30 outdoor acres);
- No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests;
- All VF food is grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers;
- VF virtually eliminates agricultural runoff by recycling black water;
- VF returns farmland to nature, restoring ecosystem functions and services;
- VF greatly reduces the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface;
- VF converts black and gray water into potable water by collecting the water of evapotranspiration;
- VF adds energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants and animals;
- VF dramatically reduces fossil fuel use (no tractors, plows, shipping.);
- VF converts abandoned urban properties into food production centers;
- VF creates sustainable environments for urban centers;
- VF creates new employment opportunities;
- We cannot go to the moon, Mars, or beyond without first learning to farm indoors on earth;
- VF may prove to be useful for integrating into refugee camps;
- VF offers the promise of measurable economic improvement for tropical and subtropical LDCs. If this should prove to be the case, then VF may be a catalyst in helping to reduce or even reverse the population growth of LDCs as they adopt urban agriculture as a strategy for sustainable food production;
- VF could reduce the incidence of armed conflict over natural resources, such as water and land for agriculture.

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CONCEPT DESIGN SKETCH

step farm

to follow natural topography as the existing site is on the hill and try not to disturb the existing surrounding, especially height of the building,
step farm is the idea of the building shape.
stepping down building form
- will not cast a dramatic shadow over residential houses surrounding.
- able to fit in the site without disturbing existing character of paddington





design to consider 

- building height facing latrobe tce not to be exceeded 3 floors to match existing condition

- floors to be stacked on top of each other following existing topography

- all public facilities to be accessed from street level
(fresh produce market, public farm, cafe, restaurant and carpark)











FUNCTION
FRESH MARKET street level
- fresh organic produce
- small pots of crops for public & private farmers
- interaction / gathering space

PUBLIC FARM street level
- private farm (big and small)
- indoor / outdoor
- interaction / community space

LIBRARY
- agriculture
-self sustain

CAFE/RESTAURANT
- food prepared with fresh produce from the farm
- gathering / community space

COMMERCIAL FARM
- commercial crop growing
- create jobs
- community

RESEARCH FACILITY
- provide healthy seeds to farm users and public
- fresh fruits and veges
- energy efficiency
- GYO (grow your own) class
- excursion for school students and small groups.

WATER / WASTE RECYCLE
- rain / grey water filtering system and storage
- food wastes from the restaurants and cafe surrounding reused.
   *waste as compost and methane to run the power

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feed back
to design an urban farm there are still to be consider...
* how much of land needed for public farm?
* if commercial farm is required how much of space for whom?
* what types of crops can be grown here?

and the main concern of my tutor was if the urban farm is required in paddington area, and if there is an urban farm will it be big enough to provide to everyone in paddington area?

week 8 | site detail and concept

first of all, as the future building will be mainly used by people lives in paddington area, it is required to look into about residents and considered the existing surrounding atmosphere of the site after the observation.

as per census 2011
Most of people were born Australia 
the total population in this suburb : 7987 people
Median age persons : 32 years old
median individual income : $985 per week
median family income : $ 2,572 per week
median house price : $670,000
median unit price : $423,000

site detail

total site area approx. 7700m²

existing paddington central site plan and section

EXISTING BUSINESS IN PADDINGTON CENTRAL

UPPER LEVEL
professional suites
accountant
solicitor
dentist

LATROBE TCE LEVEL
post office
restaurants & coffee shops
fashion boutiques
medical centre
optometrist
travel
newagent
bottle shop
hair skin beauty
bank
LOWER LEVEL
phamacy
bakery
supermarket

by observing the existing paddington central...
the center was extremely quiet like a dead place comparing outside surrounding area such as cafes where people sit together and make noise and alot of movement.
the inside of the center seems like it was tried to make an street scape shop environment internally but the interior was quite dark and many of the shops or offices on the upper floor looked empty.
what would make the space better through proposed design... will be the main consideration...

EXISTING SHOPS SURROUNDING (within paddington district)

groceries (1) - will be replaced with online store but except fresh food by 2030.

medical (11) - will be replaced with online check up through computer chip embeded in body by 2030.

postal (1) - post office will be organising deliveries only. no more in person posts by 2030.

restaurant (6)

cafe (2)

Gallery (4)

homewares/gifts (3) - will be replaced with online store by 2030.

hair & beauty (5)

commercial office (7) - will be replaced with home office / online office by 2030.

fashion (2) - will be replaced with online store by 2030.

exercise (1)

petrol / garage (1) - less consumption with electric cars and public transport 2030-

- paddington central is the main suburban centre where fulfill half of above listed in 2012 but at the same time they are the business which will be replaced with the online business towards 2030

Latrobe Terrace were converted into small shops in the 1980s and accordingly Paddington has a vibrant shopping scene for speciality shops of all types including fashion (clothes, shoes, male and female), food (chocolate, cheese, alcohol and organic), home wares ( bathroom supplies and hardware) and entertainment ( new and secondhand book stores, picture framing, video stores) and is largely devoid of the larger “chain” shops. -wikipedia

- i guess it is to be considered how it will effect to the area if half of above business are removed or relocated as these are one of the main character of paddington district.

