Food as a resource is
limited. Supply will soon not meet demand. With population growth, food
production in the United States is reaching maximum capacity. Current
trends in development create a struggle between farming and living.
These two practices are modeled for their own benefit and are soon to
clash in a disastrous agglomeration. According to the FDA, the average
American alone consumes 707.7lbs of fruits and vegetables each year.
With the majority of produce coming from the Imperial Valley, Central
California Valley, neighboring states and other countries the 30,000
plus residents of San Diego’s central urban context consume 21,231,000
pounds of produce each year. Where will we get our food? Transparency in
the food industry needs to occur and enlighten blinded consumers. Our
city needs to handle this critical issue with an architecture that
responds. A new type of residential tower needs to come forth.
Arch Daily
Union Tribune
KPBS
Evolo
SuckerPUNCH
SD Loves Green
Arch Daily
Union Tribune
KPBS
Evolo
SuckerPUNCH
SD Loves Green
Utilizing
vertical farming, a new model of living can be tested and resolved in a
dense vertical community. With local production comes local exchange. A
new type of market will become a specimen of culture that dramatically
contrasts the a-typical American means of consumption, an apparatus
enriched with an exchange of local produce, and a place for the
community to gather.
The farm tower located in a vertical community of
tourist resources and developer condos will provide fresh produce daily
to celebrate a direct injection of goods from farm to market. It will
create new opportunities for education, commerce, and healthy living
while utilizing the local by products of city living. Waste, grey water
and black water can all be redeemed through recycling, grey water
infused aquaponics, and black water compact combustion to create thermal
energy.
This new form of residential high-rise can be plugged into the existing city grid injected with the by products of its traditional equivalents to produce something responsible, something different from its otherwise insular counterparts. Vertical crops can grow food hydroponically supporting the greater masses directly, and allowing for reclamation of delusive farmland. The adjacent Children’s Museum with its motto of Think, Play, and Create will be embraced with a second motto to foster a new level of social interface and engage a community from farm to market from community to education; lets Live, Share, and Grow within our city.
The open air market will become a place for local vendors to sell an assortment of products along with fresh produce grown in the farm tower and direct vicinity of San Diego's urban center. The market will become a specimen of culture that dramatically contrasts the a-typical American means of consumption and commerce, an apparatus enriched with a sense of local, and a place for the community to gather.
As the 24th largest convention center in North America, the
giant wall blocking San Diego from its southern waterfront brings in an
estimated 1.4 billion annually to the local community. It is an economic powerhouse and is expanding
with a 3rd annex. The sites direct adjacency will enable the farm tower to
become a spectacle as this opportunity is not overlooked and a high level of
activity will be harnessed.
The critical moment with farm tower comes to life with a social exchange of farmer and resident. Ten stories above the surrounding community a 100' void space in the farming's southern exposure brings the residential user group out from their usual circulation space to create a critical moment of exchange. Educational tours can come up from the street level to experience the city and the farm firsthand.
