forward thinking architecture develops floating responsive agriculture

forward thinking architecture develops floating responsive agriculture
all images courtesy of forward thinking architecture

forward thinking architecture, a subsidiary ideas lab of JAPA, has strategized ‘floating responsive agriculture,’ a method to counteract the projected rise of food demand accompanied by the world’s increasing population. the proposal addresses the pressing issue of global food security and introduces a unifying urban design strategy based on a network idea which deals with supply needs and integrates connected self-sufficiency into cities.

aerial view of singapore

the limited land availability, rapidly growing populace, high housing prices and the fact that imports represent 90% of singapore’s food supply are several of the issues that have led the architects to propose the country as a testing spot for the concept. adjusted for this context, the approach has been influenced by singapore’s floating fish farms of jurong’s fishery port.

territorial network of crop production devices

the scheme envisions a transformation of territories into more stimulating environments capable of self-producing quality food in order to avoid massive imports from abroad. in turn, this will lead to a reduction in food mileage and CO2 emissions while bringing fresh farming closer to compact metropolis zones. a technological layer on top of the physical structures will control the necessary processes and inform, in real-time, crop production devices about the type and amount of goods the city needs. thus, the system efficiently minimizes the amount of overall waste.

connected floating responsive agriculture initiative

the looping constructs will allow maximum amounts of sunlight to grow crops such as spinach, lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage year-round. by shaping them in a vertical as opposed to horizontal fashion, regular activities that occur along the shorelines remain uninterrupted and are actually enhanced by visuals of the individually exposed layers that house hydroponic and aquaponic instruments. in addition, rotating racks on each floor improve the mechanisms while adding to the skyline of singapore.

the architects have identified singapore as a testing ground for the project

the constructs are placed close to urban centers of the country

hydroponics and aquaponic systems

vertical city farming systems

infographic of the cycle

food mileage reduction

plan and loop geometry

map of singapore

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.