Futuristic Urban Farm Comes With its Own TV Station
Posted By Sarah Parsons On February 15, 2010 @ 10:07 am In Architecture,Gardening,Sustainable Building,Urban design | No Comments
We’ve seen urban farms [4] before, but here’s one that takes city gardening [5] to a whole ‘nother level. One UK architecture student created plans for a center that’s part vertical farm [6], part TV station. The Urban Farming and Media Interactive Networks [7] (Urban F.@.m.i.n.), is a plan for an indoor farm that promotes its sustainability efforts through an on-site television program. Though the design is just a concept for now, actually implementing a similar center into existing cities could revolutionize food production and education.
Designed by Jack O’Reilly, Urban F.@.m.i.n. design [7] features a series of narrow towers leading to futuristic, pod-like structures that would house hydroponic vegetables and fruits [8]. Produce would be grown using water from a canal that would also serve as a transport route. All crops grown would be sold back to the city of Manchester [9] or used in an on-site restaurant. All this sounds like urban farm concepts [10] we’ve heard before, but here’s the twist: A TV studio would be integrated into the structure and would produce programs focused on sustainably produced food. [11] Plus, the building itself would rely on renewable energy [12] provided by technology like wind turbines.
At first thought, TV programming mixed with agricultural production seems a bit far-fetched, but think about it: Cooking and foodie shows on stations like The Food Network [13] are hugely popular. If folks could create a successful show focused solely on sustainable food prep and production, what better location for it than on an actual, eco-friendly farm? [7] Increased drought [14] and arable land scarcity mean that food producers will certainly have to shift from the current method of farming, and urban farms [15] are definitely a viable option. Pairing that farming with media outlets [7] and sustainability education could represent a winning combination.
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/futuristic-urban-farm-comes-with-its-own-tv-station/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/futuristic-urban-farm-comes-with-its-own-tv-station/
[4] urban farms: http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/01/14/an-urban-farm-sprouts-in-the-heart-of-shenzhen/
[5] city gardening: http://www.urbanfarming.org/
[6] vertical farm: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/05/18/dragonfly-urban-agriculture-concept-for-ny/
[7] Urban Farming and Media Interactive Networks: http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Project_Details.aspx?id=2498&dop=True&year=2009
[8] hydroponic vegetables and fruits: http://www.inhabitat.com/2006/06/22/herbi-smart-hydroponic-garden/
[9] city of Manchester: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester
[10] urban farm concepts: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/07/15/vertical-farm-for-futuristic-london-bridge/
[11] sustainably produced food.: http://www.sustainabletable.org/home.php
[12] renewable energy: http://www.inhabitat.com/energy/
[13] The Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/
[14] Increased drought: http://drought.unl.edu/whatis/cchange.htm
[15] urban farms: http://www.verticalfarm.com/
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