Damien Chivialle’s Urban Farming Units Transform Old Shipping Containers into Greenhouses for Organic Produce

Artist and designer Damien Chivialle (of <a href="http://www.cootainer.com/" target="_blank">Cootainer</a>) has transformed a series of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/shipping-container/" target="_blank">shipping containers</a> into Urban Farm Units (UFU) - micro-farms where locals can harvest organic veggies, fruit and fish to their hearts' content. The UFUs include <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/aquaponics/" target="_blank">aquaponics</a> systems and greenhouses, and they serve as think tanks for developing new ways to grow food in urban landscapes.

Within the containers Chivialle has designed a complex aquaponics system to enable circular agricultural processes.

The containers each contain two cubic meters of water in which bacteria transforms fish waste into minerals to act as a natural fertilizer for the plants.

The water flows back into the fish pool.

Sitting atop the structure is a greenhouse, perfect for maximising sunlight.

Currently, UFUs have been constructed in Zurich, Brussels and Berlin, and the blog helps these urban farmers share their container experiences, triumphs and tribulations to help learn from one another.

But much more than that, the containers provide a collaborative space for shared farming experimentation, a brilliant idea for cultivating a community.