Last month, a Canadian company Romses Architects has won in his native Vancouver competition "Challenge 2030" (the 2030 challenge), in which experts were to show their vision of the contribution of cities to fight climate change the world (by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, of course).
Hearts won the Jury Project Harvest green: vegetables and other fresh herbs, fruits and fish, hens, goats and sheep - all together under the roof of futuristic buildings, capable of turning any abandoned industrial farming technologies in the island of the XXI century.
The overall idea is not new: take more crops with less space, even right in the city limits. There are at least one major argument for: the cost of transportation of agricultural products in the city - not a joke.
The project called - Dragonfly.
This brainchild of French architect of Belgian origin Kallebo Vincent (Vincent Callebaut), already known to us by city-liliyam, saving the world from the flood, as well as a prototype vertical farms and gardens - the air green towers for Paris, Hong Kong and Mexico City.
Erect, the titanic building (700 meters high, along with an antenna, among other things, and on the roof too much - 600 m), he proposed to Roosevelt Island.
At 132 floors "Dragonflies" fit 28 different agricultural land for production of fruits, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy products. If not for the whole city, the nearby Manhattan should suffice.
The space between the wings form a giant glass greenhouses, microclimate, which will be maintained by itself, due to natural ventilation and evaporation of moisture in the sun in summer and warm air in the winter accumulation of transparent walls, double conceived.
Belgian found that imitation of nature helps to keep the temperature at the farm at a normal level in the cold, and heat.
Against the backdrop of the universal struggle for the ecology of this architectural building of the town may well prove more attractive to city dwellers than competing with each other (it seems to infinity), residential and office high-.
But, maybe, except the visual attractiveness of these facilities do not carry any practical use? Compared with conventional farms outside the city limits? Issue.
On the one hand, the growth of agriculture in the world leads to land degradation and desertification. Vertical farms, if not stop this trend, at least slightly soften its impact, thought "revolutionaries." Indeed, to feed all the earth, a pair of triples, such farms in metropolitan areas is clearly not enough. And a pair of Three-thousand, perhaps, too. How on earth has been realized in recent decades, projects vysotok more than 400 meters?
Therefore, some specialists believe that it is necessary to develop the traditional farm and traditional greenhouses (Enjoy in this giant, for example).
Other objections: humanity needs an alternative. And offer to extremes - from artificial forests Sahara (was not yet built) up to an underground farm in the basement of the Tokyo skyscraper (a small - but very real).
Supporters of the traditional approach also recognizes that changes are needed, and gradually move toward ... verticality.