TYPICAL RESIDENTIAL HOUSES (STYLE AND DENSITY) SURROUNDING

view from warmington street

view from morris st.

- charater of paddington...?

paddington was formed since 1860s. as the district formed over steep ridges and hills. houses are frequently built on stumps, owing to the steep nature of their blocks. and with the history of the area, many original and distinctive queenslander homes can be found in the suburb

the area is one of the most popular location in brisbane because of the history, easy access to CBD area, education and  life style

seems like the life style in paddington is more socialised place than any other districts as an example there was a bar table infront of the lawyer's office instead of a fence..

the impression also i've got was that there are alot of cafes for example outside seating cafe infront of launry, cafe with souvenior shop and cafe with hair salon looking down towards the hill etc..


and also there are many antique shops around as it reflects that the area has a long history.

SCENARIO DEVELOPING

1990s use of mobile phone and internet developed.
2000s mobile phone and internet are commonly in use for most of people.
2010s use of internet through mobile phone developed.
          internet shopping, net banking and online community developed.
          electric vehicles developed.
2020s shopping, working over internet and net community are common for most of people especially young generation
          who started to use the internet since 2000s
          computer chip developed and embeded to human body
          electric vehicles commonly in use
2030s no more physical shopping, office working or communities formed involving a physical interaction.
          no more medical centre required as medical check up can be made through internet (computer chip).
          less private vehicles but more public transports

PROS
convenient and easy ways of life style through internet.
new form of community (online).
less pollution


CONS
more efficient energy required.
indivisualism - because people stays home as they can fulfill everything through internet, more physical community (interaction & activity) required.

what is needed in paddington area...?

URBAN FARM for
international food crisis - may not be effected in Australia in the close future (-2030)
GYO - grow your own fresh organic food
          learning basic human technology and nature
on & off line social community - interaction and activity made within a family and in between other users
fresh market -  shop for groceries will be made through internet but there will be still demand of fresh organic products.

FUCTION
INDIVISUAL
- private farm (big and small)

GROUP
* community
- GYO class
- cooking class

RESEARCH FACILITY
- provide healthy seeds to users
- fresh fruits and veges
- recylce
- energy produce and efficieny 

FRESH MARKET
- private & public
- gathering place
- interaction with other people

RECYCLE
- food wastes from the restaurants and cafe surrounding reused as fertiliser.
- water filtering system
- solar energy

week 7 | project 2 brief

PROJECT 2

new future time has been set as 2030s for project 2.

below is the future prediction from 'wikipedia' between 2020s-2030s

2025 - Deep underground cities in Japan, new forms of plants and animals from genetic engineering, an artificial liver, and the extension of the human life span to over 100 are all predicted for 2025
2029 - Intel predicts the performance of supercomputers to reach zettaflops scale
2030 - The world will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water, according to UN estimates
2033 - NASA hopes to send humans to Mars
2035 - Fully functioning artificial eyes are predicted to be available

the information above are only the guide line which may not be 100% applied to the future of Australia but it would affect in Australia in someway..

below image is the future prediction made based on the scenario made by group 11
which shows only a part (upto 2030) of the full scenario (upto 2060).

 

as above we predicted that most of all activities(including work, shopping and communities) will be made online.

the site is in the middle of Paddinton and Red Hill area

paddington and redhill district will be treated as one district with the support of the one main centre hub providing physical activities such as social, dinidng, exercise, transport, market and vertical farm.

site info | brisbane planning scheme

 as per the Brisbane city plan above the paddington central is surrounded by character residential area
and shops are located along Latrobe Tce as well as the Paddington Central
(and more small shops which are not shown on the map).
























paddington central view from warmington st. high blank concrete wall does not fit in the site that are mostly low medium density houses along the street.

this image shows the slope goes up towards latrobe tce   
looks like all the services vehicles are accessed from warmington st. and also the main entry to the carpark is from this street.
the building and carpark were build 2-3 stories high following the slope (down).

 paddinton central view from latrobe tce & warmington st. looks alike shops across the street. it was tried to keep the similar look on entry facia.
image shows latrobe tce is on the highest location, all the shops are located the highest spot of paddington area latrobe tce all the way to the suncorp stadium
























paddington central view from latrobe tce & morris st.
looks like not many shops are built past morris st.

paddington central view from morris st.
morris st is mainly for residential area access. its a small street for services vehicles.
the hidden blank high wall behind trees dose not respecting surrounding character.

- paddington central...?
height of this building clearly shows that it was intentionally built about 2-3 story high as following the natural slope of the area keeping the character of the area and also tried not to cast dramatic shadow over residential area.

what is needed in the area...?

as per the scenario, online market will take over the physical stores and they will be no longer operative in 10-20 years time.
but still people will require to have fresh food market.

=>because of the special condition/character of the paddington district. it is required to consider to keep the height of the building, character of the area and the life style/pattern of the people who lives in the area.

week 6 | project 1 presentation

the scenario we created were purely based on our image of the future human life style and it spread out to the urban fabric. the town formed based on the central hub where people fulfill all their need form one place.
i guess we were focusing on the future scenario too much but it  would have been better if we explored more on the community in smaller scale, which is the existing social area of the paddington block.