Indoor farms need light—and a lot of it—to grow crops, but that energy adds up big time in terms of cost and environmental impact. A Pinkhouse is a new type of indoor farm that grows crops using
The Aeroponic Vertical Farm is made up of an array of bamboo parallelograms that are formed to create stepped terraces of rice fields. Located in cities, these compact farms would not only help grow rice
EVolo Magazine has made a name for itself with its annual skyscraper competition, which started in 2006. Since then there have been over 4,000 submissions arriving from across the planet, seemingly
People are flocking to the cities around the world, especially in China with 75% of the Chinese population projected to be living in urban environments by 2030. To alleviate the pressures put on the
Located in downtown Tokyo, Pasona HQ is a nine-story building for the Japanese recruitment company. Rather than build a brand-new building, the company took over a 50-year-old structure and renovated it
The Vertical Farm is an expanded edition of Despommier's earlier essay on vertical farming, which explains the many advantages of vertical farming. As Despommier rallies, vertical farms could enable every
Live Share Grow is a proposal by Brandon Martella for a combo residential tower and vertical farm for downtown San Diego. The multi-story tower is dual purpose - one side is holds residential apartments
La Ferme Musicale = also known as Ferme Darwin - is a concept for a vertical farm and cultural center in Bordeaux. Darwin Ecosysteme has been working on a larger project to build a sustainable community
The dense metropolis of Singapore is now home to the world’s first commercial vertical farm! Built by Sky Greens Farms, the rising steel structure will help the city grow more food locally, reducing
Taking inspiration from tree canopies that absorb 95% of the forest's overall solar energy and capture 30% of the rainfall, the nanotowers are less than 10 stories high and each floor is its own home. The
Vertical farming is far from a new concept, and uses principles that have been employed by indigenous peoples around the world for thousands of years. But this new generative system looks to raise the
The Plant is a large vertical farm in southeast Chicago that houses Plant Chicago and a few other food producing tenants. The city's first vertical farm was started in 2010 and is expected to be fully
Although Navy Pier is the top tourist attraction in Illinois, Chicago residents will tell you that in its current state the pier is feeling dated, kitschy and, well, cheesy. First and foremost, the
Working towards the Chicago DeCarbonization Plan, Influx_Studio came up with the idea to retrofit Marina City Towers into a renewable powerhouse and incorporate algae production technologies as a way to
RCDF Studio's LOFT is a finalist entry in LOFT LONDON FARM TOWER 2011 competition, a design contest based on the concept of the vertical farm. Their LOFT is a 550,000-square-foot building near London
Just in case Night of the Living Dead becomes a reality, zombie enthusiasts across the globe are gearing up to plan for the potential zombie apocalypse. The folks at Architects Southwest have devised a
The zoo is built from a six armed star-shaped level designed to maximize space, views and circulation. It is based on a nucleus or a tree trunk from which emerges six branches, each 20 sq meters in size
The Whittier Organic Food Center is a state-of-the-art food production testing and learning facility that recently took top honors in the Cavin Family Travel Fellowship. The project creates opportunities
Xome Arquitectos began their design based on the premise that by 2050 more than 70% of the world's population will live in an urban environment. If this comes to fruition as expected, vertical farming
Like many other green architecture designs, the London Farm Tower features vertical agricultural space and is designed to meet energy and food requirements from within. Fresh produce can be grown
We’ve covered a wide variety of urban agriculture projects in the past – the rooftop farm Brooklyn Grange, the Battery Conservancy’s new turkey-shaped farm, and futuristic vertical farms, to name a
The vertical farm is made up of a continuous spiraling field of grass that spans from the ground floor up to the top. Surrounding this spiraling core are support functions for the farm, a ground floor
Finalists in the 2011 eVolo Skyscraper competition, these innovative buildings address a unique set of environmental and social challenges. The Nomad Skyscraper featured at the top of this article, for
The aim of the Beehive Tower is to provide the Canary Wharf community of city dwellers a place to garden and live. The tower's hexagonal mega structural lattice contains greenhouse spaces that also serve
Currently, Depaul University and its student housing are in two separate buildings split by Van Buren Street and the elevated rail system. Green Roof City would tie the two plots together, offering a
The Chicago Gateway is composed of two vertical mixed-use towers supported by a leaning tower covered in a green roof. Offices and commercial space would reside in the vertical towers and residences in
Jurors for the competition included Christopher Charles Beninger, Patrik Schumacher, Sen Kapadia, and Hirante Welandawe. The competition launched in April of 2010 and garnered over 300 entries. The
Futuristic floating cities seek to provide a solution to many of our environmental problems, like rising sea levels, increasing temperatures and dwindling resources. Recently Japanese building firm
